CHIILie, the popular bear bench outside Jenks playground, has had a hard time lately. Someone used a black magic marker.
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CHIILie, the popular bear bench outside Jenks playground, has had a hard time lately. Someone used a black magic marker to draw Xs and “Cut it out” across the seat, marring the whimsical map of the Hill.
It will soon be removed for cleaning and restoration.
The nine-foot fiberglass sculpture at the corner of Germantown and Southampton avenues has been a favorite stop for years and shows up in many family selfies. Artist Rebecca Thornburgh drew a whimsical interpretation of Chestnut Hill on the front, and dinosaurs and spaceships on the back, to represent everywhere else. CHILLie even has a coloring book that goes with it.
The next step will be to move CHILLie to Thornburgh’s studio a few blocks away, where she will clean and restore it. It will then be moved to an auto body shop for a new protective coat of urethane, which will protect it from future vandals. When that’s all done, it will go back to its spot outside the Jenks playground.
This will be the second time the bear took a trip. A few years ago, the fiberglass paws were damaged, and he was removed for more than three months.
