RIDLEY TOWNSHIP >> Vandals who stomped holes in the roofs of two baseball dugouts and a shed at Blackrock Park in Swarthmorewood have also struck up what one athletic official called “an appropriate amount of outrage.”
As president of the Swarthmorewood Athletic Association, Ken Jordan knows well the amount of time and effort residents in the community, in conjunction with township employees, devote to keep the grounds in good shape for numerous sports and other programs.
“I do want to bring attention that there is more here than a monetary aspect. This park is central to our community, and you never want anyone to feel it is not a safe place to go,” Jordan said Thursday. “It doesn’t sit well when someone mistreats it … I’d say there is an appropriate amount of outrage because so many people work hard to keep it nice.”
Ridley Township Manager Ed Pisani was notified by a township highway worker that the park – one of nine owned by the township – was vandalized. He said he received the call about 2 p.m. Wednesday and immediately contacted Ridley Township police. Authorities do not know exactly when the damages occurred, though Jordan was made aware of the hole in the shed roof at the association board meeting Monday night.
At that time, Jordan wasn’t aware of any damages to the dugouts, he said, and he did not notify police about the shed.
Jordan could not say for sure that all the damages to the property occurred at the same time.
Pisani surveyed the overall damages Thursday and estimated the cost of the repairs “in the thousands” of dollars.
“It’s crazy. I couldn’t believe it when I went down there,” he said. “Once in a while we might get graffiti, something spray painted, but nothing before like this.”
In addition to gaping holes in the roofs, Pisani said some of the lighting fixtures outside the clubhouse/snack bar building were damaged. The dugout roofs are shingles over wood.
“Police are investigating,” he said, adding that information regarding the vandalism has also been shared on social media.
“Please ask your kids if they saw anything or heard anything about this. Someone saw, heard, or knows something so please speak up and call the Ridley Township police. Kids are funny about ratting out other kids, but please emphasize to them how important it is to speak up,” reads a message posted Wednesday night on both the Swarthmorewood Athletic Association and Ridley Township Recreation Department Facebook pages.
The field where the damages occurred is located toward the back of the property, running along Michigan Avenue.
“It’s dark in that corner,” Jordan said. “It’s the farthest part of the park from any of the parking lots.”
While the lone entrance to the park is off Michigan Avenue, Jordan mentioned a possible alternative, via the area of the Blue Route.
“From what I understand, there’s a path that runs up through the woods,” he said, adding he’s never seen it.
Noting another incident at the park a couple weeks ago, Jordan said a plastic piece covering the lockbox for the key for the clubhouse was broken and needed to be replaced.
Whoever it was, he said, “They weren’t successful in getting to the lockbox.”
Thomas Donahue, the township’s 2nd Ward commissioner who serves as chairman of the recreation board, said Blackrock Park is the seasonal home to three baseball fields, which also combine to make up the football field.
With the baseball season over, Donahue said those currently using the football field “should be OK because the dugouts are behind the end zones.”
Donahue noted that the field also houses a playground and is a popular destination for pickup games.
“It’s always being used,” he said. “There are always kids down there.”
Donahue, too, said the damages reach deep. A resident of Blackrock Road in the Swarthmorewood section of the township for 22 years, his three children grew up playing in the park.
“We want to make this a community where people want to come and live. To have people do this, it’s terrible,” he said.
Repairs to the roof of the shed were under way Thursday, and dugout repairs are expected to begin next week, according to Pisani. The necessary lighting replacements have also been ordered, he said.
The shed is used to store snack bar inventory including beverages and a barbecue grill. There were no reported damages to those items.
While the township is footing all repair costs, Pisani said when the culprit or culprits are identified, he intends to pass along the bill to them – or their parents, if they’ve juveniles.
“I think they will be found,” he said.
Anyone with information is asked to call 911 or township police at 610-532-4000.
