(KAIR)--Just days following the completion of phase two work allowing Atchison's enhanced skatepark to reopen, vandalism was committed and an Atchison juvenile is facing a charge for the damage.

According to a release from Atchison Police Chief Mike Wilson, a 16-year-old boy was arrested Monday, taken into custody for criminal damage to property "in connection to spray painting at the skate board park at Reisner Park."

The juvenile was released to the custody of a parent.

 

 

On Monday afternoon, after the vandalism occurred, a photo of the damage, which included the spraypainted word, "King," as well as an expletive and other lettering, was posted to social media. Residents responded, expressing their disappointment while critiquing the vandalism, with one calling it "very poorly done graffiti." Some commenters, citing well-done graffitti, said such "tags" are common at skateparks; and while others agreed, the concensus was against such tagging due to the park serving as a memorial to Joshua Kinsman, an Atchison skater who died at 17 in 2018. The original skatepark opened in October 2021 with Kinsman's mother, Pamela Cline, spearheading successful fundraising efforts for the three-phase project.

Cline weighed in on the social media discussion regarding the young, accused vandal, saying, "just because someone makes bad choices doesn’t mean they are bad person [and] they still deserve love so...I will be forgiving and clean it and move on!" 

The 350-thousand-dollar expansion was funded through a 150-thousand-dollar contribution from Skate High With Hope–The Joshua Kinsman Foundation and 200-thousand dollars from the City of Atchison.