This is an archived photo of the playground at Staring Lake Park. One of the most popular features at this park was the orange tube slide. You can see it in the center of this photograph. It was great fun for kids. It was enclosed, and boy was it ever a fast ride to the bottom. Lots of fun. And it had been lots of fun in Eden Prairie since 1983.
This is what is left of the slide after this past weekend.
Arsonists poured gas down the slide and ignited it. The ensuing fire melted the slide. This is all that’s left.
The City has experienced a slew of park arsons this past year. Over the past twelve months we’ve lost to arson this slide at Staring Lake Park, a warming house at Forest Hills School, and more than a dozen outdoor portable toilets.
The total financial loss due to the arson in our parks is way over $50,000. That’s felony territory. At this moment, my staff is preparing for a major press event in Staring Lake Park to seek our citizens’ assistance in bringing the arsonist(s) to justice. There will be a reward announced for information leading to the arrest and conviction of whoever is doing this to our parks. To your parks.
We’ve got to stop this. Otherwise, we risk all our parks ending up looking like this:
We can do better than that in Eden Prairie.
