Plaques stolen from Peace Park - Dawson Creek, BC
Posted by: Groundspeak Premium Member T0SHEA
N 55° 45.187 W 120° 14.091
10U E 673529 N 6182065
Not quite 30 years ago this park sprang to life, thanks to the Dawson Creek Beautification Committee.
Waymark Code: WM14KGM
Location: British Columbia, Canada
Date Posted: 07/21/2021
Published By:Groundspeak Premium Member Metro2
Views: 0

Created by the Dawson Creek Beautification Committee, Peace Park's Official Dedication Ceremony took place on September 21, 1993.

Dedicated to World Peace, the date of dedication of the park was not chosen randomly, as September 21 happens to be the United Nations International Day of Peace.

1.26 hectares in size the park offers benches, picnic tables, Dawson Trail, a walking/hiking/biking/skiing trail which Connects to The Great Trail, AKA Trans Canada Trail, native trees surrounding grassed open space.

Sadly, Dawson Creek's Peace Park has not escaped a recent crime wave that seems to have occurred in worldwide proportion, that of stealing brass and bronze plaques from parks, cemeteries and just about anywhere thieves can lay their hands on them. The purpose? Money! The thieves have the plaques melted down and resell the metal for its value. See the following news article.

Plaques stolen from Peace Park
Peace Park has been the victim of thievery, as well. Memorial benches have had plaques removed and the plaque commemorating Peace Park on the rock has been removed by vandals.

Austin Cozicar | Oct 24, 2018
“We’ve had families that have been just devastated by it,” says Melanie Turcotte, sustainability clerk for the City of Dawson Creek. “It’s been really hard for people.”

Turcotte says seven benches have been found to have their plaque removed, but they’re still checking. One bench the vandals failed to get the plaque off but damaged the bench. On some, in addition to having the plaque removed, were written on with chalk.

She also says she’s heard in other communities of plaques being stolen from cemeteries, and says they are checking to see if any have been removed from the Dawson Creek cemetery. Volunteers will be checking all the rocks and benches on the walking path from Main Street to the Rotary.

The removal of the plaque celebrating the park was a blow to the Dawson Creek Beautification Committee, who made the park happen.

“I feel sorry that people need to destroy rather than create,” says member Frances Adams.

“It’s very sad, very upsetting,” says member Brenda Kreutzer. “It’s very disappointing to think that people will come in here and deface something that people have put in as a memory of somebody or that we have made this whole park a peace park.”

That plaque had previously been stolen two or three years after its initial installation 25 years ago, but hasn’t been touched again, before this.

Turcotte suspects the thieves were melting down the metal to sell it.

“The police are aware of it, DC Recycling - they buy metal - so they’re aware of it,” she says.
From the Grand Forks Gazette
Type of publication: Newspaper

When was the article reported?: 10/24/2018

Publication: Dawson Creek Mirror

Article Url: [Web Link]

Is Registration Required?: no

How widespread was the article reported?: regional

News Category: Crime

Visit Instructions:
Give the date of your visit at the news location along with a description of what you learned or experienced.
Search for...
Geocaching.com Google Map
Google Maps
MapQuest
Bing Maps
Nearest Waymarks
Nearest News Article Locations
Nearest Geocaches
Create a scavenger hunt using this waymark as the center point
Recent Visits/Logs:
There are no logs for this waymark yet.