Friends of Seattle's Olmsted Parks interpretive panel stolen from Volunteer Park water tower

July 1, 10:52 PMSeattle History ExaminerBenjamin Lukoff

Previous Next

Comment Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Seattle History Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

Volunteer Park Water Tower. Photo by Flickr user SibleyHunter,
some rights reserved

The Capitol Hill Times is reporting (as of this writing, in print only) the theft, on June 24, of "an...interpretive panel showing the interrelationship of Seattle's water system with [Seattle's parks]" from the top of the Volunteer Park water tower. (UPDATE 7/3: The story is now up on their Web site.) (UPDATE 7/15: Looks like Capitol Hill Seattle picked this up a couple of days after I did, giving a figure of $9,000, rather than $5,000, as the value of the stolen panel.)

The panel — one of six — was installed by Friends of Seattle's Olmsted Parks in 1997. They are asking anyone who knows anything to call Joelle Ligon at (206) 684-8020.

I've heard of people being unappreciative of local history, but this is ridiculous. Who would steal such a thing, and how did they do it undetected, given the panel's size and weight (50 pounds)?

I do wonder, though — the Capitol Hill Times says it cost more than $5,000 to build. I wonder how much of that was materials and fabrication, and if the panels were made of metal.

If you see anyone carrying any of the remaining five panels down the winding staircase, I'd be very suspicious — and, again, if you know anything, call Joelle Ligon at (206) 684-8020.