8 Comments July 9, 2012 at 11:30 am

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Torched High Park Playground Gets Needed Repairs

HGTV's Mike Holmes helped repair the arson-damaged Jamie Bell Adventure Playground on Saturday.

By Steve Kupferman • Photos by Christopher Drost

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177664 A large part of the volunteer work involved spreading wood chips. High Park Adventure Park Rebuild https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/201200708-HighParkBuild-DROSTphoto-001-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/201200708-HighParkBuild-DROSTphoto-001.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/201200708-HighParkBuild-DROSTphoto-001.jpg 1024 683 {"credit":"Christopher Drost\/Torontoist.com","caption":"People young and old help out with the rebuild of the Jamie Bell High Park Adventure Playground that was destroyed by fire in March 2012. A large part of the public effort including spreading wood chips while work crews continued to finish off the massive cedar playground structure.","created_timestamp":"1341679846","copyright":"\u00a9 2012 DROST\/SHiFTdigital","title":"High Park Adventure Park Rebuild"} https://torontoist.com/2012/07/torched-high-park-playground-gets-needed-repairs/slide/high-park-adventure-park-rebuild/ high-park-adventure-park-rebuild 0 0

177665 Mike Holmes talks to Adam Bell, son of Jamie Bell, the community activist after which the playground is named. High Park Adventure Park Rebuild https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/201200708-HighParkBuild-DROSTphoto-002-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/201200708-HighParkBuild-DROSTphoto-002.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/201200708-HighParkBuild-DROSTphoto-002.jpg 1024 683 {"credit":"Christopher Drost\/Torontoist.com","caption":"Celebrity renovator MIKE HOLMES hams it up for the cameras with 23-Year-Old ADAM BELL, son of Jamie Bell, a man who dreamt up the idea of a community volunteer built playground for children in 1999. The playground was destroyed by arson in March 2012.","created_timestamp":"1341679902","copyright":"\u00a9 2012 DROST\/SHiFTdigital","title":"High Park Adventure Park Rebuild"} https://torontoist.com/2012/07/torched-high-park-playground-gets-needed-repairs/slide/high-park-adventure-park-rebuild-2/ high-park-adventure-park-rebuild-2 0 0

177666 Copper flashing and trim is installed on the new castle turrets. High Park Adventure Park Rebuild https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/201200708-HighParkBuild-DROSTphoto-005-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/201200708-HighParkBuild-DROSTphoto-005.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/201200708-HighParkBuild-DROSTphoto-005.jpg 1024 683 {"credit":"Christopher Drost\/Torontoist.com","caption":"Copper flashing and trim is installed on the new castle turrets as crews including a video team with Mike Holmes continue with the rebuild of the Jamie Bell High Park Adventure Playground that was destroyed by fire in March 2012. A large part of the public effort including spreading wood chips while work crews continued to finish off the massive cedar playground structure","created_timestamp":"1341680060","copyright":"\u00a9 2012 DROST\/SHiFTdigital","title":"High Park Adventure Park Rebuild"} https://torontoist.com/2012/07/torched-high-park-playground-gets-needed-repairs/slide/high-park-adventure-park-rebuild-3/ high-park-adventure-park-rebuild-3 0 0

177667 Mike Holmes. High Park Adventure Park Rebuild https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/201200708-HighParkBuild-DROSTphoto-007-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/201200708-HighParkBuild-DROSTphoto-007.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/201200708-HighParkBuild-DROSTphoto-007.jpg 1024 683 {"credit":"Christopher Drost\/Torontoist.com","caption":"Celebrity Renovator MIKE HOLMES at the rebuild of the Jamie Bell High Park Adventure Playground that was destroyed by fire in March 2012. HOLMES and his production crew were recording the community driven rebuild for an upcoming television episode.","created_timestamp":"1341680163","copyright":"\u00a9 2012 DROST\/SHiFTdigital","title":"High Park Adventure Park Rebuild"} https://torontoist.com/2012/07/torched-high-park-playground-gets-needed-repairs/slide/high-park-adventure-park-rebuild-4/ high-park-adventure-park-rebuild-4 0 0

177668 Cedar wood is used to finish off the new castle turrets. High Park Adventure Park Rebuild https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/201200708-HighParkBuild-DROSTphoto-010-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/201200708-HighParkBuild-DROSTphoto-010.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/201200708-HighParkBuild-DROSTphoto-010.jpg 1024 683 {"credit":"Christopher Drost\/Torontoist.com","caption":"Cedar wood is used to finish off the new castle turrets as crews continue with the rebuild of the Jamie Bell High Park Adventure Playground that was destroyed by fire in March 2012.","created_timestamp":"1341680320","copyright":"\u00a9 2012 DROST\/SHiFTdigital","title":"High Park Adventure Park Rebuild"} https://torontoist.com/2012/07/torched-high-park-playground-gets-needed-repairs/slide/high-park-adventure-park-rebuild-5/ high-park-adventure-park-rebuild-5 0 0

177669 High Park Adventure Park Rebuild https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/201200708-HighParkBuild-DROSTphoto-012-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/201200708-HighParkBuild-DROSTphoto-012.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/201200708-HighParkBuild-DROSTphoto-012.jpg 1024 683 {"credit":"Christopher Drost\/Torontoist.com","caption":"People young and old help out with the rebuild of the Jamie Bell High Park Adventure Playground that was destroyed by fire in March 2012. A large part of the public effort including spreading wood chips while work crews continued to finish off the massive cedar playground structure which was slated to open Saturday to the public. Hot weather delayed the launch until mid week.","created_timestamp":"1341680414","copyright":"\u00a9 2012 DROST\/SHiFTdigital","title":"High Park Adventure Park Rebuild"} https://torontoist.com/2012/07/torched-high-park-playground-gets-needed-repairs/slide/high-park-adventure-park-rebuild-6/ high-park-adventure-park-rebuild-6 0 0

177670 High Park Adventure Park Rebuild https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/201200708-HighParkBuild-DROSTphoto-015-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/201200708-HighParkBuild-DROSTphoto-015.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/201200708-HighParkBuild-DROSTphoto-015.jpg 1024 683 {"credit":"Christopher Drost\/Torontoist.com","caption":"People young and old help out with the rebuild of the Jamie Bell High Park Adventure Playground that was destroyed by fire in March 2012. A large part of the public effort including spreading wood chips while work crews continued to finish off the massive cedar playground structure which was slated to open Saturday to the public. Hot weather delayed the launch until mid week.","created_timestamp":"1341680507","copyright":"\u00a9 2012 DROST\/SHiFTdigital","title":"High Park Adventure Park Rebuild"} https://torontoist.com/2012/07/torched-high-park-playground-gets-needed-repairs/slide/high-park-adventure-park-rebuild-7/ high-park-adventure-park-rebuild-7 0 0

When High Park’s Jamie Bell Adventure Playground burned in March, as a result of arson, it wasn’t long before offers of help and financial assistance began to pour in. On Saturday, HGTV personality Mike Holmes led a crew of workers and community volunteers in an all-day construction effort, the goal of which was to restore the playground’s castle to something like its pre-fire state.

Despite the best efforts of Holmes and the yellow-shirted army of volunteers, the project ended up being not completely finished by day’s end. (Holmes blamed the day’s unusually hot weather.) Even so, the playground was in much better shape than it had been at the start.

The castle was originally constructed in 1999, with volunteer labour. Jamie Bell, the site’s namesake, was a community activist who was instrumental in mustering community support for building the playground. He died in 2002.

The day’s effort was filmed, and will air on Holmes’ TV show Holmes Makes it Right.

You could catch it then, or, in the meantime, you could just click through our gallery, above.

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