Garbage, dog feces dumped into Mount Prospect pool

A Mount Prospect pool was closed on Sunday after vandals dumped a 55-gallon drum full of garbage and dog feces into the pool's deep end, according to park district officials.

It took most of Sunday to clean out the Big Surf Wave Pool at Lions Park and super chlorinate its water, said Walter Cook, chief executive officer of the Mount Prospect Park District.

"It was discovered when we opened the pool on Sunday at about 6 or 7 a.m.," Cook said. "It was a heck of a mess and we had to close the pool for the day. We didn't have a choice."

The vandals managed to carry or roll the drum over an eight-foot fence to get it to the pool, Cook said.

There was no other damage to the pool, which reopened on Monday, he added.

According to a police report, the drum contained between 30 and 40 small plastic bags of dog feces, said Mount Prospect Officer Mark Bechtold.

No one has been arrested yet, but police are interviewing "people of interest," said Bechtold, who declined to comment further.

When and if they do catch those responsible, they'll have more to worry about than just the police. Cook said the park district is tallying up a bill that includes the amount the pool lost on revenue and concessions as well as what it cost to bring in three or four employees to clean up the pool.

"We're talking about a lot of lost revenue," Cook said.