A concession stand at the Franklin Pasture Sports Complex was broken into Friday night and items were stolen, officials say. This is the second time in three weeks the schools had to respond to vandalism at the complex. Submitted photo

LEWISTON — A concession stand at the Franklin Pasture Sports Complex was broken into and vandalized Friday night.

The incident follows just days after Tuesday’s initial 5-2 decision to update the parks ordinance to open fields by reservation only due to recurring vandalism. 

School officials were notified by a neighbor who heard loud noises coming from the sports complex. Officials arrived just after 9:30 p.m. and found damage to the concession stand drop gate from forced entry and a mess inside the building, according to Superintendent Jake Langlais. Some items were broken, and food and drinks appeared to have been taken, he added.

Officials also found thousands of rocks and trash on the fields and walkways surrounding the area, Langlais said. They do not know why rocks continue to appear on the turf, but he said it is possible kids are throwing the rocks that border the turf fields at each other.

Hundreds of rocks were thrown onto the playing fields sometime between Friday night and Saturday morning at the Franklin Athletic Complex in Lewiston. Lewiston High School athletic director Jason Fuller said that this is not the first time rocks have been thrown onto the playing fields. Fuller is often the one who picks the rocks up. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal

School officials do not know the identities of those responsible for the vandalism, but they believe it was likely youths, he said.

Break-ins at the athletics complex are not common, however vandalism, trash, and general misuse of the fields can be a daily problem, Langlais said.

According to athletic director Jason Fuller, this is the second time in three weeks that the schools had to clean and repair damage in the concession stands and on the fields.

“I lock up the fields and everybody’s upset about that, the fields are unlocked and we deal with the damage,” said Fuller. “It’s a pretty bad cycle we’ve got going right now.”

Fuller said he could not determine whether the nature of the vandalism was in retaliation to the City Council’s decision to limit access, only that it is recurring.

Once daylight came Mr. Fuller found more rocks on the paths, bleachers, and more trash. We have to find a way to supervise these precious spaces and our kids. Nothing good happens with unsupervised youth at 10 at night. We have to be better. pic.twitter.com/hLvuo8qgn7

— Jake Langlais (@kjlanglais) June 24, 2023

Langlais urged the public to use two nearby fields instead, one located at Connors Elementary School and another at Mike McGraw Park on Bartlett Street.

He also expressed concern for youth who are out late at night without supervision.

“I am of the opinion that nothing good happens when our youth are hanging out with friends out in the community at 10 o’clock at night without supervision,” he said.  “We need to know where our kids are at, build routines that keep them safe, keep our community in good condition, and come together to make it happen so we can continue to be a destination for events, continue to draw people from the state and region that boost our economy, and have beautiful facilities.”