‘WORTH EVERY PENNY’

Vandalism at Bicentennial Garage is down after cameras were installed

WEST CHESTER » Just like magic, vandalism in the Bicentennial Garage has slowed.

In 2018, the borough added three new cameras, at a cost of $8,000, to the roof floor of the garage, near the corner of High and Market streets. Since then, graffiti tagging has completely stopped.

Four cameras were added on the Bicentennial Garage’s ground floor in 2015 and cameras were placed in the Chestnut Street Garage when it was rebuilt in 2010.

“The cameras absolutely helped,” Clark Elms, director of parking services said, during a Friday phone interview. “When cameras came in, everything stopped.

“The cameras are worth every penny.”

Borough Manager Mike Perrone was pleased with the installation.

“If we can stop people from vandalizing garages it keeps up the appearance and eliminates the need to spend money for repairs and removing graffiti,” Perrone said.

The tab for vandalism related garage repairs for the past few years ran about $25,000. While the graffiti was painted over, the borough installed a metal sheet, on drywall, that was regularly kicked in.

1889

Some 2,200people in Johnstown perished when the South Fork Dam collapsed, sending 20 million tons of water rushing through the town.

1921

A race riot erupted in Tulsa, Okla. as white mobs began looting and leveling the affluent black district of Greenwood over reports a black man had assaulted a white woman in an elevator; hundreds are believed to have died.

1961

South Africa became an independent republic as it withdrew from the British Commonwealth.

1977

The Trans-Alaska oil pipeline, three years in the making despite objections from environmentalists and Alaska Natives, was completed.

BILL RETTEW - MEDIANEWS GROUP Vandalism has diminished at the Bicentennial Garage after cameras were installed.

BILL RETTEW - MEDIANEWS GROUP Vandalism at the Bicentennial Garage was cut when three cameras were added to the roof or sixth floor.