Garden City’s most popular playground, destroyed by arson in November, will cost $78,000 to repair and won’t reopen until June.
GARDEN CITY, Idaho — Garden City officials received an estimate recently to repair one of the city’s most popular playgrounds, damaged in a November arson attack that marked the first such incident in at least 15 years or ever.
The cost to replace the smaller youth playground equipment and safety surfacing below it at Pamela J. Beaumont Riverfront Park on East 42nd Street is $78,000.
While the city parks occasionally are vandalized, November’s arson incident is a first.
“When we found out that it had been lit on fire, that was quite a shock to us,” said Colin Schmidt, Garden City’s public works director. “I’ve been the director here for about 15 years, and first time it’s ever happened.”
Schmidt said the playground that was damaged is meant for younger kids around ages 2 to 5, or even up to ten years old. The other larger and much taller playground intended for older ages was untouched and remains open.
Schmidt said someone appeared to use an accelerant at the base of the damaged play structure.
“The safety flooring down there has been damaged, and you can kind of tell that that’s where the fire started,” he said. “So from there, it just started everything else, and most of this parking equipment is plastic, so there’s not much left when it’s done.”
The timing compounds the frustration. The city installed new safety surfacing at the park just last summer, replacing old bark with modern playground flooring. Now that, and the playground need repairs.
Two juvenile males were arrested in connection with the fire and are facing felony charges of arson and aiding in a felony.
“The one thing I have to give props out to the local police department,” Schmidt said. “They wasted no time in finding the folks that did this. So they did a great job.”
The damaged playground has been fenced off and lined with police tape for the past two months since the incident took place. Schmidt said the closure is disappointing given how many people use the park including the Boise Ada County Boys and Girls Club that is right next, and a future school that is opening up nearby.
“A lot of people, lot of kids use it,” he said.
While insurance will cover most the $78,000 repair costs, the city faces a $10,000 deductible that will come from taxpayer funds.
“We have insurance which will cover it, which is nice, but we do have a deductible that the city will have to take care of,” Schmidt said, adding the funds come “out of the general fund. The taxpayer funds.”
The city is also installing a $15,000 camera system at the park that can help identify who is doing any future vandalism or arson.
Even with funding secured, repairs could take months. Weather conditions will dictate the timeline.
“The biggest problem is going to be the safety flooring on it that cannot be put in until the weather stays above 50 degrees day and night, so probably June before it’s fully functional,” Schmidt said.
Schmidt said he hopes repairs can begin in a month.
In the meantime, younger children using the park’s playground designed for older kids is a less-than-ideal solution.
“The biggest thing is taller it’s if little kids fall from the taller equipment, it’s probably not going to end up as well as here,” Schmidt said. “Everything’s pretty close to the ground.”
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