Vandals wreak havoc at fairgrounds

Frontiersman reporter

PALMER --Alaska State Fair employees came to work Monday morning to a scene of devastation.

Palmer Police responded at 7:09 a.m. to a call from fair employees reporting a multitude of smashed windows, vandalized motor homes and boats, broken doors and vandalized ATM machines.

Sandy Gaither, executive assistant for Alaska State Fair, Inc. said Wednesday that the destruction was discovered by Grounds Supervisor Larry Longenecker when he made his early-morning reconnaissance of the grounds on Monday. According to Gaither the facility had been fine when it was secured at about 5 p.m. Sunday.

A drive around the grounds revealed broken windows in the Alaska State Troopers' building, the Fair Security Office, the Emergency Medical Services/First Aid Office, the Borealis Theater, the Mat-Su College log building, the Sluice Box, the Hoskins Building, the 4-H Building, the ice cream booth, the farm house and the Irwin Building, where privately-owned motor homes and recreational boats are stored for the winter.

The doors to the small barn housing the ATM were ripped off and, according to Palmer Police Chief George "Russ" Boatright in an interview on Wednesday, the ATM machine itself may be a total loss. Boatright estimated that the total damages could reach the $60,000 mark.

Fair employees had put up a blue plastic tarp to protect the ravaged ATM building from the elements. The tarp flapped in the cold, wet wind as Gaither pointed out vandalism done to the statue of a gold panner that stands next to the ATM barn.

But the worst damage was done inside the Irwin Building, where rows of luxury motor homes wait out the cold winter months.

"A lot of people are wondering why. This really was just pure destruction," said Gaither as she went from vehicle to vehicle, pointing out costly smashed windshields, ripped-up window coverings and total chaos inside the vehicles themselves.

Twelve motor homes in all were vandalized, and several lost windshields and every window and ceiling vent in them. Clothing and personal items were ripped from cabinets and closets and tossed in heaps on the floors of the recreational vehicles that are second homes to many of their owners.

"The people were very upset," Gaither said of the owners, most of whom live in-state and have already visited the scene. "This was a violation of their households and personal belongings. It was a shock to realize that anyone would destroy things like that."

Two boats stored in the building also suffered smashed glass and ripped canvas.

According to Gaither, the motor homes are privately insured by the individuals who own them, as stipulated in the storage agreement between the RV owners and the Alaska State Fair.

"I had looked forward to getting a lot of things done this week because so many people would be gone," she said. "Instead, I have been talking to insurance adjusters and taking them around to see the damage."

Gaither explained that the State Fair had recently acquired the nearby Rebarchek Farm, along with a small but beautifully handmade old greenhouse.

"A lot of it was very old glass windows," she said. "They smashed every single window in it."

Gaither said she understood a similar incident had occurred about four years ago, before she became a State Fair employee, when someone broke into the Farm Exhibits building and did some damage to RVs parked in it. According to Gaither, those individuals were caught and punished, paying restitution for the damage.

"We try to make this a place for good experiences and happy times," said Gaither. "To have someone come in and destroy our grounds and these people's property, it's just very sad for anyone who's ever been at the fair."

Palmer Police Sgt. Lance Ketterling, interviewed on Friday, said that the police believe three juveniles were involved in the crimes.

One has confessed, and the police are serving search warrants on some vehicles. According to Ketterling, the case in all likelihood will be completed next week.