WATERVILLE – A playground renovation project and fund-raiser in Waterville it is being conducted in memory of Morton A. Brody, a longtime federal judge who served on the bench in Bangor until his death in March 1999.

The Kennebec County city where Brody lived for most of his life is seeking to raise $125,000 to rejuvenate a crumbling, 12-year-old playground located at the North Street Recreation Area.

The playground will be for all ages and will feature the newest and safest equipment, according to Jim Toner, director of the Waterville Parks and Recreation Department.

Plans are to order equipment for the facility by early march, according to Toner.

An accomplished legal expert, Brody found time to volunteer as a coach for youth sports. He also served as president for the Waterville Area Boys and Girls Club.

A plaque on the completed playground will declare it the “Judge Morton A. Brody Playground.”

Toner has found a positive response to the fund-raising efforts, which were launched in November with the approval of the Waterville City Council.

Donations and commitments have come from as far away as Chicago.

Persons wishing to donate to the project may send checks to the North Street Playground Association, 145 Silver St., Waterville 04901.

Brody, who died at age 66, was appointed a U.S. district judge in 1991 by former president George Bush.

Before he came to Bangor he served as a private attorney and city solicitor in Waterville from 1968 to 1970.

In 1980 he became a state Superior Court justice. Brody was named chief justice of the Maine Superior Court in 1986.

In 1990, he was tapped by then-Gov. John R. McKernan to serve on the Maine Supreme Judicial Court, the state’s highest court. In 1991, Brody was appointed by President Bush to become a federal judge.

He was married to Judith Brody, a Colby College official. The couple had three children and several grandchildren.