A rental property on the corner of East 10th and Gilson in Erie, shared by several youth sports teams, has been left badly damaged after extensive vandalism.<\/p>\n
Leaders say the destruction was so severe, it appeared someone was trying to ruin the building from the inside out. Despite the setback, members of the Erie Spartans say the incident has only motivated them to work harder.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt didn\u2019t hamper us at all,\u201d Jamnal Pacley, the president of the Erie Spartans said. \u201cIt just made us want to work harder.\u201d<\/p>\n
For more than 50 years, the rental property has served as a cornerstone for youth in Erie. This week, however, leaders say what they discovered inside was unlike anything they have seen in decades.<\/p>\n
Graffiti covered the walls throughout the building. A strong smell of urine lingered inside. Mirrors were shattered, workout equipment was broken, and a bucket filled with urine was left behind.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat was once a training space for dozens of Erie kids is now being treated like a crime scene. Leaders say the vandalism is not just about property damage, but a direct blow to young athletes who depended on the space as a safe and supportive environment.\u201d Stephanie Logue reported<\/p>\n
\u201cWe talked to the city and the Boys & Girls Club about possibly coming in and helping take over the space,\u201d one leader said. \u201cThe goal is to get everything cleaned out and give the East community something to look forward to\u2014a safe haven for kids and something we can all be proud of.\u201d Briana Ranson, the manager of The Erie Spartans said.<\/p>\n
Despite the damage, the Erie Spartans say their season will continue. Community members have stepped in to offer help with cleanup efforts and financial support to improve security.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople have been asking how they can help clean up and help pay for surveillance cameras so this doesn\u2019t happen again,\u201d a team leader said. \u201cThe community has really been supportive.\u201d Jamnal Pacley, the president of the Erie Spartans said<\/p>\n
\u201cIt showed everyone that we\u2019re not just a team or just a name. We\u2019re a family.\u201d Briana Ranson, the manager of The Erie Spartans said.<\/p>\n
Erie Police confirmed that a report was not filed because authorities were not notified at the time, citing a lack of information and security cameras at the property. Since then, the locks have been changed, and leaders say they are in the process of purchasing and installing surveillance cameras to prevent future incidents.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A rental property on the corner of East 10th and Gilson in Erie, shared by several youth sports…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":179732,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[2347,136,138,137,80234,59374,709,32064],"class_list":["post-179731","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-erie","tag-community-support","tag-erie","tag-erie-headlines","tag-erie-news","tag-erie-spartans","tag-property-damage","tag-vandalism","tag-youth-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179731","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=179731"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179731\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/179732"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=179731"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=179731"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=179731"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}