Bridgewater’s mayor says it’s frustrating someone felt the need to lash out by damaging the new boardwalk on King Street.
Mayor David Mitchell says hearing a trash can fire had damaged the brand new boardwalk left him with a mixed bag of emotion.
“I was, um, a whole bunch of things when I heard. Disappointed, frustrated, angry. It’s heartbreaking that someone would think ‘Oh, I have an idea, why don’t I light the park on fire.’”
Mitchell says the point of the $5-million revitalization project was to help residents feel a pride in where they live.
He says it’s disheartening to see someone try to destroy that.
“Let’s inject our downtown with some new life, that’s what people have been asking for for decades. The irony being we do that and then something like this happens.”
Mitchell says police are still working to confirm the fire was set intentionally and discover who’s to blame.
He says there’s no word on how much repairs will cost and if insurance will cover it, but he says, one way or another, the burden will fall to tax payers.
