NILES -- Niles police Capt. James Merriman said Wednesday he hopes the offending parties who painted graffiti at the skate park at Riverfront Park will be banned from it for life.
"They could be permanently ordered to never appear there again," Merriman said. "And could be arrested for trespassing if caught. It's something for the kids to think about."
In an investigation that is ongoing, Merriman said five juveniles suspected of wrongdoing at the park have been petitioned to probate court, the adult equivalent of being arrested.
In addition, Merriman said two adults also are being sought for questioning "and will most likely be charged."
The case against the five students, some from Ring Lardner Middle School and some from Niles Senior High School, came to light when some of the allegedly offending parties talked about what they had done at school.
"Our school officer, Kevin Kosten, got wind of it, and approached one and got hold of a parent, and sure enough that opened it wide up," Merriman said.
"They were interviewed and there was enough evidence to petition them to probate court."
Meanwhile, the park has been closed since Thursday when city officials discovered the large graffiti that now covers walls closest to Main Street of the $390,000 park.
Opened a year ago, the 15,900-square-foot skate park features no adult supervision and no admission charge. The hope when the facility opened was that youths who used the facility would police it themselves, largely through peer pressure.
Joe Ray, assistant public works director, said Wednesday there is no timetable as to when the park would reopen.
Scott Bishop, of Bishops Sewing Service, has been working as a volunteer to clean up the graffiti, but he thinks the city should consider just painting over it for now.
"I have not made very good progress," he said. "It's a mess. I have tried hard with paint removers, and I haven't got the right mix."
Bishop said he will try again, as he has some other chemicals ordered that he hopes can get the job done.
Though Bishop has been down on his hands and knees trying to get rid of what he called "some nasty things written," he wishes the city would not close the park.
"There's a lot of kids who did not do anything wrong" who are being punished he said. "I would like to see the children, while the weather is nice, get some use out of it.
"They have found the kids who are responsible and will punish them, but let's not punish the whole community." Ray said the city understands such concerns, but has a greater concern.
"The thing others don't understand is we can't allow this to happen, and we are not going to open it up with it on there, because then it will appear we are not concerned about it," he said.
"We have to squash it right away. We definitely don't want it to happen again."
Ray added that the department is checking with contractors to get bids on removing the graffiti.
Painting over it, he added, is not being considered.
"If the entire park was painted green, then you could paint it green, but with it being a natural finish ... there was a lot of effort to get the nice smooth finish, and we don't want to sacrifice that."