Vandalism plagues Glenwood Recreational Park

PRINCETON, WV (WVNS) — For several months, a local Mercer County park has been under siege by vandals.

Glenwood Recreational Park is a beautiful park right outside of Princeton city limits. With a lake for fishing, a miniature golf course, and several playgrounds, the park should be a nice place for everyone in the county to visit and enjoy.

However, an onset of vandalism has made this a bit difficult. The most recent targets of the vandals are the restrooms at Shelters 5 and 7. Toilets were destroyed and the stall doors were ripped from their hinges.

Bill Archer, President of the Mercer County Commission, said he is disappointed that people would do something like this.

“You know, it just kind of breaks your heart whenever you invest county taxpayer dollars into doing these projects and, two, see people who don’t just accept and appreciate it and feel as though they have to break something in order to make a statement; and I don’t know what that statement is,” said Archer.

These incidents come on the heels of earlier occurrences of vandalism on the pickleball courts near Shelter 5. The courts have sense been repaired, but, previously, the court’s surface had been marred by bicycle tracks and the fencing had been pulled up.

Archer said the county has already started their countermeasures to stop the vandalism.

“You know, they put up cameras outside the restroom facility obviously,” said Archer. “But we’re also in the process of creating a watch person at the gate [. . .] and [we will] probably charge a minimal admission to get into the park.”

Archer said the watch person and fee could help the park keep track of how many and what kind of people are coming into the park.

He said they do have a sheriff’s deputy that patrols the area, however, they cannot check every single restroom for activity.

He hopes that these measures will bring peace back to the park.

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