STAMFORD -- Mayor Michael Pavia and Director of Operations Ernie Orgera stood on the shattered slabs of West Beach's parking lot Thursday and looked down at a broken park bench.

The wooden resting spot was submerged in sand and missing one of its metal armrests. A small rectangular plaque indicated the bench had been donated to the city in memory of Bill Mancusi.

"We have to save this," Orgera said. "People pay a lot of money to dedicate these to their loved ones."

The bench was one of many destroyed by Hurricane Sandy Monday. Stamford's shoreline felt the full force of the storm, which snapped trees, scattered debris and uprooted cement-secured picnic tables as if they were candles plucked from a birthday cake.

"We just replaced this sidewalk," Orgera said as he looked at West Beach's walkway, which rested atop the sand in broken sections.

The hurricane's powerful winds also pushed sand under the beach's parking lot, causing the concrete to lift and separate as if split by an earthquake. Fragments from a broken deck, likely ripped from a home across the water, were strewn across the parking lot. Half of a green canoe floated in a puddle near the bathrooms.

The damage at Cove Island Park was so extensive Orgera said he fears the beaches may not open on time next year. The hurricane's winds pushed the sand off the beach and into the field, exposing the shore's clay basin and burying picnic benches in 3 feet of sand.

The building housing the lifeguard station and changing rooms at Quigley Beach was knocked off its foundation and will need to be condemned. A toilet and broken sink sat in a sand dune near the flag pole.

"This is going to cost several million dollars to repair," Orgera said. "I can't figure out what we're going to have to do to get the beaches open by spring."

The damage is far worse than what the city saw last year during Tropical Storm Irene, Pavia said. Stamford recently received the last of its Federal Emergency Management Agency reimbursements from that storm, which totaled about $1.1 million. The mayor said he expects Stamford will again see federal assistance after Hurricane Sandy.

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Stamford beaches sustain millions in damages