PORT ST. JOHN, Fla. – The Port St. John library lost its playground in September after Brevard County deputies said two teenagers set it on fire. Now, months later, a brand new blue and yellow playground catches your attention as you pull into the library's parking lot.
"It's slightly different from the old one, so it's a new experience. There's a couple of extra gadgets on it that we didn't have on the old one," said Helen Dezendorf, president of Friends of the Port St. John Playground.
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Dezendorf said the library was able to rebuild the playground with county and donated dollars, and she's already starting to see the benefits of having it back.
"Our library group that children come to on Friday mornings has doubled in size because the playground is back," Dezendorf said. "It warms my heart that we're able to do this for them."
After a Local 6 report in October, deputies were able to catch the teens responsible for burning down the playground.
Since then, Dezendorf said they wrote her an apology letter and will soon be doing community service at the library, but overall she said she's just happy to once again see smiling kids having fun at the neighborhood playground.
"I can't walk through the library without someone saying it's beautiful, so yeah, it's definitely made our day here," Dezendorf said.
An official grand opening will take place Saturday at noon.