THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, July 11, 1995 TAG: 9507110258
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TOM HOLDEN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Long : 111 lines
The Mount Trashmore YMCA was scheduled to reopen this morning, one day after vandals armed with a sledge hammer, a pair of bolt cutters and two crowbars ransacked the building on South Boulevard.
Parents of an estimated 400 children in YMCA child care programs can expect the building to be open and safe, after a cleanup effort that extended into the evening.
``We have probably 25 workers in there right now cleaning the place up,'' William H. George, vice president of the YMCA of South Hampton Roads, said Monday. ``We'll be open with no risk to the children. Everything will be safe. Not everything will be repaired, but that won't disrupt the children's activities.''
YMCA workers arriving before 6 a.m. Monday found a disheartening scene of vandalism, which could cost between $25,000 and $50,000 to clean up and repair.
Glass windows were shattered, office equipment and vending machines were smashed, and an armored dollar bill changer had been toppled, pried open and looted. A pay telephone had been knocked from a wall, and children's toys were scattered and broken.
Chemicals used to treat swimming pool water had been dumped in the pool pumping room. When the police were summoned to investigate, three officers and two evidence technicians complained of sore throats and watery eyes, apparently caused by fumes from the spilled chemicals.
All were treated at Sentara Bayside Hospital and released.
A hazardous materials team from the Virginia Beach Fire Department arrived to identify the chemicals and help make the building safe.
Police immediately offered a reward of up to $1,000 through their Crime Solvers program.
No YMCA workers were injured, and none of the children enrolled in the day camp and child care programs was hurt. In fact, none of the children were allowed to enter the building.
But as word of the damage inside spread among volunteers, workers and parents, many were predictably troubled. Some could not understand why a nonprofit institution like the YMCA would be targeted. Others worried about what the children might think.
Most, like Alanton resident Barbara Murphy, were just plain mad.
``We're upset and really angry,'' said Murphy, who held her 2-year-old son, Peter. ``This is a family place, a loving place. I just shudder to think of why someone would do this. I just don't understand.''
Not only had vandals trashed obvious targets such as vending machines, which might contain small amounts of money, but they also turned their wrath to innocuous items such as office files, calculators and a microfiche machine. Even pictures of staff personnel, selected as employees of the month, were torn from a wall and broken.
``The only thing they stopped short of breaking was a picture of Jesus Christ,'' said George. ``It's sad that anyone would do something like this.''
In several smaller rooms used for day care, toys were broken, while pool tables and ping pong tables were overturned. Several glass blocks set in an interior wall to filter light into the area between the gymnasium and the reception area were shattered.
On the brighter side, George said, all of the facility's more expensive equipment, like cardiovascular exercise cycles, were untouched, as were weight training equipment and the gymnasium floor - although water fountains in the gym were smashed.
Locker rooms and toilets were not damaged.
With the building unusable, YMCA officials scrambled all morning to find activities for the hundreds of excited children who mingled in the parking lot next to Mount Trashmore and at a safe distance from the building.
Parents arrived unaware that their children could not go inside because YMCA personnel were kept outside - and away from records that would have let them notify parents.
The YMCA at Mount Trashmore has three regularly scheduled programs for infants, toddlers and children up to 14 years old. Most of the infants were either reunited with their parents or sent to Children's World, a nearby day care center. The preschool-aged children were sent to the YMCA's Salem Family Center on Lynnhaven Parkway.
But the majority of the day camp children were carted off in leased buses to Pinboys, a local bowling alley. After the day's activities, the children were returned to the YMCA, where their parents picked them up.
Police offered no hint that suspects are under review nor could they say with certainty that more than one person was involved. But given the extent of damage and the time it must have taken to pry open the dollar bill changer, police believe that several people were probably involved.
The YMCA does not have a burglar alarm, but George, the vice president, said the board may consider motion detectors once the damage is cleaned up. ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photos]
Vandals' aftermath at Beach Y
MORT FRYMAN
Staff
Workers arrived at the Mount Trashmore YMCA to find an estimated
$25,000 to $50,000 in damage Monday morning.
MORT FRYMAN
Staff photos
Members of a hazardous materials team wash each other down after
working around chemicals from the swimming pool.
Kelly Hampton waits outside the Mount Trashmore YMCA with children
who normally would have been playing inside.
CRIME SOLVERS
Anyone with any information about the vandalism is asked to call
Virginia Beach Crime Solvers. Callers don't have to give their names
or testify in court to collect a reward. The number is 427-0000.
KEYWORDS: VANDALISM by CNB