Santa Maria Rec and Parks Department: Public restrooms at Preisker Park to close indefinitely if vandalism continues

SANTA MARIA, Calif. - The Santa Maria Rec and Parks Department said vandalism at several parks has continued for several months.

This weekend, the restroom facility at Preisker Park was vandalized.

"So we got two smash toilets in the north bathroom ... and we’ve got a smashed
sink and a broken sink in the south bathroom … someone came in … smashed them with a hammer of some sort … wrote some graffiti and ripped the sink off the wall," said assistant director Brett Fulgoni at the Santa Maria Rec and Parks Department.

As a result, the Rec and parks department has shut down the restroom
facility at Preisker Park.

City rangers said the destruction keeps happening throughout the city.

"We’ve had many smashed toilets and we’re talking porcelain toilet and
they’re just smashed in pieces … we’ve had the same thing with some of our
sinks … and as they get repaired replaced it happens over and over again," said city ranger Casey Stone of the Rec and Parks Department.

Fulgoni said the damages will cost thousands of dollars to repair at the park's restroom facility.

"We’ve moved to some of the stainless steel versions but they’re obviously
more expensive more time consuming … and we really shouldn’t have to
install stainless steel. Hoping people can respect the facility so everyone
can use it," said Stone.

While crews just finished remodeling the restrooms that were damaged days
later, the department says there’s only so much they do can.

"We can’t keep up so we either have to close the bathrooms ... or it takes our
crew from doing other things in the parks," said Fulgoni.

The department says if you see anyone causing damage to the parks, report it
to the Rec and Parks Department immediately: (805) 925-0951