The empty frame and plywood backing left behind (Photos: Friends of Seattle’s Olmsted Parks)
CHS is offering a $300 reward for the return of an exhibit panel stolen from Volunteer Park in late June.
The recent theft of the porcelain-enamel and steel panel from an exhibit inside the Volunteer Park water tower has left the community group that created the display looking for answers. Why would somebody steal a 50-pound interpretive panel illustrating the interrelationship of Seattle’s Water System with Seattle’s Parks? And how can the section of the more than $20,000 exhibit be replaced?
“We can’t quite understand why anyone would take it and why anyone would want it,” Friends of Seattle’s Olmsted Parks board member Jerry Arbes told CHS. “It’s not something you’d want to hang on your wall. The only hope is somebody thought they wanted it and then changed their mind.”
According to Arbes, the panel was produced in 1997 by the community group as part of a 6-panel permanent exhibit on Seattle’s Olmsted legacy. It was a neighborhood matching grant project with co-sponsorship by the Capitol Hill Community Council.
Arbes said the cost of replacing the panel could be between $5,000 and $10,000.
“We’re looking at the options,” Arbes said. “One option is to try to replace it as it was and try to raise some money to do that. We also might explore new technology that has emerged in recent years.”
CHS is offering a $300 reward for the return of the panel in good condition. Contact us at [email protected] if you have any information about the incident.
Spokesperson for Seattle Parks Joelle Ligon said her office is not able to offer a reward at this time but is helping Arbes’ group get the word out and make contacts for fundraisers to support replacing the panel.
I’d like to contribute to the panel reward amount. So much work and skill went into the panel’s creation. The empty frame on the wall leaves a blank spot in the story of our neighborhood/park/reservoir history, mars the educational display and defies reason as a destructive act.
Thanks Kay! I wouldn’t be hugely surprised to find out it’s somewhere near the park, hidden in the brush, etc. Would love to inspire a few recovery missions.
That is so darned sweet of you, jseattle. Thanks for pitching in to help out the park.
Strange indeed. Not that it matters much, but it probably had to have been at least two people to get it down that crazy set of stairs.
I’d definitely donate some money for a replacement.
We need to get the word out and organize a few search teams around the Hill. If everyone looks in the dumpsters and alleys around the park, I bet we’ll find it. I’ll take the kids out and look around today.