FARMINGTON – An event planned at Meetinghouse Park to mark October as National Domestic Violence Awareness Month was approved by selectmen Tuesday.

Lauren LaRoche, community educator for the Abused Women’s Advocacy Project, asked the board for use of the park Oct. 1 and to also light the park and post a small sign for the rest of the month.

About 20 strands of purple lights will adorn the gazebo and surrounding shrubs all month, LaRoche said. Purple is the symbolic color of domestic violence. AWAP offered to pay the town up to $50 for the cost of running the lights.

The lights are part of a national campaign to raise awareness of domestic violence and serve as a memorial to those who have lost their lives to domestic violence and as a “beacon of hope for the future” for others, she told the board.

“So far this year, Maine has suffered 25 homicides, 15 of which were the result of domestic violence. In 2007, AWAP received approximately 8,000 phone calls on our 24-hour helpline, which provides service to Androscoggin, Oxford and Franklin counties,” she said in a prepared statement.

The Oct. 1 vigil will include speakers and music, she said.

Concerns about posting a sign for a month were abated when selectmen realized how small a size LaRoche planned for a notice explaining the lights to visitors during October. After reminding her that the town could not be liable for theft or vandalism, the board voted 4-1 to allow AWAP to use the park. One selectman was absent.

In other business, selectmen awarded a contract for replacing windows on the east side of the Community Center to Oakes and Parkhurst of Farmington for $4,093.84. While $3,825 was budgeted for the windows, the remaining $268.84 will be covered by budgeted items that were not undertaken this year, Town Manager Richard Davis said.

Several applications for a committee to study the police department’s space needs have been received, Davis said. Applications will be accepted until Sept. 19 for selectmen to review at their Sept. 23 meeting.