Ongoing vandalism costing Portneuf Wellness Complex thousands

POCATELLO, Idaho (KIFI/KIDK) - There's an ongoing vandalism problem at the Portneuf Wellness Complex.

Alongside busted-in bathroom stall doors, broken camera mounts, run-down fences and graffiti, is another issue of vandalism that's costing the Complex thousands of dollars a year.

People are throwing the rocks that line the lake into the water and ice, repeatedly.

“When they take those rocks off and make it completely barren, it’s something we’ve got to go get more rocks to replace, and it’s pretty labor intensive,” said Guy Patterson, the director of the Complex and Bannock County Event Center.

The rocks serve a purpose besides aesthetics: they hold down and protect the liner around the artificial lake.

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“It really is like thousands of dollars worth of rocks that are being thrown into the lake in the winter and the summer,” Patterson said.

Patterson assumes the vandals are not malicious, but are probably kids and people who don't know they're causing so much damage.

Either way, he's hoping educating the public on the issue (as well as using heavier rocks) will stop the continuous problem.

“Then we can use the money we’re spending on replacing rocks that have already been purchased, we can spend on things we’d enjoy more like concerts, movies, things at the amphitheater,” Patterson said.