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Wave of vandalism destroys public bathrooms
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Published: February 14, 2009
NEW PORT RICHEY - City officials are appealing for municipal park visitors to report any suspicious incidents after a recent wave of vandalism to park bathrooms.
Fixtures have been smashed with a hammer or fires have been set at four parks during a rash of incidents the past few weeks at Sims Park, Grand Boulevard Park, the city boat ramp and Grey Preserve, according to Elaine Smith, the city parks and recreation director.
Parks and recreation advisory board members this week suggested enlisting help from the public to tip off authorities by calling the New Port Richey Police Department at 727-841-4550.
Under no circumstances should a park visitor try to confront any suspicious person, Smith stressed. Simply report anything unusual to police, she stressed.
The parks department employs six people to maintain 12 parks, Smith noted. So city police officers have been very cooperative about stepping up patrols in the vicinity of parks, she said.
Smith doesn't have an estimate yet on the amount of damage from the recent wave of vandalism. She mentioned the city parks department spent about $30,000 last fiscal year fixing damage, most of it to repair Sims Park facilities after a fire.
"For some reason they're targeting the bathrooms," Smith remarked in a phone interview this week.
Some of the incidents have taken place in the daytime, Smith observed.
The damage at Sims Park bathrooms was discovered at 11 a.m. one morning, for instance. Someone had used a hammer to break urinals, toilets and other porcelain fixtures.
Two recent fires were started with paper towel dispensers at Grand Boulevard Park, Smith said.
In the second fire, a city police officer happened to be in the area and put out the flames before they could spread.
Carl Orth can be reached at 727-815-1068 or corth@suncoastnews.com.
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