MUSKEGON, MI – Five lamps on a scenic bridge at Muskegon’s Heritage Landing were vandalized this weekend, according to Muskegon County officials.
The damaged LED lamp heads – including the lampposts that held them – could cost the county between $5,000 and $8,000 to replace, officials said.
County officials reported the vandalism on the morning of Monday, May 20, and are in the process of filing a report with the Muskegon Police Department.
The hope is that police can help the county retrieve the lights, which were removed from their sockets and are now missing, said Bob Lukens, community development director with Muskegon County’s Conventions and Visitors Bureau.
The park on Muskegon Lake near downtown is owned by Muskegon County.
The lamp heads were previously attached to five of the 11 lampposts that help illuminate the Heritage Landing bridge at night. It is unclear if the lamps were deliberately stolen or damaged by a passing vandal.
Replacing the lamps could prove difficult because they were specially designed to fit the aging Heritage Landing lampposts in 2012.
Since LED technology has grown by leaps and bounds over the past seven years, Lukens surmises that the county will have to buy five new LED lamps and possibly five new lampposts to accommodate newer LEDs, Lukens said.
County leaders also are considering the purchase of a park-wide camera surveillance system to monitor Heritage Landing to prevent future vandalism, which Lukens called “senseless and stupid.”
“Many of Muskegon County’s largest festivals are held here at Heritage Landing,” Lukens said. “It’s a place where everyone can go; it doesn’t matter whether you’re a visitor or a resident. To have senseless vandalism like this gets me mad because now we have to spend extra time finding the fixtures and the equipment we’ll need to install them.”
This isn’t the first time Heritage Landing has been vandalized, Lukens added, saying incidents like this happen at least once a year, but never quite this costly.
It isn’t the first time county leaders have considered installing a camera surveillance system at Heritage Landing, either.
“We put it off because (a camera system) is expensive and we’re always trying to be good stewards of people’s money,” Lukens said. “But now we’ll have to watch everyone and go through hours of tape to identify the people who do this.”
Lukens said he sent emails to Muskegon Director of Public Safety Jeff Lewis and Muskegon County Sheriff Mike Poulin to brief them on the situation.
Lewis told MLive/Muskegon Chronicle that he has seen the photos Lukens provided in his email, but Lewis has not received a formal police report.
Lukens hopes that the lamps are hidden somewhere in the park. Lukens also said he would ask the Muskegon County sheriff’s dive team if they could keep an eye out for the lamps during their next practice dive at Heritage Landing.
County officials hope to have the lights replaced before festival season begins.