Originally published March 26 in the Crestline Advocate
By Kim Ross-Polito, Crestline Advocate editor
If you turned to Sidelines for a belly laugh, you might want to turn the page. But if you’re in the mood for a good, healthy mad, keep reading.
Last week, under cover of darkness, one or more of our local mental giants decided to burn down the playground at Hamilton Park. There’s no doubt it was intentional. They soaked the area with gasoline and lit it, causing about $20,000 in damage to the playscape.
To call these arsonists morons would be an insult to morons everywhere.
It was the most senseless, asinine and heartless act of destruction in recent memory. And the victims are a bunch of innocent children.
The history of the lovely playscape is a story of a community working together to do something nice. It’s no secret that Crestline is a low income town. Most children here don’t have an excess of material wealth in their lives. But Crestline has always had excellent parks and recreation facilities, from the very beginning. Today, our swimming pool and ball parks rival much larger towns. Our parks are beautiful and spacious, providing families and visitors the opportunity to get outdoors and enjoy nature.
In 2008, some Crestline City Council members decided to continue that tradition, spearheading a drive to create a state-of-the-art playscape at Hamilton Park. The city obtained grants from the state of Ohio and the Bucyrus Area Foundation to supplement the city’s share. Several groups and individuals stepped up for the project, donating money, labor, equipment and supplies for the project. The process took months of effort, but the result was a beautiful area for our children to play.
It only took some idiot a few minutes to destroy all that work. On today’s front page, you can see what it looked like before last week’s destruction. You can insert your expletive of choice here. Mine is unfit for a family newspaper.
I don’t endorse criminal behavior. But there are some crimes I at least understand. Crimes of passion. Crimes for financial gain. Crimes to feed an addiction. But this particular arson is inexplicable and unexplainable. It hurts no one but the innocent. It is beyond stupid. And as Judge Judy says, you can’t fix stupid.
I am confident that the people responsible for this crime are so incredibly stupid, they will not be able to resist taking credit. They will tell somebody. And that’s where you come in. The Ohio Fire Marshal’s office has put up a $5,000 reward for information leading to the capture and conviction of Crestline’s arsonist. These people need to be caught and prosecuted for felony arson. And if it takes 5,000 clams to do it, good.
Citizens of Crestline should be outraged that this happened. We have few enough resources here to tolerate such thoughtless destruction. The Crestline police are gathering tips about the crime. I am asking anyone with any information, no matter how incomplete, to call them at 419-683-2222. If you are afraid of the criminals, leave an anonymous tip at 419-683-5300.
This community worked together to build something beautiful. We need to work together to catch the idiots who destroyed it.