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Government Threatens Family With Fine For Kid’s Cardboard Fort

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Casey Harper Contributor
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A mom and dad’s idea to give their kids the coolest yard in the neighborhood has backfired and could now lead to the city of Ogden, Utah being covered in cardboard forts.

Jeremy Trentelman and his wife Dee built an epic cardboard castle–complete with a slide, tunnel and windows– for their 3-year-old son and 2-year-old daughter but now they say the government has given them an ultimatum. They must take down the castle within 15 days, or face a $125 penalty, The Salt Lake Tribune reports.

Upon receiving the demand Jeremy posted on Facebook, “ARE YOU FREAKIN KIDDIN ME!!!?!”

His wife shared his incredulity.

“If it had been out for months or something then yeah, that would make a lot of sense…but it was a day,” Dee told KUTV.

Now, a campaign is underway to build cardboard forts across the city in support of the Trentelmans. A Facebook event in support of the family already has over 1,000 who have accepted the invitation.

“Calling on all the citizens of Ogden to stand in solidarity with Jeremy Trentelman by building cardboard forts in all the front yards throughout the entire city of Ogden”!!!!” the event’s page reads.

Jeremy received a letter from Ogden City Code Enforcement last week instructing him to get rid of the “junk” or face the penalty. He said he would have taken the fort down in a few days anyway, but now that he has gotten the warning he will keep the castle up right until the deadline.

“It was a great project for all of us to build, and now it’s just [fun] watching them play in it, and watching their imagination run wild is just fantastic,” Jeremy told The Salt Lake Tribune.

He said he was furious at first, but then “the ridiculousness of it all just kind of dawned on me, and it was just laughter [from there].”

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