Two incidents of vandalism at Bellingham Parks will cost thousands to repair, police looking for suspects
Bellingham, wash. - Vandalism at Bellingham parks has become a serious problem and the city is now considering taking extra security measures.
The latest incident happened this past weekend, with someone using a vehicle to cause thousands of dollars in damage at Lake Padden Park by tearing up an area near the ball fields. Another incident also happened recently at Boulevard Park near the bay. The repair bills for the two parks alone could cost taxpayers in Bellingham upwards of $8,000 to fix the muddy mess.
The area in Boulevard Park was the first location to be hit on Nov. 11.
"It’s not cool, you know," said Avery Barton, a resident of Bellingham who frequents Boulevard Park.
Barton takes the dogs to the park nightly. He says it's unfortunate that someone decided to do what looked like a series of donuts in the green spaces in the park, leaving deep circular ruts in the lawn.
"Get your shoes all muddy, you know," said Barton.
The damaged area sits close to a playground at Boulevard Park where a local dad, Amit, brings his kids.
"I don’t know what they got out of this, but it messes it up for the families for sure," said Amit.
Bellingham's park operation manager says Lake Padden Park was targeted last weekend, with 2-3 acres near the ball field ripped up and destroyed.
"I don’t’ know why this is happening so frequently," said Steve Janiszewski, Park Operations Manager for the City of Bellingham Parks & Recreation Department. "It seems to be a trend right now in Bellingham."
Janiszewski says the city will likely have to shell out between $2,000 to $4,000 for labor, topsoil, seed and mulch to repair the damage. He says the city has reported the incidents to police and officers are investigating.
"You can be prosecuted for this kind of damage. You can also be asked to pay restitution for the repairs," said Janiszewski.
This graphic compares the cost of clean up of graffiti and vandalism in the park system over the past five years.
In 2019, Bellingham spent more than $6,000 to clean up and repair property impacted by graffiti and vandalism. In 2020, the city spent around $10,000 for cleanup. 2021 was the worst year, shown in orange, at more than $47,000. In 2022, spending dropped to $14,000 for repairs and cleanup. Due to the two new incidents of vandalism at Boulevard Park and Lake Padden Park, repair costs are now looking to run around $14,000 in 2023.
"Of course it’s going to come out of the tax money, right?," said Amit.
Janiszewski says parks staff will be shifting schedules in order to start locking park gates at night, including at Boulevard Park.
"It’s a matter of scheduling those staff to be later so they can lock that gate at ten, we don’t have any plans for adding additional staff as of yet," he said.
They are also considering installing a new gate at Lake Padden Park because that location is currently without one. The cost for a new gate would likely run an additional $5,000.
"We are taking steps to try to prevent this from happening in the future," said Janiszewski.
Officials believe one person or one group could be responsible for both incidents. If you know who is responsible, contact Bellingham Police at the department's non-emergency number.