3 days ago
Veteran Decorates Neighborhood Sinkhole While Awaiting Repairs: 'I'm Tired of Looking at This Thing'
Michigan resident Breck Crandell began seasonally decorating a sinkhole in his neighborhood while waiting for city officials to fix the issue
The Navy veteran says the local sinkholes are a safety hazard, but his creativity around a temporary fix has made neighbors smile
"Watching the kids go through the neighborhood with their parents and cars would stop and take pictures – it just made me happy to see that other people were enjoying it," he tells PEOPLEA Michigan veteran has found a way of turning a lingering neighborhood issue into something the whole town can enjoy.
Breck Crandell lives in Ypsilanti, where he said there are a handful of sinkholes in the neighborhood, including one right outside his driveway. It first appeared around 2017, got filled in, then reappeared a few years ago.
"Instead of fixing it, they just put a big metal plate over the top of it," Crandell tells PEOPLE.
The Navy veteran's temporary fix has been seasonally decorating a construction cone, which was placed over the sinkhole as a warning.
"I'm a hunter and I've got turkey decoys, so I took one of my turkey decoys and put it out there, and then it just kind of started from there," Crandell says. "For me, it was just — I'm tired of looking at this thing because I have to back around it to get in and out of my driveway."
Depending on the time of year, Ypsilanti residents can expect to see anything from pumpkins, to toy Santas or Easter bunny figurines placed near the cone.
"Watching the kids go through the neighborhood with their parents and cars would stop and take pictures — it just made me happy to see that other people were enjoying it," Crandell says. "I've done it for all the seasons, and right now, the most current thing I have up is a tribute to vets."
"Actually, until very recently, almost nobody knew who it was that was doing it, because I never said anything to anybody," he adds.
There have even been festive gatherings centered around the hazard-turned-neighborhood attraction.
"Last fall, one of my neighbors was retiring, and he and a bunch of his friends from the neighborhood made a nightly meeting out there with their wine and coffee," Crandell says. "And then the night he retired, they shot off a bunch of fireworks in my front yard."
Bonnie Wessler, Ypsilanti Director of Public Works, told local ABC affiliate WXYZ that they "bid everything out" last year.
"We tried to get a contractor in to come and fix it all for us. The total bill for all that would've been more than $600,000," said Wessler.
This year, Wessler's department found a contractor who will do the repairs for half that price, so city officials anticipate it will be repaired in the next few months, per WXYZ.
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Crandell tells PEOPLE he hopes the display will draw attention to how long it's taking to get the sinkholes repaired.
"We're a pretty tight knit community. There have been just dozens, if not more complaints about these sinkholes," Crandell says. "We'd just like it fixed and fixed properly."
Read the original article on People
