At least one driver, maybe more, with a big-wheeled truck is tearing up a kids' soccer pitch at Citadel middle school and turning a basketball court into a mud pit.
Efforts by School District 43 and city of Port Coquitlam maintenance crews to stop the determined 4x4 driver have so far failed but plans are in the works to make it tougher to get onto the playing field between the middle school and nearby Hazel Trembath elementary.
City maintenance workers have installed three heavy locks on a gate to the field and SD43 assistant maintenance director Ken Niven will be touring the site Thursday to see what can be done to stop vehicles from getting onto the property. The extra locks are required because the driver brings a bolt cutter with him to cut the locks to get access to the field. One of the locks has been placed well out of reach of the vandal.
"We will be reviewing the site tomorrow with the grounds supervisor to look at ways to reduce the possibility of vehicles to our fields," Niven said.
The extra deterrence is necessary after a 4x4 was driven onto the field three times in separate incidents over the Christmas holidays and last weekend.
Area resident Barrie Abbott, who walks his dog in the area, was so upset at the wilful damage he fired off a letter to The Tri-City News and city officials describing the incidents.
"The first time this happened, the city responded promptly, putting a new lock on the gate on the northeast corner of the field and repairing the turf, which the blockhead in his truck had torn up doing doughnuts," Abbott wrote in his email. "The second time this moron decided to remodel the field, he also drove over the sidewalks and grass around Hazel Trembath school and did doughnuts on their field."
The field was repaired and the lock was replaced again, and then "Guest what?" Abbott asked: "The knot-head in his truck broke the lock again, sometime the night of Friday, Jan. 6 or the early morning of Saturday, Jan. 7 and did more of his destructive handiwork."
On a tour of the school grounds Monday with The Tri-City News, Abbott suggested some large boulders be installed to stop drivers from scaling the ridge to the playground and the BC Hydro right-of-way next to the property.
"I don't think this is what this is meant for," said Abbott pointing to the damage on the field and the basketball court below, which is covered in mud apparently from a vehicle.
Abbott said the field is well-used by soccer clubs and looked after by the city, which maintains the field in a joint-use partnership with SD43.
Todd Gross, manager of parks and services with Port Coquitlam, said so far, he has had no reports of vehicle sightings and is encouraging nearby residents to keep an eye on the property.
"The city is part of the Vandal Watch program, where the residents do participate and call in. It really depends on whether they see it, and get a licence number. What we're trying to do is the school is going to look at their access points. It's a very large site, that's the difficulty."
For more information about Vandal Watch visit www.vandalwatch.citysoup.ca/Default.htm
Graffiti incidents up
It's been a bad start to 2012 for graffiti at local schools, according to a report from School District 43, and the assistant director of maintenance hopes this isn't a sign of things to come.
The latest vandalism report shows 17 incidents of graffiti damage at 13 schools between Dec. 29 and Jan 4, with most of the damage reported on the first day back to school after spring break.
"This is atypical. I hope this is a one-off situation," said Niven, who said crews will prioritize the damage by removing hate-related or offensive graffiti right away and getting to the tags as soon as possible.
According to the Vandal Watch website, graffiti is a crime, not an art form, and there are several types. It lists several: hip hop or wild style, tag or signature, gang, nondescript, bubble gum, socio-political, skateboard, racist, satanic, religious, stencil and eulogy.
The schools where graffiti was reported are: Minnekhada, Scott Creek, Maple Creek, Hillcrest and Summit middle; Heritage Woods secondary; and Hampton Park, Birchland, Parkland, Pinetree Way, Leigh, James Park and Rochester elementary schools.
For more information about graffiti, visit www.vandalwatch.citysoup.ca/Graffiti/default.htm
