Vandalism at park frustrates board

Public parks are meant for everyone to be enjoyed, and the importance of respecting the space that is provided should be observed without question.

Over the past few years, however, a growing problem has reared its ugly head, and has caused no end of frustration and unnecessary heartache for the Carrington Park Board.

A recent spate of vandalism in the park’s bathroom facilities near the picnic area and adjacent to the pool spurred the need for the Board to speak out.

An individual or individuals poured around three gallons of sand in the sink and toilets, rendering them inoperable for a period of several days in mid-May. Bathrooms by the softball diamonds remained open.

“It started this year a few weeks ago, and at first we didn’t really address it as we hoped it was an isolated event,” said Tonia Erickson of the Park Board. “But then it kept coming, and it was getting worse.”

Erickson said that the park’s lone full-time employee, Dennis Freeman, is getting “pretty fed up” trying to keep up with his daily responsibilities, along with cleaning up after this behavior.

“We take a lot of pride in our park, and we try to keep it in tip top shape for our community members, plus all the out of town traffic, and it’s really disappointing when our employees have to take hours out of their day to be on clean up patrol from vandalism,” said Erickson.

She says that one of the benefits of the restrooms is that they are open 24 hours, seven days a week for park visitors’ convenience.

“We would hate to see our restrooms go on lockdown and have restricted hours,” Erickson said.

The latest incident closed the facilities for four days, and a plumbing firm was hired to clean up the mess that was made.

Erickson pointed out that the cost of repair ends up being absorbed by the Park Board, and by extension, city taxpayers.

“And that’s in addition to man hours by our staff,” she explained.

The sand hasn’t been the only nuisance for the Board to clean, however.

In the past, human waste has been smeared on the walls, and socks and shirts have been stuffed down toilets, exacerbating the maintenance difficulties the Board faces.

Timing was also an issue with the latest incident.

Carrington played host to the Region 3 Baseball Tournament at City Park May 23-25, and though the repairs came in time for the event, Erickson shudders to think what would have happened had the vandalism occurred just before, or during, the tournament, from a public relations standpoint.

“If it had happened then, we would have been upfront with people and just told the truth,” she said, even if it would have meant a black eye for the community.

Other events upcoming for the Carrington City Park are as follows:

• Camping is allowed on a first-come, first-serve basis, and the Board does not take reservations. Fees are $25 per night, and can be left in the drop box at the park.

• Whoever wishes to rent the park shelter for events this summer may call Dakota Central at 652-3184, as they handle the reservations.

• The pool will be opening soon, but a concrete date has not been decided as of yet. Information will be published in the Independent when it is received.

• Erickson also noted that “The Market” will be returning to City Park this summer, to be held every other Tuesday.