The community of Wallaceburg and Chatham-Kent staff stepped up quickly to clean up the brand new playground equipment at Colwell Park, which was targeted by vandals this week.
Jane McGee, supervisor of parks and recreation in Wallaceburg, told the Sydenham Current she was upset when she heard about the damage.
“It is extremely disappointing for sure,” McGee said.
“We work hard to get amenities for the community of Wallaceburg. The last thing we like to see is them not being respected.”
However, McGee said she was thrilled and grateful to see the community immediately help out and offer assistance.
“I had Nick Cadotte from the Co-Operators call me to say that he had arranged for a restoration company (BELFOR Property Restoration) to come tomorrow to clean the equipment,” she said.
“I had already sent staff over to see if they could clean it up… they were being successful, so I told Nick I would let him know how we made out in the end. He personally went over to help them clean it up, as well as a gentleman by the name of Greg Gielen. Greg was at the park when staff arrived and stayed to assist through the entire process.
McGee added: “We are very grateful to everyone for all the help. Again the positive community shines brighter and fades out the negative.”
Wallaceburg Coun. Jeff Wesley said he was impressed with the quick turn around.
“That is an excellent response by (McGee and Municipal staff) and the community,” he said.
“I still want to catch them however.”
In our original article (which you can see here), Wesley expressed his frustration about the situation.
“It is very disheartening to see this happen,” he said.
“Why would you want to purposely destroy things that our community works so hard to get.”
Wesley added: “Whoever is doing this needs to be caught. Have you seen anyone with paint spray etc. on them? Watch for the signs that someone has done this.”
Wesley said this type of damage is not just happening in Wallaceburg.
“Graffiti continues to plague a lot of communities and Wallaceburg is not immune,” he said.
“I am asking every resident in Wallaceburg, whether looking out your window, walking or driving to watch for anyone you see doing this and if you do call police right away and take down a description.”
The walking bridge in Wallaceburg was also targeted by vandals.
The spray painted phrases and images have yet to be cleaned up at the downtown location.
No details were released about the situation on Tuesday by the Chatham-Kent Police Service.
If anyone has any information regarding this, they can call Crime Stoppers at 519-351-8477, or 1-800-222-477, text CRIMES (274637) keyword CKCS, or visit www.crime-stoppers.on.ca and email your tip.
Crime Stoppers guarantees your anonymity, they never ask for your name or your phone number.
Maybe it’s time to revive Neighborhood Watch in Wallaceburg. Would this be helpful in getting citizens involved in reporting crimes like this and other things like theft? But citizens would have to join and go to meetings and get involved. If citizens don’t like what is happening in the community then they have to get involved. Neihbourhood Watch works if it has citizens watching out for each other and reporting incidents to police while it is happening. For more info check out this link: http://ckpolice.com/neighbourhood-watch/