Children outside William P. Nixon Elementary School had recess at their normal time on Thursday, but after an intentionally set blaze destroyed their playground, part of their usual running space was blocked off by crime scene tape.
The young students played soccer. The giggles turned into sighs when their soccer ball rolled away from them, drifting underneath the red crime scene tape. A teacher later ducked under the tape to retrieve the errant ball.
The schoolchildren were forced to make due because on Tuesday night the playground at the school, 2121 N. Keeler Ave., went up in flames. Chicago police were investigating the blaze as arson.
According to Officer Jose Lemus-Cortez, a Chicago police spokesman, officers responded to a call of a fire at the school about 6 p.m.
Fire investigators also were called out and later determined the fire was intentionally set, according to Lemus-Cortez, who added that nobody was hurt and no arrests had been made.
Three years ago, Hermosa community members raised about $300,000 to rebuild the once-dilapidated playground. Now, the playground once again is in disrepair, said 35th Ward Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa.
The community response was swift, with more than 50 parents attending a Thursday afternoon meeting at the school to discuss future plans for the playground and to address any questions parents had.
As they gathered at the school for the meeting, they walked through a door with a sign posted on it that read: “Children First, building for their future.”
Their goal was to push for the playground to be resurrected immediately.
Edwin Torres is a parent of two boys who attend Nixon. He said his sons use that playground often.
“My 5-year-old told me yesterday, ‘Papi, the slide got burned down and I can’t go down the slide anymore,’” Torres said. “It hurts me as a father. It’s just a slide to anybody else but to me, it’s my son not being able to go down the slide that he worked hard for to have recess.”
During the meeting, Torres said he posed several questions such as: What are we going to do for safety? What are we going to do about accountability? What are we going to do to make this better and not happen again?
The investigation is ongoing, but parents, students, teachers, school administrators, and concerned neighbors weren’t content to sit idly by.
Another parent, Dulce Herrera, has a daughter in kindergarten at Nixon. Herrera wants to see more money being invested in CPS schools so they can be restored.
“It aggravates me that it took an arson for us to be heard,” Herrera said. “We need more help.”
Ramirez-Rosa, who also attended the meeting, called the fire a “travesty” and said that “CPS is working expeditiously to fix this ASAP.”
“They will have the playground cleaned out by the end of this weekend and they hope this new playground will be there,” Ramirez-Rosa said.
Ramirez-Rosa said he will be offering $100,000 toward the restoration of the playground through the aldermanic menu fund of the 35th Ward.
“They have contracted with an architect and a design team to begin re-imagining and working on the new plans for this playground, and they’re hoping that this playground will be completed in the spring of 2022.”
Ramirez-Rosa said security measures such as fences and cameras are part of the plan to keep the area safe.
“If a young person did this, they are going through some trouble right now,” Ramirez-Rosa said. “We need to reach them so that this doesn’t happen again and they need to understand the harm that they caused in our community.”
Though the playground no longer has a slide and the metal bars are partially melted, the alderman took the time to recognize those who helped build a safe playground for kids in the Hermosa community.
Standing behind him were several mothers whom he praised for working hard for the playground.
“These are the parents who worked so hard to build this playground in 90-degree weather in 2018,” Ramirez-Rosa said. “They literally built it, I remember seeing them with cement.”
Ramirez-Rosa is leading a peace walk for the Hermosa community on Thursday, Nov. 11, at noon. Until then, he hopes more information about the fire will be unveiled.
“If anyone has evidence related to this we are asking that you come forward so we can resolve this issue and have some justice here,” he said.
tatturner@chicagotribune.com
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