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Vd dais Mdy. Dela Proect :' ByJEANN DERBECK Tribune S aff Writer Damage caused by many > acts of vanda sm may delay completion of I Ilaza Park, ac- cording to George Batchelder, contractor for the park. "I'm even more worried about what vandals will do aft - er the whole chain of down- town riverfront parks is ready for public use " Batchelder said. "Millions of taxpayer dol- lars are being petit on these parks, and I would hate to see that investment wasted by vandalism." Batchelder said he thinks the city should have an ordi- nance "with so a teeth in it" to protect the parks against, vandalism. Last week vandals tore up railroad ties on the old Grand Trunk railroa . bridge that Batchelder's crew is convert - ing to a pedestri in bridge over the St: Joseph I Liver between_ Plaza Park and loward Park.: The vandals t ien threw the railroad ties in t e river. "That cause us a lot of trouble and del y;" Batchei- der said. "We had to stop work and go swimming in the river to try to retrieve ties that weigh about 750 pounds each. It will take about six weeks to replace any ties we can't retrieve." Work on the park has been slowed by several acts of van - dalism since construction be- gan. "It will be disastrous if we have any further incidents. Things like that knock us for a loop," Batchelder said. The park is supposed to be finished by.June, in time to be a site of the city's big bicen- tennial Fourth of July celebra -. tion. But more vandalism could spoil the July 4 plans, Batchelder said. Taxpayers should be more alert to protect their invest- ment in the park, the contrac- tbr said:. They should watch for vandals and report inci- dents to police. Batchelder complained that the St. Joseph County Prose- cutor's office "didn't do any- thing about some kids" who were caught a few weeks ago after stealin a bar e u ed "They (at the prosecutor's office) said they couldn't do anything," Batchelder said. Prosecutor William Voor Jr. 'explained last week that his office must turn youths under 18 over to the juvenile judge. "If they catch some adult vandals, certainly we'll do something," Voor said.- "But where are your priori- ties? We've got plenty to han- dle with more serious items like bingo and rape and mur- der." Batchelder then talked to City Attorney Thomas Brun- ner Jr. about a possible city ordinance against vandalism. But Brunner said.,last week that the city can't have an ordinance with penal provi -, sions which "would attempt to supersede the state law of malicious trespass (which is in, the county prosecutors realm)." "In fact, we (city officials) - have been criticized recently for supposedly exceeding our power in the gambling area," Brunner said. P � 1 g g s on the river by the construction The South Bend Tribune, Sunday, April 25, 1976 23 crew.