Pieces were taken by mistake and will be returned
By Kathleen Brady Shea, Managing Editor, The Times
The slides and ramp from this playground set were removed by mistake and will be returned, city officials said Thursday.
The answer to the question about who would steal playground equipment from Coatesville children has a positive ending, city officials said Thursday.
Marie Hess, who heads the city’s Park and Recreation Commission, said the alleged theft apparently occurred due to a misunderstanding at Lincoln University, which is renting the Gordon Education Center from the school district.
Hess said a Lincoln employee who knew that the university wanted the city-owned equipment out of its way received a go-ahead to move it from someone who did not know that Coatesville already had a plan in motion. Hess said she had been working for months to get assistance to relocate the equipment, valued at about $15,000, to Ash Park across the street.
She said she finally got help from three area businesses and a nonprofit in response to a last-minute social-media plea. But the volunteers were disheartened when they arrived Tuesday and found pieces of the setup – including a ramp and slide – had disappeared, she said.
The police were called, and an investigation began into the “theft.” When the Lincoln worker returned to the site, he was shocked and dismayed to learn that the equipment, which had been given to the city by the school district several years ago, had been deemed stolen, and he will be returning it, Hess said.
“It’s all good now,” Hess said. She said the volunteers had already begun discussing ways to replace the missing pieces. “They’re really a great group,” she said, referring to Keares Electric, The Coatesville Solar Initiative, Mid-Atlantic Forestry Equipment, and David’s Drive 831.
Hess said the relocation plan would have continued even without key parts of the assemblage. Now, Hess said, the work can progress “without worrying about getting the money” to complete the set. She said she hoped it would be ready for use at Ash Park within the next two weeks.
