A Baltimore City community rallied Wednesday to begin rebuilding a neighborhood playground destroyed in a blaze fire officials are investigating.
“We want to be able to address people’s questions about the next step and reassure the community that we will rebuild this playground,” said Sara Milstein, spokeswoman for the Y of Central Maryland.
“The outpouring of attention and support that has come after this fire is evidence of a community that really cares about the health and well-being of its neighbors … The playground serves a very important unmet need in Baltimore City, which is to provide healthy open play spaces for children.”
Baltimore City Councilwoman Mary Pat Clarke and the Y of Central Maryland partnered to kick off reconstruction efforts at a rally Wednesday evening at the site of the former playground behind the YMCA building on East 33rd Street in Northeast Baltimore at the former site of Memorial Stadium.
The playground, which was somewhat isolated, could have been set ablaze maliciously Tuesday afternoon, but no other “suspicious” fires have occurred in the area recently, said Battalion Chief Kevin Cartwright, city fire department spokesman.
Baltimore City police said Wednesday that they have not determined whether the incident was arson, and they have no suspects.
“We’re investigating every possible scenario, until we come up with a solid answer as to what started the fire,” said Officer Troy Harris, a city police spokesman.
The $500,000 playground began as the community’s contribution to revitalizing the old Memorial Stadium site, Clarke said, and took 3,500 volunteers and years of private fund-raising to construct in 2005.
Clarke said in a news release that the playground, which goes by the name “Our Playground at Stadium Place,” had become “a place to celebrate the children of the various neighborhoods which surround the old Memorial Stadium and beyond.”
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