ATHABASCA - In what many say is the most picturesque point in Athabasca, the park above the welcome sign on the north side of Athabasca River, that has been maintained by the Lions Club of Athabasca since 2005 has been vandalized yet again.
At the beginning of October, Lions Club volunteers discovered empty beer cans, damage to the port-a-potties and a swastika carved into one of the tables disheartening the members who care for the park, and creating more work, yet again, to try to fix it.
“The main thing around the Centennial Park is that it's been there for a long time and there's quite a history of people from the community being involved in it. And a lot a lot of people over time have really put their heart and soul into maintaining the park. So, it's very, very, very disturbing and very upsetting when it is vandalized,” said Lions Club Athabasca president Debbie Hammond.
“It serves the whole community and it's a wonderful location with a great view of Athabasca and we've got so many good things going for it. It's just a shame to see that this keeps happening over and over. There’s a number of individuals that are vandalizing it.”
Lions Club Athabasca secretary Mike MacLean says the vandalism is an ongoing issue the non-profit faces every year and the damage adds up because there is only so much they can do without replacing items and the costs pile up quickly both monetarily and in manpower.
“I'd say there's perhaps at least one significant act of vandalism per year, sometimes a couple and it will require us to replace something or repair something. And I guess over time, it's just the small acts add up; there's probably no way to restore the table to a perfect degree, it'll just be scarred,” MacLean said.
He noted over time the outhouses, fence, furniture, flower pots and other installations have been damaged and club members have even been hurt trying to correct the damage.
“We used to keep a log in the gazebo area, it would be in a plastic coat so people could fish it out and write in. That's where we got a real sense that visitors from all over the world were up there because they'd find their place of origin and our message so it was a really lovely way to kind of see how the park was used by visitors local and otherwise,” MacLean said.
“And it was probably after one or two times of it getting taken out and the kids would even throw it down the hill or whoever did and then one day Hal (Johnson) insisted on trying to retrieve it and he took a fall. So, he was bruised up pretty bad actually and we just decided we can't keep a book out now. So over time, it does really have an effect on what we feel the park is for and how we can maintain it.”
The club also relies on the kindness of local businesses to keep the park maintained — Select Rentals has donated the porta-potties and Lois Robocon with Birchmeadow Greenhouse keeps the water tank full as well as donations to purchase the benches and tables. There is a lot of community money and time invested in the park to have it look nice and counter the vandalism.
“Everyone that I talked to in the Lion’s was saying that they couldn't really put a cost to it because a lot of things were donated and a number of things were done by volunteers. I don't think we could really put a dollar figure on it,” Hammond said.
And sometimes it’s not just the vandalism, but what the vandals leave behind that discourages the members of the club most, said MacLean about a swastika that was carved into a table in the latest round of damages at the park.
Hammond hopes that the vandals will realize what the park means to the community and stop destroying the park.
“It's very discouraging, because of course, those people aren't aware, or not thinking of what's gone into the park, and how many people have been involved in maintaining it and working on it and work very hard to keep it a place that people in Athabasca can be very proud of,” he said..
