Sparta Considering Security For Caboose; Vandalism Reported

As Sparta gets closer to finishing the restoration of its train caboose, city officials concerned about security around the new addition.

During the aldermen’s Thursday meeting, City Administrator Tonya Tindle said one of the windows of the caboose was recently broken in an act of vandalism. Mayor Jerry Lowery said he wanted to take inspiration from how Livingston’s mayor handled the problem in that area.

“The one thing he said, we ask, ‘Your park – the splash pad park and everything and what you got – is, is so clean, there’s no graffiti, there’s nothing,'” Lowery said. “And here’s what he said: ‘We have a good camera system on it, and if you graffiti it, we prosecute you.'”

Lowery said he received a report of two teenagers on top of the caboose trying to push one another off. Lowery and the board will look at security options to protect the caboose.

Lowery suggested replacing the broken glass with plexiglass and adding signage around the site for additional security.

“We don’t need to be harsh,” Alderman Brian Jones said. “But we need to be firm. Because that could cost one of those idiots their lives.”

Jones said the problem of teenagers climbing on the caboose has likely been an issue even before the restoration began.

Tindle said the caboose recently received its second coat of paint and is ready for additional detailing after the window is repaired.