Playground fire
Earlier this morning, it wasn't known whether the fire that burned the playground so lovingly built by residents on East 33rd Street, the site of the old Memorial Stadium, was intentionally set.
Late this morning, city police said they are investigating the fire as a possible arson.
It's hard to imagine how anyone could set fire to something built with such caring and devoted hands. A little more than a year ago, when I wrote the Baltimore Sun's Watchdog column, I mentioned complaints from some parents that the playground gates sometimes didn't open promptly at 8 a.m. Also, someone had spray painted a profanity on a sign that could be seen by children.
The YMCA, which assumed responsibility for running the playground, quickly corrected the wrongs. But I remember the impassioned endorsement a Y official gave for the caretaker, Greg Phillips, who worked seven days a week at the 14,000-square-foot playground. "He practically sleeps there," Y spokeswoman Sara I. Milstein said then.
Needless to say, the Internet listservs in Northeast Baltimore's Ednor Gardens are going crazy with commentary. Some mention chatter about a suspect being in custody; city police and fire officials told us this morning that no arrests have been made. But people are wondering about the young man seen at the scene in the back of a police car.
Good evening, friends and neighbors,
First: A community meeting will be held Wednesday, September 10th, 2008 at 5:30 pm in the parking lot of the Waverly YMCA – 900 E. 33rd Street. The meeting will be indoors if we experience rain. Please come to this meeting as a way of showing your support for the community experiencing this loss, and take part in rebuilding efforts.
Second: The rebuilding process will be long, but we are all committed to ensuring that the volunteer efforts put into building this playground do not go to waste. Please send donations – however small – to:
Friends of Our Playground
C/O GHCC
3503 N. Charles Street
Baltimore, MD 21218
Take care, and please pass this message on to your co-workers, family, friends and neighbors.
Sincerely,
Olga E. Maltseva
Community Resource Manager
Neighborhood and Economic Development Programs
Date: Tuesday, September 9, 2008, 7:42 PM
Adding barbed wire on top of the fence would be prudent, in my opinion. The existing 6 foot fence has always been a joke. The kids vault it like it's nothing. That or replace it with a 9 or 10 foot tall fence if the look of barbed wire is too severe.
Rob
Tue, Sep 9, 2008 at 5:54 PM,
I encourage everyone with kids who played at the playground to get their kids to talk about, draw, or otherwise document what they liked best about the playground and what they didn't like so much. The upside of rebuilding is that it doesn't have to be exactly like it was -- it can be better.
Joe
Sept 9, 2008, at 4:40 PM
I just wandered down and took a look; from what I saw and the pictures at WBAL's website, it looks like the Tot Lot is OK, as are the swing sets on both sides of the playground. The damage is confined to the main part of the older kids's side of the playground, as well as some of the fence on the east side. WJZ is reporting that they already have one person of interest in custody, and either WBAL or WJZ has contact info for donations or volunteering, so it sounds to me like they're going to rebuild. I hope so. I have a lot of happy memories of playing there with my son when he was younger. He always loved the rocket ship and the volcano (and the crab on the Tot Lot side).
Elizabeth
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
This is the most awful thing! My son will be devastated! I hope we can rebuild; does the playground have insurance? The same thing happened a couple of years ago to a newly built playground at Riverside Park in South Baltimore. I hope someone can post to the list about rebuilding plans; I would absolutely love to help and would hate to see this fantastic addition to our community not be rebuilt.
Melissa
Date sent: Tue, 9 Sep 2008
WJZ is saying now that fire officials are saying that given the isolated nature of the fire, they think it may be "malicious". You've got to wonder who would do that to a playground. My poor son was so upset :-(
White Marsh, MD 21236
Comments
Did the Y not carry insurance on the playground?
Posted by: Baltomommie | September 10, 2008 1:02 PM
Missing after school programs
We all loved this playground. It was a beautiful community effort that built this playground and it will be a beautiful community effort to rebuild the playground. Yet if we are to look at the anger and incorrect behavior of much of our city's youth, we need only to look at the budget cuts on education and lack of after school programs made available to our city's youth.
If our city government truly cares about our city's youth and cutting down crime at the root, let us provide opportunities for our youngest citizen's lead meaningful lives.
Peer to Peer youth enterprises was petitioning for 3 million dollars for after school programs yet our mayor rejected their request and supports a 300 million dollar developer lead effort to "remodel/expand" 1st Mariner Arena.
Shouldn't we question our societies priorities? Now they all want to add Slot machines to our city's culture which will only increase the depravity. If we truly want to stop the cycle of violence, the only way to do so is to provide education and opportunities for the next generation to have a chance to do something positive.
Let us all struggle for that shift in priorities!
Yes We Can!!!
Posted by: Tim | September 10, 2008 2:40 PM
My kids and their friends and I helped build this playground from the initial groundbreaking to painting of the various structures. We helped with the cleaning up of the site as well as sprucing it up in later years. You can bet we'll be there again to Rebuild! Our names are on the slats and our hearts and souls are there as well.
Posted by: Jim Hunter | September 10, 2008 8:22 PM
I was one of the many volunteer builders, and I'm rarin' to go to rebuild. As for whether this was intentional, has anybody bothered to google "playground fire"? There have been fires like this in Arlington, Tx, WAILUKU Hawaii, BROCKTON, Mass. and other places around the country. It seems it's the latest thing to do.
Posted by: Edvado | September 10, 2008 9:37 PM
I totally agree with the person who made the comment about lack of appropriate after-school programs. As a YMCA member, I fully appreciate the efforts they make to meet this need, but their programming and supervision level is clearly inadequate, as evidenced by kids just hanging around, running out in front of cars in the parking lot, entering the gym when they're not supposed to, and asking members for money. I hate to say it because I love the YMCA's mission, but it almost makes me want to switch to a private health club.
Posted by: Stella | September 11, 2008 3:27 PM
I was also one of the volunteers who helped build the playground, but I spent more time photographing the process. I have scores of photos documenting the project.
It is very sad that someone may have found pleasure in destroying the physical result of the love and pride that built the playground...it is also inspiring to know that this act of selfishness will be put down with many acts of selflessness and determination. It will be the second set of 'acts' that demonstrates grit and courage while the first would indicate no more than a cowardly prank.
Posted by: Cynthea Burns | October 2, 2008 12:58 PM