Vandalism and theft is a growing concern at Moncton’s parks.
Last week, at Fairview Knoll Park in Northeast Moncton, the bolts to the benches were removed and they were flipped over.
Director of Parks Dan Hicks believes the intent was to steal the benches, but the culprits may have been scared away by area community safety officers,”We’re very fortunate now to have more active surveillance of our areas and having these community safety officers do patrols around a number of our parks on a regular basis is helping to deter this activity. Hopefully that message gets around that we are watching.”
Hicks says this isn’t the first time this park has been targeted, “We’ve seen the damages increase at this park in particular and some of the ways to help combat vandalism in general is to have more good use of space. The more people go and use them for the right reasons, fewer people go there to use them for the wrong reasons.”
Fairview Knoll is the fifth largest park in the City of Moncton, “It’s a great community asset. It features all kinds of elements that benefits everyone from 18 months old to 90 years old, a very inclusive space. It was rebuilt in 2017 with a significant investment, but in 2018, a portion of the park was lit on fire and burned to the ground. That cost us around $80, 000 to rebuild,” Hicks says.
He says it isn’t the only park that has been hit by graffiti, or other mindless damages..
Hicks adds if you see someone damaging public property, you should call RCMP, or if it is after the fact, call the City of Moncton.
