Vandals tag park in Cottonwood Shores

COTTONWOOD SHORES, Texas (KXAN) - A small community's efforts to beautify its parks have been tarnished by graffiti and other damage. Now residents of Cottonwood Shores near Marble Falls are looking for those who have damaged the new town park.

Mark Henry, his son and his friends have been hanging around the town's skate park this summer, but recently vandals have been tagging the site, often with obscenities, some of which we can't show.

"It's a shame," said Mark Henry, who grew up in Cottonwood Shores. "You know, the kids they get bored, and they just don't appreciate stuff and they get to running with other kids, and just start tearing stuff up."

The park and the BMX bike park next door are working projects going back a couple of years when the city of Cottonwood Shores was awarded $1.3 million to build the park system. Volunteers and city staff have worked long hours day and night to open them.

"We're working really hard to put these parks together and to give something to our community so that our kids will have something to do," said city administrator Janet Taylor-Carusi.

But in recent weeks vandals have caused headaches around town. The new splash pad at the community park was meant to cool children off in time for summer, but someone tarred the disc spouts, tagged the slide and even worse.

"They've set a fire in the bathroom," Taylor-Carusi said, "They have broken up the plastic chairs that
someone had donated and we put in the mulch -- and they take the mulch and pour it down the splash pad drain."

The grand opening of the community park was supposed to be this month. Now the vandalism has delayed things. Officials think they might have it ready to go in about three months but city officials are still very frustrated trying to find out who did this.

Taylor-Carusi said it affects her personally.

"Sure it does. It does, we live here," she said. "The city administrator's position is a position that I took so that we can get another cop. I do it for free and so I'm here 40 to 50 to 60 hours a week working for free trying to better our community."

Repairs are being done but slowly. There is little money for repairs and the continued frustration to find those responsible.

Police are looking for tips and Taylor-Carusi wants whomever is doing it to just stop the crime spree.

"My message to the kids is, 'Please stop, because we're trying to do something for you,'" she said.