MILWAUKEE — A community is asking ‘why’ after a fire destroyed playground equipment at a Milwaukee park over the weekend.
It happened at about 1:25 p.m. Sunday afternoon in Butterfly Park at 37th and Meinecke.
Police said the fire was intentionally set by teenagers. A 14-year-old boy and a 17-year-old boy are in custody, but they’re still seeking more suspects.
Eight-year-old Nicholas Duke loved to play at the playground, which is feet away from his home.
“I really liked the playground,” Duke said. “We get to swing, slide, climb on the monkey bars and have fun.”
Now it’s in ruins and charred to pieces with holes in the slides.
Hot flames melted the slides like candles, twisted pieces of metal, and covered the rest in ash, leaving a dark shadow on a place once filled with life and color.
Duke’s dad, who has the same name, said it wasn’t the first time this happened, and that in recent months people started fires in garbage cans in the neighborhood.
“I think it’s sad. I think it’s disturbing,” Duke Sr. said. “What’s going to be next, one of these houses?”
Kenneth Davis has lived in the community for four years, and can’t imagine what would urge these teens to do such a thing.
“It’s a selfish mentality, what’s fun for them at the moment,” Davis said.
Duke Sr. said he thinks the teens are bored.
“They’ve got nothing to do,” Duke Sr. said.
Instead, Davis feels they need some positive encouragement.
“I partially take blame. I feel like some of the older people in the community should be out here giving these kids, instilling some pride in them and finding stuff for them to do,” Davis said.
Now all they can do is look forward, and work together to rebuild a place for all ages to enjoy.
“I just hope that they will fix it up and it won’t never happen again,” Duke Jr. said.
An all-new Butterfly Park has actually been in the works for a couple of years.
Community organizer, Camille Mays has been working with local organizations to redesign the park. She’s shocked by what happened.
“It was barely anything for them to use and utilize, but now the minimal things that they had are now destroyed,” Mays said. “You have a lot of people working to redevelop the park and invest in the community spaces, and something like this happens.”
Mays said the last time the park was redeveloped was in 1995 and to this day all that was there were a few broken swings and a small playground.
“We want people to you know value the spaces in the community and have nice things for the kids to play on,” Mays said.
Jennifer Potts from the Center Street Marketplace Business Improvement District has helped with the process.
“We were thinking about a swimming pool, a basketball area and of course the playground,” Potts said.
Now, as police seek more suspects, Potts said the community will push forward.
“This is not going to stop us from doing what we are doing,” Potts said.
They plan to rally together to make the best park for their neighborhood.
“We’re asking right now all hands on deck. If you care about this community, if you’re already involved in this community, we need you now more than ever,” Potts said.
The hope is to have a brand new Butterfly Park by sometime next year.
