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Date: 8/25/2021
HOLYOKE - The city is working to address vandalism that took place at the Roberts’ Sports Complex.
The vandalism at Holyoke High School, which took place on Aug. 23, led to the destruction of a soccer net as well as damage to the surrounding turf near the goal.
On Aug. 24 City Councilor At Large James Leahy filed an order with the City Clerk’s office to try to ensure that video surveillance of the incident was released by Superintendent/Receiver of Holyoke Public Schools Anthony Soto and the Holyoke Police Department. In a statement to Reminder Publishing, Leahy said, “…these acts are completely sad and the city will work and help the police to find these people, prosecute and punish them.”
Acting Mayor Terrance Murphy said he wanted people to respect “both the property of others and the needs of others to have a quality playing field.” He said the situation was similar to dealing with illegal dirt biking in the city. “It goes back to like the dirt biking thing, people have got this view that they’re not accountable [and] they can do whatever they want, making other people’s lives miserable is fun,” he said. “We got to find a way for people to respect each other and their property.”
At the time of speaking to Reminder Publishing, Murphy said he was still learning the details of the vandalism and would soon be forming a plan to address it. “We also need to figure out what we do now. I’m probably going to be trying to get an emergency meeting together,” he said.
Murphy said he was unsure if the damage to the field would impact sports teams’ ability to host games or practices. Additionally, he said he was worried about the vandalisms’ impact on their ongoing litigation regarding the condition of the field. He explained the field, which was installed in 2016 by Mountain View Landscapes, began deteriorating in the years after it was constructed.
“I would say right now I’d have to say we don’t know. We need to take a look, see what it is. We’ve been in court trying to get things fixed up with the track and field, how this impacts that - we gotta figure it out,” he said. “[We need to figure out] what can we do, how do we get it so we can fix the field and make sure it’s safe for our athletes and visiting athletes.”
He elaborated further on the litigation surrounding the field and said he had been told, “The first couple of years were okay, then the turf started - almost like it was getting pulled up a little bit. I was told the track was wearing out in different spots. I’m not an expert on fields, but the lines are little off.”
Spokesperson for the Holyoke Police Department Captain Matthew Moriarty said he could offer no additional information, but the “situation is being looked into.”
In a statement to Reminder Publishing from Director of Communications for Holyoke Public Schools Dan Desrochers, he said while the district was disapointed in the vandalism the damage was not extensive. He said, “While we are disappointed to see the vandalism that took place at Roberts’ Field during our first week of school, we were fortunate to avoid any serious damage to the field or the turf. The section of turf that was affected will be ready for use after a couple of hours of cleanup time by the Holyoke Parks and Recreation Department. There was no significant impact to the field’s use by our sports teams and our football team is on track to be on Roberts’ Field for their first game on Sept. 9.”