Where Lucy the Pika once crouched…
Pika statue from Ravenna Park playground. Used with permission from Seattle Parks and Recreation.
…there is naught but a hole, a bent screw, and the name of the missing critter and her donor family.
Photo courtesy Tracey Sconyers
Of the eleven bronze animal sculptures that have graced the Ravenna Park playground since 2008, four reportedly went missing over the weekend: Two pika, a deer mouse, and a mourning dove.
View Ravenna Park playground in a larger map
From resident Tracey Sconyers, who lives near the park (via email):
My girls informed me today [Monday, June 17] that four of the small animal statues are missing from around the Ravenna Park playground. They noticed yesterday (Sunday) that they were gone. I walked over the the park about an hour ago, and it looks like two pika, one deer mouse, and one mourning dove were cut from the rocks. All the missing pieces were along the upper sidewalk area, the one that passes directly in front of the little maintenance building.…Each [sculpture] was custom made for its location, and were a gift to the park, in commemoration for the extensive time and money that several families made to ensure that the playground was renovated.
Sconyers says she has called several local metal recyclers to make them aware of the thefts, and to keep an eye out for the sculptures.
Seattle Parks and Recreation’s Joelle Hammerstad tells us that Parks has already contacted the artist, Rachel Boughton, about possible replacements if the stolen animals are not returned. Good news: The artist still has the molds.
Photo courtesy Tracey Sconyers
You can view the Friends of Ravenna Playground site here, thanks to the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine. The playground was renovated with money from grants and fundraising, and reopened with new play equipment in 2007.
Thank you, meth heads and/or a-holes.
As the curtain of freedom slowly falls and our every movement, caught on surveillance/traffic cameras on every street corner and park in America, consider that it is NOT our government that takes these things away, but our citizens who, in their plight, do what they must to survive. THIS is the price of not ensuring that every citizen in our country has gainful employment and a place at the table of our culture.
Ripping metal out of a public park to sell for pennies is just common theft, swansuite, no matter how much you try to spin or sugarcoat it. Those little statues were designed for children and placed around a playground for their benefit, for crying out loud. I am sure you and your ilk could find a less cruel and mindlessly destructive way to Stick It To The Man whilst finding “a place at the table of our culture.”
The good news is that they will be coming back, I hope in the next month or so, with sturdier anchoring hardware and bases. Anyone who would like to send me photos of the locations, I’d be appreciative, since it will help me in designing the bases. rachelboughton@comcast.net
They have names? that’s pretty cool. Lucy is the pika with the grass in her mouth I think? do the other ones have names too?
Thanks
Rachel Boughton