Range Telecommunications donates security cameras to Miner’s Park

NEGAUNEE — There’s a strong sense of pride and community among Yoopers, and that was reinforced earlier this week when a local company donated time and equipment to help stop a vandalism problem at a local public park.

The bathroom facilities at Miner’s Park in Negaunee had been vandalized 3 times in 10 days, where someone was taking dirt from the volleyball court and putting in all of the restroom equipment. The city said that if the problem persisted then the facilities would be closed down for the rest of summer, and then Range Teleommunications stepped up by donating and installing cameras at the facilities.

“We’d seen that they had had an addition need for security, so we reached out to them and offered to help them with the situation,” said Joe Wales, the Vice President of sound and security at Range Telecommunications. “It will not only provide them what they needed with the vandalism issue, but it provides a bit of security for the families and the park because we’re covering much more than the facilities. As a community minded company, we thought it was something we had the means of doing and thought it was a good thing to provide.”

Range Communications has been a locally owned and operated company for over 40 years, and employ several people who live in the communities around Marquette and the surrounding counties. They’ve done a lot of work with the city of Negaunee already, and helping out in this situation meant a lot to the city.

“It means a lot that Range stepped up and helped the community out,” said Negaunee City Manager Nate Heffron. “We’ve got quite a lot of views on our Facebook page on this issue, a lot of shares. I think a lot of the parents are aware of the situation and I think a lot of the children are aware of the situation, and frankly community members are aware of it and watching these restrooms like hawks. They’re not going to let something happen to their park, and they’re making sure that kids are behaving themselves.”

If anyone sees somebody vandalizing a public space they are asked to call the police rather than take the situation into their own hands.