Vandals break lights on Leechburg's gazebo, mayor hopes to purchase cameras to discourage behavior - TribLIVE

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Leechburg’s gazebo was vandalized again.

Mayor Wayne Dobos said someone broke strands of decorative lights that hang around the white gazebo, located in Leechburg’s Riverfront Park. Residents informed him of the situation last week.

“I can’t understand why somebody has to destroy something that’s nice,” Dobos said. “There’s no reason whatsoever to rip the lights apart.”

The lights were strung last year as part of a volunteer project to clean up the park and gazebo, which sits along the Kiski River behind Sprankle’s Neighborhood Market. Dobos spearheaded the project, which is part of his “Beautify Leechburg: Polish the Jewel” initiative.

In addition to hanging the lights, volunteers stripped and repainted the gazebo’s upright pillars, pressure-washed the gazebo, and knocked down a concrete block wall that used to enclose the gazebo. Frickanisce Iron Works of Parks Township made and installed a new aluminum railing, paid for with donations.

“That probably hurt as much as anything,” Dobos said. “As a matter of fact, I was the one that purchased the lights for here. It wasn’t that they were that expensive, but I purchased them, so it kind of dug me a little bit more than maybe somebody else.”

The broken lights were taken down a few days ago. The lights that weren’t broken remain.

They will cost $20 to $25 to replace. Former Leechburg resident Louis Phillips is buying the replacement lights.

Phillips said vandalism is frustrating, but you can’t let it discourage you from improving a community.

“It was a small amount and, rather than take down the rest of the lights, … I just wanted to replace these,” said Phillips, who has done volunteer work at the gazebo. “Hopefully, this isn’t an ongoing pattern.”

The money being spent on the project has all come from donations. No taxpayer money has been used.

All of the other work has been done by volunteers.

Dobos said he told Leechburg police what happened to the lights, but doesn’t think it is worth filing a police report.

He said police officers patrol around the gazebo about two to three times a shift, depending on how busy they are. He believes that’s cut down on some of the vandalism that could potentially be happening there.

In the past, people have broken out some of the gazebo’s decorative pillars, Dobos said.

Dobos hopes to eventually add two cameras to the gazebo to dissuade vandalism. Those could cost hundreds of dollars each.

He also wants to add a permanent light system and do some electrical work so bands can plug in their equipment when they perform at the gazebo.

“We figured we’re going to fix it up this time, and we’re going to try and keep the vandalism away,” Dobos said. “You can’t do anything about what happened before, but you can try to prevent it now.”

Dobos and the other volunteers haven’t been able to do much work at the park and gazebo this year because of the coronavirus pandemic. They wanted to install a drainage system, but that had to be put on hold.

Anyone interested in donating to the project can drop off checks or mail them to the borough office at 260 Market St., Leechburg, PA 15656. Checks should be made out to Leechburg Borough. Note gazebo on the memo line.

Madasyn Lee is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Madasyn at 724-226-4702, mlee@triblive.com or via Twitter .

Categories: Local | Valley News Dispatch