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City Tries to Destroy Kids' Cardboard Castle

“Honestly, I’m just flummoxed that we got cited for making a cardboard castle”

Cardboard Castle / Jeremy Trentleman
April 7, 2015

Jeremy Trentelman had decided to build a cardboard castle for his children out of boxes collected from his work. The kids loved the castle, but Ogden City, Utah didn't, the Standard Examiner reports.

When Trentelman got home from work Wednesday, he had a notification on his door that he was in violation of Ogden City’s code 12-4-2: Waste Materials or Junk; prohibited on premises. The prohibition covers junk or salvage material, litter and/or any abandoned or inoperable vehicle. In the notification Trentelman was told he had 15 days to get the boxes off his lawn or he could be charged $125 with the first violation (after the 15 days) with fees and legal actions proceeding from there.

Code enforcement officer Gordon Sant issued the notification. "I’m going to send him a letter, but I haven’t been able to get myself calmed down enough about it to do it," Trentelman said.

He did post pictures on social media talking about the citation and has gotten quite a bit of positive feedback. "I just thought it was an awesome way to use boxes and my kids’ imagination," Trentelman said.

Jeremy told Buzzfeed he finds the whole situation ridiculous.

"It’s an awesome fort," he told BuzzFeed News. "It was just kind of silly and ridiculous."

He was angry at first, he said, and even pictured himself going to the city council meeting. He’d walk up to the podium and fight his cause if he had to.

But he doesn’t want to turn what has been the center of joy and happiness for his kids into something negative.

"Honestly, I’m just flummoxed that we got cited for making a cardboard castle," he said.

The Trentelman kids said they do not want to see the fort destroyed.

"As soon as we get home from the sitter, my son is like, ‘Can we play in the fort?’" he said. "It was super cheap to build, and completely awesome."

Many have thrown their support behind the family and their cardboard creation. The Blaze's Dave Urbanski even gave the Trentelman's castle "an 'A' for creativity"

Jeremy said the citation gives him 15 days to remove the cardboard castle before the fine kicks in. He has pledged to keep the castle up in the yard for the next 14 days.