NEW CASTLE, Pa. — Brittney Philpot and many parents in the city of New Castle are frustrated over recent vandalism at the Park Avenue Playground.
“Oh, it’s, it’s heartbreaking,” Philpot told Channel 11’s Andrew Havranek.
The city said in the last two weeks, someone badly damaged three of the playground’s slides.
The bottom end of one slide has been cut out. The top is boarded up so no one can slide down.
“Probably two humans could stand inside of it,” Philpot said of the hole in the slide.
Two other slides have broken plastic that could seriously hurt a child.
But it’s not the only park that’s been vandalized.
Gaston Park, three miles away, has a slide with similar damage, and another one with what appears to be a burn hole.
Philpot said a lot of kids on her street usually play on the playground, and now can’t.
“It’s frustrating because you have to find other avenues, and if you don’t have transportation or if you can’t get places easily. It’s unfair. I just think it’s all unfair. It’s not right,” Philpot said.
The city is working to get the equipment repaired.
“Unfortunately, that stuff is not cheap,” New Castle City Administrator Chris Frye said.
The city has one bid for the damage at Park Avenue Playground. It would cost more than $55,000 to fix.
Frye is working to see the city can use the annual Community Development Block Grant to help pay for it, but it’s going to take some time.
They’re also looking into installing cameras at the parks to prevent this from happening again.
“If anyone knows something, please report it to us,” Frye said. “Unfortunately, those parks don’t have cameras, and there was no ability to do a full investigation on it.”
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