Zionsville residents expressed concern after two parks in neighboring towns were vandalized. There was a temporary closure of West Park in Carmel on May 29 as park crews cleaned up damage that was done to toilets, sinks, mirrors and changing stations the previous evening. That same day, spray painted messages were found on a baseball dugout at Whitestown Lions Club Park.
Whitestown Lions Club Park park is managed by the Whitestown Lions Club, and Zionsville Baseball Club helps with maintenance. Whitestown Fire Department also helped to re-paint the dugout.
Nathan Messer, Whitestown’s parks director, said that cameras will be installed in future parks that are planned, including the Main Street Park in Whitestown and the Anson Industrial Park, among others.
“(Cameras are) a deterrent for a lot of issues, from vandalism to bullying on the playground,” Messer said. “It’s hard to put a price on public safety.”
Matt Dickey, parks director for the town of Zionsville, weighed in on the recent vandalisms, saying that it is not typically a problem for Zionsville.
“Ours have been smaller incidences,” Dickey said. “Vandalism is an unfortunate reality for parks. Most often it’s young adults, middle school to college age, doing this. The real key is to make sure individuals are raised in a way that they are respectful of property.”
