Vandalism an ongoing problem at Glenwood Recreation Park

May 2—PRINCETON — New assets including an amphitheater stage and pickle ball courts have been built over the last two years at Glenwood Recreation Park, but ongoing vandalism keeps threatening such improvements.

Restrooms at the county park were found vandalized Tuesday morning, Mercer County Commissioner Greg Puckett said. About $1 million has been invested in the park over the last two years, but the vandalism problem continues.

Other restrooms near the Route 20 entrance were vandalized several weeks ago. Fencing around the pickle ball courts and other assets have been damaged, too, he said.

"We're constantly trying to do new things at the park," Puckett said. "It seems like every time we put up something new, something else gets broken."

The park has limited personnel and they have to perform regular maintenance such as mowing, so vandalism takes time away from these duties, Puckett said.

"Essentially this destroys opportunities at the park," he said about the vandalism problem. "It takes away from regular maintenance to fix that."

The county is looking at methods such as security cameras to help stop vandalism.

"I'm angry," Puckett said. "I'm flustered because I'm angry. We have to find a solution to control the problems now."

Problems such as littering have gotten better because time has been taken to clean the park, but cleanups are still necessary as littering continues.

"We can't keep doing all this work and have the community disrespect our park like this," Puckett said.

The dam at Glenwood Lake is scheduled for maintenance, so the lake will be drained starting in April 2025 and remain empty for about 18 months. Then the county will be looking to make other improvements at the park.

"If we don't have any respect, we are less likely to make improvements," Puckett said.

People with information about the vandalism and would like to submit an anonymous tip can leave one on the Glenwood Recreation Park Facebook page or contact area law enforcement officials to report the information.

— Contact Greg Jordan at gjordan@bdtonline.com

Contact Greg Jordan at gjordan@bdtonline.com