Likely $50,000 reward in Friends meeting vandalism

By Jeff Gammage, Inquirer Staff Writer
Posted: January 10, 2013

A nonunion building-trades group plans to offer a reward that could reach $50,000 for information leading to the conviction of the people who vandalized a Quaker meeting's construction site before Christmas.

Police said $500,000 in damage to the East Mermaid Lane site, where the Chestnut Hill Friends Meeting is building a meetinghouse, was the result of a dispute between members of a construction union and the project's nonunion contractor.

No arrests have been made.

Final details of the reward are being arranged, said Mary Tebeau, chief executive of the Eastern Pennsylvania Chapter of Associated Builders & Contractors Inc., which supports nonunion builders.

"We thought this might send a message, and we might find who did this, in order to avert future problems," Tebeau said. "It's very unfortunate."

Workers who arrived at the site Dec. 21 found disarray. The cab of a large crane had been burned. Vandals had used an acetylene torch, which requires a skilled operator wearing a special mask and gloves, to shear the steel bolts off nearly a dozen columns.

The $3.5 million construction project is being handled by E. Allen Reeves of Abington, a nonunion contractor, whose bid came in 23 percent lower than the nearest union firm. Chestnut Hill Friends has said the organization ascertained that Reeves offered fair wages and a good safety record.

Contact Jeff Gammage

at 215-854-2415 or jgammage@phillynews.com,

or follow on Twitter @JeffGammage.

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