Firefighters raced to Elizabeth Park in the Columbia Neighborhood Sunday evening April 10 after smoke had been spotted coming out of the bathrooms. Minutes later they responded to smoke coming from the Broadway Youth Center located at 1415 Dupont St. only a block away. Arson is suspected in both fires by a group of middle-schoolers that were reportedly seen walking around the area according to residents.
The fire in the bathrooms at Elizabeth Park is believed to have been started on the toilet paper rolls. From this location it is determined that the arsonists made it to the youth center and started another one. This fire was out before the firefighters got there. It is believed that the arsonists entered the building through a window and started the fire in a trash can in the bathrooms since the bathroom doors were locked.
Broadway Youth Center club director Rick Qualls was called by one of the neighboring businesses about the fire. “We just grabbed our coats and ran out the door,” he said. “We live in the neighborhood so it only took a minute or so to get there.” The firefighters were already on the scene once he got there. The fire was already out but had taken its toll on the building. “It is doubtful that the locations were ‘targeted’,” said Qualls. He doesn’t believe that anyone would have anything against the youth center, but the suspects were just looking for a place that they could get away quickly.
“It’s surprising that no-one interfaced with them,” said park visitor Kim Bauer. The neighborhood around the area is primarily residential and the people that live there feel safe from acts such as this. “Kids do what kids do,” said Bauer. The park continued to be busy as ever after the news of the fires in the area spread. “I don’t think it will scare people from coming here during the day, said Bauer, they were damaging property not people.”
Others believe that steps should be taken to help protect the community from future similar situations. “Hopefully they’ll have a meeting and try and get someone to watch over the park,” said Julie Silverman, a mother that frequents the park. She finds the situation scary and uncertain.
There wasn’t much damage done to the park bathrooms but the youth center sustained damage that will hinder it from re-opening until it is fixed. Qualls was hopeful of the future for the center. “There were some changes ahead of us even prior to the fire; this may just accelerate that process.” He believes that the kids who started the fire took part in the activities at the youth center, a disappointing thought for Qualls because the center encourages kids to take part in its activities and discourages them from acts such as this. Finding the arsonists responsible for the fire is a police matter and charges will be pressed against them if they are found.
The youth center opens at 3 p.m. Monday to Friday. The normal building will remain closed until the damages can be fixed. “The time frame for re-opening is in the hands of the insurance companies involved,” said Qualls. Until then they will be operating from a building in the same area.
Arson isn’t a frequent occurrence in the neighborhood and just one instance of it won’t scare the people that visit the park often away. The youth center was a bit more damaged than the park and so the people that use it and work there are adapting to the situation by relocating to a different building for the time being. The services offered normally at the youth center are still in effect and will remain so as they work to repair the damages as well as make improvements to the building where business generally takes place.
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