Two Borough park areas in Talkeetna have been vandalized multiple times this season.
A gate restricting vehicle access at Christiansen Lake has been illegally opened six times since July. Borough Recreation Specialist Brian Robison says the locks have been cut and taken each time. The culprits have driven onto the site designated for pedestrian access only. Staff check on the park sites daily during the season and have found smoldering piles of wet wood and trash at the beach area.
Robison says staff spend about two hours each time cleaning up the site. And new locks cost $50. He says the culprits seem to be entering on weekend evenings.
The brand new bathrooms at the Village Park have not been spared from the vandals. Three to four times per week during the peak of summer, staff found spray paint tagging and damage to the new facilities.
Some tagging can be scrubbed, but others must be painted over. And mirrors that have been etched cost $400 to replace. Robison estimates that staff spent 10 to 12 hours in July fixing the vandalism at the new facilities. New paint and solvents cost about $500 to $600. He says the bathroom vandalism has decreased since the summer.
The Village Park bathrooms saw a huge increase in use this summer with about 650 visitors per day. The campground toilets at the end of Main Street and the Village Park combined saw about 1,100 visitors per day. Robison says they addressed the vandalism immediately each time.
To date, none of the vandals have been identified.
This article was corrected on 09.18.24 to reflect the total usage numbers at both sets of restrooms in downtown Talkeetna.
