Staff writer
Public works employees spiffed up Central Park this week before mobs of people converged for Chingawassa Days.
Memorial and swan fountains were filled Tuesday morning, and both were scooped clean of leaves and other debris. Trees were trimmed, and grass mowed, so all would look inviting.
A group of vandals, however, didn’t want the park to look so inviting. They added soap to memorial fountain Monday.
City council member Ruth Herbel went to the park Monday morning to clean out a flower bed around memorial fountain.
That evening when she returned to water flowers she had planted, a group of boys who were near the fountain as she arrived ran away when they saw she was approaching.
The fountain filled with such thick suds its lights could not be seen through the foam, Herbel said.
Security cameras were installed about 10 years ago when a new park restroom was built, but it is unknown whether the cameras still work.
Herbel said she reported the issue Tuesday morning to city administrator Brogan Jones, who told her city firefighters would clean and refill the fountains.