Dennison family breaks ground on site for tribute to West Warwick hockey player

WEST WARWICK, R.I. (WLNE) — A year after being killed in a crash last year, Matthew Dennison’s memory will be honored in his hometown.

Dennison’s family got a look Wednesday at the site where a memorial will be raised outside of the Benny Magiera Ice Rink.

His dad, Mark, told ABC 6 News that the memorial will include a water portion with his statue in the middle. He will be wearing his skates and his No. 16 West Warwick jersey.

“So, when it freezes over in the winter, Matthew will be on the ice again,” said Mark.

This is a contributed image of Matthew Dennison.

Dennison, who was a captain, died at the hospital a month after a head-on crash on Route 165 in Exeter. His best friend and co-captain, Kevin MacDonald, was also seriously injured.

Dennison’s father added Wednesday, “Years from now when there are people that didn’t know about Matthew walk up this area, maybe they’ll look at this and say what is this what happened.”

The driver of the other car, Alexander Krajewski, was accused of driving drunk. Prior to the incident, he was employed as a firefighter for Newport.

Since the crash, Dennison’s family has been active in the community, advocating against drunk driving and even creating a foundation in his name.

The Dennison family expressed their disappointment in Senate committee members for not bringing new drunk driving legislation to a vote.

During this time, the community rallied around the family, with Gel’s Kitchen in West Warwick adding new breakfast specials in honor of Dennison and other teenagers who died.

Last year, the West Warwick Town Council decided that they wanted to dedicate a space to Dennison.

The memorial is being created by the family, West Warwick , and school district. It will be funded by a private donor.