Community rallies to rebuild ‘Purple Park' after suspicious fire at Edmonton school playground
A fire early Saturday morning destroyed the playground at St. Pius X Elementary School, known locally as 'Purple Park.' The Sherbrooke Community League has launched a fundraising campaign in hopes of rebuilding the structure, which was the result of nearly 10 years of community work.
As of Monday, more than $7,895 had been raised toward a $50,000 goal, including a $5,000 donation from the neighbouring Prince Charles Community League. The remaining $2,895 has come from the wider Edmonton community, in donations ranging from $25 to $100, said Sherbrooke Community League president Catherine Jevic.
'The community is coming together at the park and throughout the neighbourhood, stopping and talking with one another about the fire and next steps,' she told Postmedia. 'Everyone is curious how it happened, how much insurance will end up covering and when the reconstruction can be completed.'
Jevic said the playground has been especially important for local families due to its accessible design and daily use.
'Accessible recreation spaces are so difficult to find, so this park has been a game changer for many families in the neighbourhood, including the rocking table and other accommodations,' she said. ''Purple Park' was a children's landmark. The children are heartbroken, but they know how much love was poured into the space and that the community will come together and rebuild the playground as soon as we can.'
The original playground was built by the St. Pius X Parent Association, she added.
The fire broke out around 8 a.m. Saturday. According to Edmonton police, officers in the area saw smoke coming from near 122 Avenue and 128 Street. When they arrived, they found the playground beside St. Pius X Catholic Elementary School on fire. Edmonton Fire Rescue Services (EFRS) responded and quickly extinguished the blaze.
No injuries were reported, and the school itself was not affected.
One EFRS crew and a district chief were dispatched to the scene and had the fire under control within 17 minutes of arrival, said public information officer Ian Riddick.
The Edmonton Police Service (EPS) has labelled the fire suspicious and continues to investigate. As of Monday, access to the playground remains closed. Investigators are asking anyone with information, or with dashcam or security footage from between 5 and 8 a.m. Saturday in the area of 122 Avenue and 128 Street, to contact police.
EPS said in an email Monday that 'the investigation is ongoing' and they will be providing 'a more fulsome update when one is available.'
In a Facebook post, the St. Pius X Parent Association expressed shock and sorrow.
'We are devastated to find our school park in flames. For now, we have no words. We are grateful to every human, business, and community member who helped us build this playground. We are sad for the students of St. Pius X and hope to see it rebuilt as soon as possible.'
The playground was the result of years of collaboration between the Sherbrooke Community League, the parent association, and local families and volunteers.
Donations to support the rebuild can be made through the Sherbrooke Community League's website or Facebook page.
cnguyen@postmedia.com
Edmonton police seize synthetic opioids disguised as Xanax
Man with history of attacking Edmonton transit users given 7 years for random killing at LRT station
You can also support our journalism by becoming a digital subscriber. Subscribers gain unlimited access to The Edmonton Journal, Edmonton Sun, National Post and 13 other Canadian news sites. Support us by subscribing today: The Edmonton Journal | The Edmonton Sun.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Yahoo
People Who Divorced In Their First Year Of Marriage Are Revealing The "Final Straw" Moment That Ended It All
We recently wrote a post where people who got divorced in their first year of marriage revealed the shocking reasons why. In the comments, more readers shared their stories, which range from devastating to absolutely shocking. Here's what they had to say: 1."We were together for seven years before getting married, so I thought it was a sure thing. About six months after the marriage, he started getting distant. One night, I asked what was wrong. Completely blindsided me by saying he couldn't do it anymore, and he wanted out. He moved out shortly after claiming we had grown apart and weren't the same people. It turns out he was with a woman from his work; they married two years later and have a kid now." "I thought I'd never get over him and that heartbreak, but I've been in a long-term relationship for eight years. I'll never get married again; that ruined it for me." —Anonymous, 40, Canada 2."I was in my early 20s and had a young child from a previous relationship when I married my high school sweetheart. I broke up with him in high school because he cheated. I never felt the same about him. He had never gotten over me and pursued me consistently. Against my better judgment, I gave in because marrying him seemed to make sense. He proposed, probably a month after I agreed to be his girlfriend. He went out of his way to care for my daughter and me. After marriage, he flipped a switch." "He became aggressive and controlling. We didn't last long after that. I learned that pushing for a quick commitment can be a sign of an abuser. I don't think he ever stopped cheating, either. I wish I had followed my intuition and stayed away." —Anonymous, 45, Florida 3."I married the Mormon missionary who baptized me. Moved from California to Tennessee, where his mother refused to let go of her 'baby.' I was pregnant after one month of marriage. His mother convinced him that he didn't love me and needed to divorce me. She had us over for dinner, where she tried to convince me to give our son up for adoption to his only sister. My dad flew out to Tennessee and packed my Ford Ranger up and drove me back to California." "Horrible 18 years of raising our son alone with my ex-husband, who was diagnosed many years later with bipolar disorder. Also, Tennessee racism is appalling, and I would never want to raise a child there. It was the most traumatic experience." —Anonymous, 43, California 4."She was emotionally cheating on me with a friend for about 10 months and had had multiple physical affairs I never knew about. We'd been together five years, living together for three, and had a house together. We got married last June, then in September, our mutual friend, with whom she was having an emotional affair, gave her an ultimatum of either leaving me for him, or he would break things off. She freaked out and wrote me a letter about how she had been having this emotional affair since our engagement, six months before the wedding, and it was going strong, but she wanted to be honest with me and tell me herself. ... I decided to stay with her and give couples therapy a chance because I was raised that you don't just give up on a marriage. After all, a situation gets difficult, or someone makes a mistake. Through that, though, she ultimately confessed that she had several physical affairs in the past five years." "Her last long-term relationship broke up because she had a sexual affair with him. She has been cheating in every relationship, ever. By January of this year, it was clear that her issues were a lot deeper than I was equipped to handle. The divorce went through a week or two ago. Ultimately, what happened was awful, but at least now I know, and my mutual friend and I talked everything through. We're not friends by any means, but we have an understanding. When I first found out, I definitely blamed him, but now, knowing everything, I'm 99% sure she pursued him for the attention and preyed on his existing struggle to find a solid long-term partner, I have better empathy for the situation he found himself in and am grateful that 1) he was the kind of guy to not take it physical, and 2) I found out when it was still early days of the marriage, and I had time to get out. No kids, no obligations, really. It sucks starting over again and losing five years with the wrong person, but at the end of the day, it is what it is, and I know I did everything I could to save the marriage and made the right choice for me. Oh, and the day I moved out, she was blowing up his phone (though he had blocked her), then got a friend to call him from their phone so he would pick up, not knowing it was her, and he blocked her again. And when I pushed through the divorce paperwork, she was blowing up my phone, but I later found out she had two other guy friends over at the house for 'emotional support.' Yeah, fun times, but pretty sure I dodged a bullet in the long term." —Anonymous, 29, California 5."I had just turned 21, and he was 31 when we first got together. We were together for four years, and it was alright (in hindsight, there were tons of red flags I ignored). We rushed the marriage because I needed health insurance. We were already engaged, but I had doubts that I chose to ignore because of health insurance. We had a little court wedding, and that night, he started laying out 'rules' for how a wife *should* act. I knew then I had messed up badly. Four months later, I filed for divorce." —Anonymous, 31, Texas 6."He was a Navy corpsman stationed out of state. When I called in the wee hours to tell him I was taking our infant son to the ER, a sleepy woman answered. I heard her tell him, 'It's your wife. Tell her, don't call here anymore.' When he came home, the top picture in his wallet was a strange baby girl. I found out that it was his daughter. He had started a new family near his post. I was done." "After I got a divorce, I found out he had told people at both our wedding and the reception that if it didn't work out, he could always get a divorce. They thought it was just a bad joke. We're Catholic, so it was also grounds for an annulment. He hasn't seen our son since the boy was 11; he's 35 now. I'm a happily married mother of three and grandmother of two now. My second husband raised my son and our children with me." —Anonymous, 63, Pennsylvania 7."I was older, 36, previously married, and had a child. He was younger, 30, and never married. After a few dates and starting to have strong feelings, I had a conversation like, 'It's early and probably too soon, but it's pointless to go further if you want to have children. I'm not having any more, my tubes are tied.' He reassured me that he would be happy with me and my child. Fast forward, we get married within a year of dating, and then after a couple of months of marriage, he asks me to have my tubes untied. Um, no, that's why I told you that from the start." "He should have been more honest with me and himself. We were divorced within the year. He remarried a few years later to another older woman, but convinced her to untie her tubes; they had a child." —Anonymous, 62, New Hampshire 8."We met in college and stumbled through years of an on-and-off, mostly long-distance relationship. I was young, hopeful, and maybe too eager to become a wife. We hopped from state to state, chasing fresh starts, but everything shifted once we landed in Texas. That's when the distance between us wasn't just about geography anymore. He started pulling away, blaming stress from his new job. His phone was always off. When I asked why, he casually turned it on like I was overreacting. When I questioned the woman who kept calling, he brushed it off: 'Just a colleague,' he said. She even vouched for their 'friendship,' managing to convince me I was out of my mind for doubting it. Still, something felt off. Marriage — once the topic we danced around with excitement — suddenly became a conversation he avoided like the plague. When I finally threatened to leave, he flipped the script." "He said the reason for his distance was that he was secretly planning to propose. And three months later, we were married. That should've been the happy ending, right? Instead, it was the unraveling. The 'friend' turned furious and spilled everything to me and the world. She started harassing him nonstop. Frankly, he deserved it. But then, she started calling my job. Reaching out to my family. Turning her rage on me. And she wasn't alone. His so-called 'lesbian' best friend — yeah, her, too. Another secret. Another lie. What he exposed me to — the emotional wreckage, the betrayal, the danger — was more than careless. It was cruel. I don't care to ever see him again. Some endings aren't bittersweet; they're necessary. And mine was overdue." —Anonymous, 30, Texas 9."I asked for a divorce exactly a year later when his drinking became his only priority, and his family made excuses for it. In our year of marriage, he lost his job, drove drunk with my child in the car, and told his mom every 'bad' or 'wrong' thing I did so she would yell at me for her son. It got so toxic, I felt like the only good thing I could do was walk away." "Hindsight being what it is, I knew we would divorce eventually, walking down the aisle. Always trust your gut or the little voice when there are concerns BEFORE you say I do." —Anonymous, 36, Minnesota 10."I knew it was a bad idea. His horrid mother had pushed us until we married after canceling a wedding that she had taken over. My parents were shell-shocked that I still married the guy. It was over as it began, but we stayed married for nine years. Again, my mother-in-law pushed us to stay together, have a kid, etc. We were so young that neither of us realized that his mom just wanted to dominate our lives." "Well, she's dead now after driving one son to die by suicide, turning her daughter into a drama queen responsible for a boyfriend's death, and permanently stunting my ex's emotional development. If you let crap in, it splashes on you." —Anonymous 11."It all started in January when I met my ex. I wasn't looking for love — just something new, a shift in my routine. But he had this way of making everything feel alive. We clicked instantly. Conversations felt effortless, like we'd known each other in another life. By March, we were practically inseparable. It was fast — too fast, according to some. But to us, it felt right. We got married in June, in a small ceremony with just our closest people. There was so much hope at that moment. We really believed love could carry us through anything. But by September, the cracks started to show. Living together uncovered more differences than we anticipated — how we communicated, handled stress, and what we each wanted out of life. What used to feel exciting started feeling like constant friction." "He struggled with trust; I needed space. I needed calm; he thrived in intensity. It wasn't one big blow-up that ended things; it was a slow unraveling. By December, we both knew it wasn't working. It wasn't that we didn't love each other — we did — but love just wasn't enough. We got divorced before the year hurt more than I ever thought it would. I questioned everything — my choices, my sense of judgment, even my ability to recognize real love. But time has a way of putting things into perspective. I started to heal. I realized that two people can care for each other deeply and still not be right for each I'm doing better. Things are calmer. I've been focusing on myself — rebuilding routines, reconnecting with people I lost touch with, finding joy in solitude. I'm not bitter. I'm just more grounded. I understand myself better now, and I'm clearer on what I want from love and life." —Anonymous, 34, California 12."We were together for four years before getting married, and there were so many signs I should run for the hills and moments I would think, 'You don't want this; leave now!' We were both previously married and were trying to blend our families. We decided to get married before our actual wedding. I didn't tell my parents or friends, which is unlike me because they knew everything. On our wedding day, I knew I should walk away, but I didn't." "The day after our wedding, he was intoxicated and ended up punching one of my sons in the stomach. He claimed he was playing; however, the shock with our other children and the pain of betrayal from the one who was punched said otherwise. I knew immediately we were done. It took me three months to get the money and funds together to move out. I moved out while he was out of town and never looked back. Always trust yourself, even when it's hard. I could have avoided so much pain for my children if I had trusted myself from the very beginning." —Anonymous, 47, Arizona 13."My ex-husband and I had an on-and-off relationship for several years. We shared a child and later married simply because he had nowhere else to go. On our wedding day, after we exchanged vows and kissed, he told me he loved me — for the first time. I brushed it off at the time, but once he moved in, I realized he had a severe alcohol addiction. [Eventually], I knew I had to leave. I left a few months before our two-year anniversary." "My son and I deserved better. A few years ago, he went to jail for not paying child support. Our divorce cost me $47,000, and it was worth every penny." —Anonymous, 36, Virginia 14."When we married, I knew she was pregnant but didn't care. We both agreed that the child would be mine because she wanted nothing to do with his dad. After we married, every day while I was at work (I found out from a friend later on), she would see the child's dad while the kid was in daycare. Then, while I was at home with the child, she would say she had school. Yes, she did some college at night, so I didn't second-guess it. After a while, my friend finally told me what she had seen. I asked my wife about it, and she said nothing was going on. The next day, I found her moved out of our place and into his. This was all within four months of being married." "I went to the courthouse, got divorce papers, and filled them out as quickly as possible. The best part was that the divorce was finalized on my birthday, and a month later, I was overseas as a contractor. This all happened back in the early 2000s. Now, I'm happily married again and have a great job where I only work six months a year and get to spend a lot of time with my family. Me and her family don't even talk, and I still want nothing to do with her or her family." —Anonymous, 43, Alaska 15."I married my first husband when I was 21, and he was 22. We had dated for less than one year. He was in the army and was getting stationed in a new base, and he didn't want to go without me. So romantic, right? Even though I knew it was a rash decision, I did it anyway. About three months after we got married, he cheated on me with our neighbor's 15-year-old sister, who was visiting for the summer. I did not find out about it until three months after that, when I stumbled upon love letters she had written him, complete with naked pictures taken inside my house." "(He had stupidly left them in a random box in the closet, which I accidentally knocked over. While putting back all the stuff that fell out, the pictures slid out!). I confronted him, and he flat out lied that the photos weren't in our house (?) and nothing happened; it was just some random girl he met who was infatuated, blah, blah. I left the house shortly thereafter and never went back." —Anonymous, 53, Virginia And finally... 16."I had a lot of fun in high school. I played football and was very social. However, college was a difficult time. My parents' finances collapsed, and my mom committed tons of fraud on me — a whole other story — and I became super serious and lost touch with my best friends. Shortly after college, I met a very nice girl and someone I would have never pictured myself as being with when I was growing up — quiet, reserved, and kind of dull — but that's what I kind of became. People my age were getting married, so five months in, I proposed. It felt…okay. We went to different schools but were from the same town; both of us were known. When the time came to line up the wedding party, I reached out to my old friends, who were excited for me, but there were clear 'what is he doing?' vibes. Nothing felt right, except that this event brought my old friends back into my life." "At the church rehearsal, she sat with her mother rather than me. A big sign that this wouldn't have much mileage. In our few months of marriage, I became the social guy I used to be, and she tried to keep up. It wasn't fair to either of us. After 11 months, we divorced. It was public and kind of embarrassing, but it was never mean. Most saw it coming. We both maintained respect for one another. She ended up marrying someone exactly right for her — someone I've known for years. They have two children, and I couldn't be happier for them. A few years later, I met the right one. We've been married nine years and have amazing girls. My ex and I continue our respect for one another, and while we don't interact socially, I worked with her and her husband for a year, and it wasn't weird at all." —Anonymous, 40, Kentucky Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity. Wow. If you went through a divorce in your first year of marriage and feel comfortable telling your story, share in the comments. Or, if you prefer to remain anonymous, you can use the form below.
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Yahoo
Crumbling Montreal building slated for demolition forces 2nd evacuation this year
Having just moved into his new apartment in June, Charles Emond had barely finished unpacking his belongings when he was told by the Montreal fire department last Friday to pack up and get out. He said he and the other tenants were told they had 15 minutes to leave the building at 5980-5982 Park Ave. in Montreal's Plateau–Mont-Royal borough. "It was my first apartment with my girlfriend, so it was something special," he said on Monday. "The last three or four days have been the most stressful of my life." Emond was part of the latest round of tenants forced to evacuate their homes over the past four months, all due to a crumbling structure sitting adjacent to them. Part of the exterior wall of the derelict building at 5986-5992 Park Ave. collapsed in March, forcing the tenants living in the building next door to the left out of their homes. Last Friday, Montreal firefighters responded to a call just after 2 p.m. after someone noticed bricks falling off the crumbling building's opposite wall, and ordered the evacuation of Emond's building — next door to the right — due to the "imminent risk of a collapse," according to Service de sécurité incendie de Montréal (SIM) spokesperson Guy Lapointe. With the two buildings now sitting empty, Plateau–Mont-Royal borough mayor Luc Rabouin says it's a matter of weeks before the derelict building sandwiched between them finally comes down. But with little faith in the borough's ability or willingness to accommodate tenants given the experience of those two doors down, Emond and his partner decided to break their lease and move into another apartment offered to them by their landlord. Displaced tenants from the evacuation Friday were under the care of the Red Cross for three days. Those that are still unhoused are now being accompanied by the Office municipal d'habitation de Montréal. It can't, however, provide subsidized units to tenants whose revenue is too high, it said in a statement. 'A landlord who is playing cat and mouse' During a borough council meeting Monday, Rabouin said the borough will carry out the demolition of the building at 5986-5992 Park Ave. if its owners don't, adding that an engineering firm is expected to provide a plan by the end of the week. "We're dealing with a landlord who is playing cat and mouse with us, who is very difficult to reach, who gives us signs of good intentions that ultimately don't come true," he said. The building administrators, Daniel Lalonde and Jonathan Pigeon, had committed to demolishing the property on June 2, according to Rabouin. That was after the borough says it had to hire a private investigator to serve them a demolition order. Reached by CBC on Tuesday, Pigeon says he and his partner were not negligent and that there was no private investigator. He said his office had simply changed addresses and that he signed the borough's documents electronically. He blames the borough for the delay. "Everyone is in communication, there was never a cat and mouse [game], the demolition process is going well, the contract has already been awarded," he wrote in French in a text message to CBC. He said the demolition will take place after preparations for the site are complete, which is "supposed to happen shortly." LI In April 2023, an engineer assessed the building for Habitat 237 Grande-Île S.E.N.C., the company owned by Pigeon and Lalonde to which the building is registered. The building was already vacant at that point following a fire, according to the report, which CBC obtained through an access to information request. The report detailed unstable and degraded foundation walls and detached brick cladding, among other concerns. "We demand that this building be unoccupied and demolished as quickly as possible in accordance with city requirements," it concluded. "Major intervention on a portion of the existing structure is not acceptable or feasible." A month earlier, the borough had issued a notice to the owners flagging a couple building maintenance infractions. It cited its right to carry out the building's demolition at the owners' expense if they did not take the appropriate steps to secure the structure. Asked in May 2025 why the borough hadn't taken action, a spokesperson said intervening to demolish a building is an "exceptional step" that the borough had never taken before. Ian Cucurull, the owner of the building that was evacuated Friday, says he was lodging complaints to the city about the instability of the adjacent building as far back as 2021. "I complained to everyone," he said. "Everyone was in agreement that the bowing of the wall was very pronounced, dangerous even….We're now in 2025 and still, the building is still standing. I don't understand." Pigeon and Lalonde acquired the building in 2021 and began the process to obtain a demolition permit that same year, according to Pigeon. "We never abandoned the procedures, the city asked for new things every time to bring the building down," he said. The city has previously said the owners first applied for a demolition permit in 2023 and failed to follow up on the process when asked for additional documents. Cucurull says that up until recently, the borough had communicated with him that they were still considering issuing a call for tender for the demolition contract — a process that usually takes months. Rabouin said Monday that if the borough does end up carrying out the demolition, it will bypass that process to speed things up. "There was a wall that almost killed a tenant … it's not a joke," said Cucurull, referring to the partial collapse in March. "It's absolutely crazy and you can't demolish that building. I can't demolish that building. Only the city can do it." WATCH | Partial collapse of precarious building causes 1st emergency evacuation in March: Emond says he struggles to understand why it's taken the landlords so long to act. In the end, he chalks it up to them ultimately not caring about the impact the ordeal has had on vulnerable renters. Pigeon says it is due in part to the city recommending a contractor that was too expensive. Still, Emond says the harm done is significant. "In my perspective, I think it's just another building for them. It's just another investment for them. They don't really care. Like if they care, they would have done something in March," he said.
CBS News
8 hours ago
- CBS News
Fall River mayor says 2 employees of assisted living facility working on night of deadly fire
The mayor of Fall River said only two people were working at the Gabriel House in Fall River when a fire broke out Sunday night, killing nine residents at the assisted living facility. An employee told CBS News both workers were new to the job. There were 70 residents living in the building at the time. Thirty people were hurt in the fire. Mayor Paul Coogan said the owner of the facility is no longer picking up the phone. "To me, he should be down here every day. Just like we are, just like you guys are," said Fall River Mayor Paul Coogan. Forty-eight hours after a devastating fire tore through the assisted living facility, the mayor says the owner of the Gabriel House is no longer cooperating. "But I want him to know that these are his residents, and he might as well push them on the sidewalk and say have a nice day if he's not going to follow up," Mayor Coogan said. Nine people died, all of the victims over 60 years old. They include Eleanor Willett, Margaret Dudy, Vietnam veteran Richard Rochon and Rui Albernaz. "Everybody still can't process all of this. It's a lot to take in," said Robert Albernaz, whose brother died in the fire. Albernaz stopped by the facility Tuesday after visiting the funeral home to make arrangements for his brother's service. "I just don't understand how his room was the last one," Albernaz said. "His room is right beside of an exit, and he didn't come out. I still can't get over that." By nightfall, candles lined the sidewalk in front of the building. Earlier in the day, people laid flowers and crosses. Including Marie Khoury. Her sister, a longtime resident here, was able to escape Sunday night. "We are all very grateful to God that she is still with us," Khoury said. "She could've been gone." While some gathered to grieve investigators were working on every floor of the building, working to determine how the fire started. WBZ obtained years' worth of city inspections on Gabriel House. They do not detail code violations but show a seven-year gap between inspections that ended last year. At a city council meeting Tuesday night residents voiced concerns over public safety. A representative of the firefighters' union pushed back against the mayor who claimed the union was playing politics by making calls for more staffing in the wake of this tragedy. "Politics is what cut our companies, and politics is what cost people their lives," Fall River Firefighters Union president Michael O'Regan said.
