Around 3 p.m. on Sunday, July 4, newly installed playground equipment at Northside Park was burned. The new equipment installation cost roughly $70,000, but the price of the damaged equipment lost in the fire is still to be determined.
The equipment was funded by part of a $200,000 appropriation state Senator Blackmon shepherded through the legislature for Northside Park improvements.
Kosciusko Mayor Tim Kyle said that the cause of the fire is still unknown, but the Kosciusko Police Department is investigating. Kyle said that neither the parks director, fire chief, police chief, or himself were notified that the fire had occurred until Tuesday morning, July 6.
“There was a tremendous amount of fireworks shot in that area, but if that was the cause, is still to be determined,” said Kyle. “Personally, I’m not an investigator, but it seems highly unlikely.”
He also said that the amount of trash in the park and the disregard of the equipment for children is very discouraging.
The mayor said that when he became an alderman, there were gates at the park. Years ago, a baseball league was held there and personnel running those leagues would close the park at night.
The city is now considering having police lock the gate at a certain time when they make nightly rounds at the park.
“There has been a lot of stuff happening right now that is not conducive for somebody's safety in some of these activities, so we're going to do something to address it,” Kyle said.
Cardinals Youth Football president Antonio Riley, who leads a citizen group involved with the park, said the community has established a reward for information on who caused the fire. With a reward currently at $500 — with collections continuing to increase it — Riley said the money will be awarded to the person who comes forward with accurate details about what occurred that afternoon.
“It all boils down to accountability. Whoever had anything to do with this structure being burned down or messed with is going to be held accountable to it. We don't care who it is. We don't care what nationality — white, black, green, yellow, or purple,” he said. “It starts now. We need to be accountable. There are rules and regulations to everything that you do.”
