By paNOW Staff

Vandalism at the PA Ex

Jun 27, 2011 | 11:01 AM

The Prince Albert Exhibition Ground was the site of vandalism during the weekend.

One staff member was called by the fire department, Saturday night, to be let into, so they could fight a blaze set by someone who had lit a bale of straw on fire.

The rest of the staff saw the damage when they arrived at work Monday morning.

A black, burnt patch occupies the southwest corner of barn one on the exhibition ground.

“The fire department’s quick response saved our barn from burning to the ground this weekend,” said Patty Soloducha, assistant manager for the Prince Albert Exhibition.

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If it had a wooden structure instead, it would have had a very different outcome, she said.

Vandals didn’t stop at the barn. Picnic tables in the RV Park had been flipped and smashed, Soloducha said.

At this point Soloducha said she guesses there is between $1,000 and $1,500 in damage.

She said police have told the exhibition that they can’t do much because there were no witnesses to identify who was there.

However, this isn’t the first time there has been damage at the grounds.

“On a weekly basis we have two to three incidence of vandalism on the grounds,” Soloducha said.

Nearly every Monday staff is painting over tagging and graffiti, she said.

While there is security, there are just too many places to hide on the exhibition grounds and additional security is too expensive, she said.

“We’ll fix the stuff, but like always our bottom line at the end of the year just gets smaller and smaller.”
Soloducha said she finds it frustrating.

“The way most of us were raised, we didn’t even think about doing stuff like this, it was just common sense that you didn’t burn anything and you didn’t vandalise anyone else’s property.”

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