Vandals Damage Historic Structure

On the night of Monday, August 3rd, vandals wantonly damaged part of the historic Devil’s Kitchen stone picnic shelter. They broke 21 panes of glass, some original to the building, broke into a service closet, emptied a fire extinguisher onto picnic tables and the ground area, broke door handles and latches, scattered debris, and left human excrement in their wake. This beautiful structure was constructed by hand by the hard-working men of the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1941. The stone picnic shelter was placed on the National Register of Historic Structures in 1994 to recognize its nationally historic significance and the great conservation work legacy of the CCC. The Devil’s Kitchen picnic area is used by more than 100,000 visitors annually, including many people who hold family picnics, reunions and other events there. It’s also the place where the Junior Ranger Explorer summer day camp is staged. Fortunately, the camp had just completed its last session at the picnic area on Monday, otherwise the children would have been without their camp base. The camp serves 350 children of the Grand Valley each summer at no charge to the children’s families. The Devil’s Kitchen parking lot, historic picnic shelter, and restrooms have been closed while the law enforcement investigation is underway and to allow for safe cleanup of the volume of broken glass and scattered rocks. Anyone with information on t his incident is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 241-7867 or 1-800-221-7867.