NEWPORT BEACH : Vandals Quickly Hit New City Restrooms
City officials plan to close the recently renovated restrooms at McFadden Square near Newport Pier until next month after vandalsdestroyed fixtures and painted graffiti in the newly opened building.
The restrooms, which were opened to the public on Friday, were vandalized sometime between 3:30 p.m. that day and early Saturday morning, according to police reports.
Part of the McFadden Square renovation project, the restrooms were built at a cost of about $340,000 and replaced deteriorated facilities, said City Manager Robert Wynn.
Maintenance crews found graffiti on the inside walls and damage to many of the fixtures that had just been installed, Wynn said. He estimAted the cost of repairing the facilIties at about $25,000.
“It’s really discouraging, trying to provide services for the public and that’s the way we’re treated,” Mayor Ruthellyn Plummer said during Monday’s City Council session.
The police report noted that the graffiti included monikers of a Santa Ana gang, said Lt. Tim Newman of the Newport Beach Police Department.
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