In its mission to provide exemplary, accessible, and safe recreation facilities, the City of Unalaska, Parks, Culture and Recreation department is seeking the community’s help to keep Unalaska’s 8 parks clean and safe. Each park has a dog bag station and several trash cans. Some of the parks have restroom facilities. Lately, there have been reports of vandalism incidents at the facilities. According to Recreation Manager Albert Burnham, the restrooms at Sitka Spruce Park were littered and clogged with toilet paper. Over the weekend, the bathroom door was damaged by what seemed to be strong force against the door that caused the top hinge to break. This week, someone defecated on the floor of the portable toilet at Town Park.
In 2014, PCR was forced to close park restrooms due to the high frequency of vandalism cases. Last year, the bathroom wall in the Ounalashka Community Park was scorched when someone lit toilet paper on fire. Then, at Sitka Spruce Park, a small seal bomb was detonated in the toilet.
There are now several incidents this year and PCR is considering another closure if the issues continue. Before they launch this last measure, they are urging community members to help by being proactive. Burnham suggests to immediately call Public Safety when they see any vandalism or suspicious activities for immediate response. “We appreciate the help in cleaning up but what we need now is documentation and investigation so we can find out who did it,” says Burnham.
The burden of keeping Unalaska’s parks can be shared by city departments and community members. Please report incidences of vandalism to Public Safety at (907) 581-1233 or call the Community Center at (907) 581-1297.