Gazebo railing damaged again (Photo Courtesy Town of Cape Charles)
Vandalism continues to plague structures at Cape Charles Central Park. This week, town public works staff discovered damage to the men’s bathroom and gazebo railing.
The damage occurred sometime Wednesday evening or early Thursday morning. Several walls were damaged, and the divider between the sink and urinal was torn out of the wall. The bathroom remains functional and will be open for all park events this weekend. Beginning the week of Monday, August 27, and continuing through Labor Day weekend, the bathroom may be closed for periods of time while staff prepares the area for repairs and makes those needed repairs.
Staff is assessing several options to make the park and park property a safer and more secure place, and those recommendations will be brought to Town Council in October. Public input
and comments are welcome as the Town moves forward to improving the quality of life in Central Park and other public facilities.
If you have concerns, please call or email the Town Manager’s office at 757-331-3259 extension 12, or townmanager@capecharles.org.
Park bathroom vandalized (Photo courtesy Town of Cape Charles)
Susan Eidam says
August 26, 2018 at 2:27 pmLooking at the photo, it appears the sink and divider – and likely the urinal/toilet – are plumbed against a drywall surface? If this is the case, then the period of repairs is a perfect time to correct this.
Wet walls are to be tiled, or surfaces with a material that is non-porous.
Nioaka Marshall says
August 28, 2018 at 11:27 pmI believe the point here is the acts of vandalism, not errors in construction.
Susan Eidam says
August 29, 2018 at 2:36 pmYes, you are correct. The point of the article was the vandalism. My reply was intended as helpful for when the time comes to make repairs due to the vandalism.
Joseph Corcoran says
August 30, 2018 at 6:54 pmIt is difficult to imagine what motivates this vandalism . But Susan is right . Don’t make a public facility easy to vandalize . Use heavy duty construction and do it to code .
Mike Kuzma, Jr. says
August 31, 2018 at 1:39 pmUm, wasn’t it like $200K to build the toilets? Dear God, what would it have cost the taxpayers if it were built to unvadalizable specs?
How about we:
Severely punish the actual offenders.
Bring back the morality that raised children that DIDN’T vandalize.
Might work better than just tossing money at the issue.
Kearn SCHEMM says
August 26, 2018 at 3:28 pmI walk my dog every day in Central Park. A few weeks ago in the early evening I saw a group of teens on the gazeebo. One of them was twirling a heavy bench around and throwing it – hitting the railing. I shouted at him, “what the hell do you think you are doing” and then, “what the hell is wrong with you.” As soon as he knew someone was willing to stand up to his bad behavior, he dropped the bench and ran away. We all need to be guardians of the park and its structures, kids know when they are doing wrong and when confronted, will stop. If you see something, have the courage to yell at the kids and stop their bad behavior.
Pete Baumann says
August 27, 2018 at 4:43 pmGood job Kearn!
Concerned Citizen says
August 26, 2018 at 4:09 pmMaybe the B&B’s, Vacation Rentals and Rental Support Companies should pay more taxes to off set the destruction caused to our town. Most full time residents are older and don’t do this kind of vandalism. It doesn’t happen on its own.
Karen Allums says
August 26, 2018 at 4:29 pmBecause almost everyone carries a cell phone in their hands at all times, I would recommend taking a picture of the culprits and calling the police to come catch the activity before I chased them away by yelling at them. At least the pic might help ID the idiots and possibly bring charges. Having them just run away leaves you nothing but a story to tell.
Richard M Leal says
August 29, 2018 at 4:28 pmA simple solution to the Vandalism in Central Park is to install Hidden Security Cameras in both the Park area and Toilets. They would be connected to Police HQ and Patrol cars. This would give 24/7 security with Foot or Cycle patrol Added.
Free Willy says
August 29, 2018 at 5:28 pmSo the Police would be watching the toilet video feeds? Sounds a little bizarre. We don’t see our police enough now but we could always find them lookin at the potty monitors.
Paul Plante says
September 1, 2018 at 4:20 pmMike Kuzma, Jr. says @ August 31, 2018 at 1:39 pm: Um, wasn’t it like $200K to build the toilets?
Dear God, what would it have cost the taxpayers if it were built to unvadalizable specs?
How about we:
* Severely punish the actual offenders.
* Bring back the morality that raised children that DIDN’T vandalize.
Might work better than just tossing money at the issue.
end quotes
My goodness, Mike Kuzma, Jr, what a reactionary you sound like there.
Better watch out or somebody will accuse you of being me using the screen name Mike Kuzma, Jr.
Potty Patrol says
September 1, 2018 at 7:20 pmI can’t believe it cost 200k to build this toilet that didn’t even meet Historic District Review Guidelines. Sean Ingram built it he should know what it costs. Well Sean, set the record straight. What did it cost?