Vandalism, transients plague Alton Baker
Blackberry bushes become home
Of he Emaraid
Vandalism brought by sewer installation and
a nettlesome transient population has kept law
enforcement personnel busy in Alton Baker park
this spring.
There were 53 arrests in Eugene’s most
popular and accessible park last year, half of
them for theft, according to Lane County Parks
Division manager Chuck Schrader. There were 12
arrests for alcohol intoxication and possession of
marijuana.
A large transient population calls Alton Baker
home, Schrader says.
“They consider it free lodging. Some of them
build shacks there in the blackberry bushes and
stay eight or 10 months,” he says.
A device known as a “hobo furnace" keeps
the transients warm at night. A coat hanger is
pulled apart, hooked to a picnic table and rubbed
between the palms to create friction, Schrader
says.
Since the park closes at 11 p.m., those
spending the night are guilty of trespassing.
Vagrancy laws that used to send many of them to
warmer quarters in the county jail have been
declared unconstitutional.
Schrader doesn’t blame vagrants for a more
costly and dangerous problem — malicious van
dalism. About half the large lamps in the park and
Pre’s Trails are broken, Schrader says.
“Some people consider it their life’s ambition
to break those things. There’s 220 volts going
through there so someday somebody’s going to
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selves.”
The lights cost about $240 each, Schrader
says.
Concern about safety in the park area has
caused a group of joggers to form Oregon Trail
Observers, says county sheriff’s office represen
tative Marcia Morgan.
The group patrols the park in the early morn
ing and late evening hours, Morgan says. How
ever, the rose garden area of Skinner’s Butte Park
actually is much more dangerous, Schrader says.
Another aggravation for park users soon will
end. The six-mile sewer line being installed will be
completed in six to eight weeks, Metropolitan
Wastewater Commission representative Sarah
Bachhuver says.
Sewer construction caused a few problems
from joggers resentful about having their regular
route disrupted. A few responded by stealing
construction signs and knocking over barricades,
Eugene COP team spokesperson Don Ellingson
says.
’’They were sharp-looking new signs,”
Bachhuver says. “We managed to trace a couple
of them down and they were hanging in kids'
rooms. They must have thought it was cool to
hang them on their walls.”
The sewer construction contractor — Wildish
Construction — hired a private security firm to
guard their equipment at night.
Ellingson and Schrader both believe park
security problems will increase as the weather
gets warmer.
Photos by Steve Dykes
Utter is another recurrent problem in Alton Baker Park.
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