Fire damages Chesapeake playground

CHESAPEAKE, Va. (WAVY) -  Lilly Kujawa ran to be the first in her family to enter Fun Forest at Chesapeake's City Park .

But she was turned away, disappointed. Early Thursday, someone torched the popular playground at Chesapeake's City Park.

"I really wanted to go to the park," said Lilly, "Because I was all excited, then, we can't."

Mothers and their children showed up at the park all day Friday looking to play in Fun Forest. "Closed due to fire? Huh!", said one. They all turned away when they learned of the fire.

Another mother consoled her daughter, "All right buddy, you know what, we're gonna have to do something else because there was an accident at the park."

While Fun Forest is closed, the rest of the park remains open. The annual Eggstravaganza will go on this weekend as planned.

Lennie Luke, Senior Planner for Chesapeake Parks and Recreation, describes what was set on fire.

"It was our Math Maze, an element of our park that was on fire. It was investigated immediately by the fire department and it has been deemed to be an arson."

The fire department has not determined a damage amount yet and has not named any suspects. Until the damage is repaired or isolated, the entire playground remains off-limits. More than 1,800 volunteers built Fun Forest in 1995. Since then, the park has won awards for its design.

"It's a real operational wonder out here," Luke said. "We've had a lot of fun with over the years and we're sorry to see this happen."

He says this school break, there will be a lot of young children who can't enjoy the park. The department is already working on designs and expects Fun Forest to open again this year.

Fun Forest was originally built with volunteer efforts, corporate and public donations. It will take that kind of effort to rebuild it.

A reward of up to $6,000 is being offered for any information leading to an arrest. If you know anything that could help in this case, call Crime Line at 1-888-LOCK-U-UP.