Hours after Pittsburgh dumped sand on skate park, a pile of sand was left at city hall

Skateboarders may have drawn a line in the sand after the city of Pittsburgh shut down their neighborhood skateboard park. Only hours after Pittsburgh dumped sand on a skate park to prevent people from skating, a pile of sand was deposited at Pittsburgh's city hall in what very well could be a dirty form of revenge.

The Polish Hill skate park was transformed into a sandbox after Pittsburghers continued to use the park despite the stay-at-home lockdown. Pittsburgh Department of Public Works Director Mike Gable said they locked up the park, but people cut the locks to gather at the park.

"We don't take any pride or pleasure in doing this," Gable said on Thursday. "The park is closed and we kept the gate locked, but they cut the lock or the chain or they hopped over the fence. People have to listen to what the directive is and the directive is social distancing.

"We don't take any pride in closing facilities. They're great assets," Gable said. "But there is a directive out there and when it's not being followed, it creates a problem.

"The area that the skate park is in is a very tight, confined space. The number of people using it was extraordinary and that's why it was closed," he added.

The Pittsburgh Public Works decided to dump sand all over the skate park on Thursday, a measure that has been done in California to combat people disobeying the shelter-at-home orders. The city of San Clemente unloaded 37 tons of sand on its skate park to prevent people from skating. Their efforts fell flat after the sandy course attracted dirt bike riders, and skaters cleaned up the park.

Hours after the Steel City shut down the skating park, a pile of sand was left at the doorway to Pittsburgh's City-County Building, which is 2.5 miles from the Polish Hill skate park.

Public Safety spokesman Chris Togneri said police were investigating the sand dump at the revolving door of city hall, but declined to comment if the incident was revenge for the skate park getting closed. If this was retaliation for the skate park, this would be one interesting way to tell the city government to go pound sand.