Vandalism at town parks in Plainville and Bristol have parents and town officials upset and cleaning up.
In Plainville, the Paderewski Park splash pad was vandalized on Aug. 15. Plainville Town Manager Robert Lee said it appeared that someone had smashed the button on the ground that turns the water on and off.
“It looked like somebody was pounding on the actuator button and broke it, which was flush mounted on the ground,” said Lee.
The Paderewski splash pad is back open but park officials have to manually turn the water on at 10 a.m. and off at 2:30 p.m. until they get a new piece of equipment to fully repair the splash pad.
Over the weekend flower pots were also destroyed at Norton Park, Lee said.
There are security cameras at Norton Park but the incident was not caught on camera and town officials are considering adding cameras to Paderewski Park in the future.
Plainville parents said the vandalism is upsetting to hear.
Local
“That's disappointing to hear because a lot of kids come here. It's a free activity and a lot of residents like to access free things versus having to pay for pool access. … But, it's disappointing that someone would do that,” Kim Rodriguez said as her children enjoyed the splash pad at Paderewski Park.
In Bristol, Bristol Parks and Recreation said there was more vandalism on Monday. The damage occurred at the Stocks Playground splash pad and closed the splash pad for the rest of the season.
The Rockwell Park and Page Park splash pads will still be open through Labor Day.
Town officials said it is not clear if the various incidents are connected and Lee thinks it is more likely to be a localized issue.
Whatever the case, parents hope it stops.
“The person who vandalized, I hope they realize that it affects a lot of other people and they don't do it again,” said Rodriguez.
