Dad Builds Amazing Cardboard Castle & Defeats City Hall

May 19, 2015

(via Facebook)

A rad dad from Utah recently built a cardboard fort that was tough enough to stand up to the local government.

Jeremy Trentelman of Ogden, Utah has two toddlers. He also had a huge supply of leftover cardboard boxes at his office. He bought the boxes home and built a huge fort — complete with a slide! — in his front yard.

So he was pretty surprised when he received a letter from the city telling him that his fort violated city code. He could either dispute the claim or be forced to remove the fort within 15 days. Both options would cost money.

The city said that the fort violated the city’s code that prohibits “waste materials or junk on premises.”

“‘Junk’?! What about ‘totally awesome fun zone’?” Trentelman replied to Buzzfeed. “It’s just kind of silly and ridiculous.”

Social media agreed. A Facebook page called “Support Jeremy Trentelman! Cardboard Fort Campaign in Ogden” was created and quickly gained a few thousand followers. The local media jumped on to the story as well.

The city of Ogden backed off of their demand. Mayor Mike Caldwell even spoke about his support for cardboard creativity. “I remember building forts with my friends as a kid,” he said. “It’s healthy for a child’s imagination to get away from their electronic devices for a while and use their imagination to create something. I’m glad to see that kids still want to play with the cardboard box.”

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