NORTH RIDGEVILLE, Ohio — The North Ridgeville Police Department said two to three juveniles are believed to have vandalized the men’s restroom at South Central Park. So far, no arrests have been made in the case.
It happened on April 25 around 5:20 p.m.
The city’s parks and recreation department said there’s an estimated $1,200 to $1,500 in damage. The incident has forced the closure of the men’s and women’s restroom facilities at the community cabin closest to the park’s playground.
"It just makes your stomach sink and your heart drop,” said North Ridgeville’s Parks and Recreation Director Kevin Fougerousse. “The handicap stall (was) completely ripped off. Completely destroyed. The two mirrors ripped off the wall. One completely shattered. The urinal divider (was) ripped off the wall (and) bent in half. The hand dryer… same thing… ripped off the wall (and) destroyed. Two soap dispensers and toilet paper dispensers were all destroyed.”
The restroom facilities will be closed for a few weeks, Fougerousse said, as the city waits for items to be shipped and installed. He said restrooms on the other end of the park remain open.
“You put a lot of time and effort trying to make it better for our community, our residents obviously, and the see it (damage) you're kind of at a loss for words.”
Kristine Mysliwiec was at the park Monday with her grandchildren.
“As long as the weather is decent, we come out a lot,” Mysliwiec said.
“How critical are those for families?” I asked her.
“Well extremely for potty training ages; it’s really important, and for grandmas who are getting a little older,” Mysliwiec said with a laugh.
It disturbed her and other park visitors who learned of the vandalism.
“That’s very sad that it comes to that for them to have entertainment like that… that kids don’t have any other purpose or things to do. It's very, very sad,” Mysliwiec said.
It’s the third time in the past five years the park’s restrooms have been vandalized. It happened in 2019 and most recently in 2021 when a social media trend swept the country, involving students posting videos of themselves stealing, damaging or showing off items taken from schools and other public spaces.
“We’re hoping they can get fixed quickly and hopefully we don’t have another incident happen again,” said parkgoer Lisa Roth.
Fougerousse said the city will be updating existing security cameras around the park, given the latest case of vandalism.
Anyone with information to help police find the persons responsible for the damage should contact the North Ridgeville Police Department.
