Commissioners, recreation staff and community members told the Richmond Parks and Recreation Commission that vandalism and copper theft to field lighting at MLK disrupted youth soccer programs and forced the cancellation of the middle-school season.

Teitai Kisei, recreation supervisor, said the middle-school league "was running well until the lights were vandalized" and that the program lacked a timetable for repair. Commissioners estimated "about 200 youth" lost their season when the lights went out, a disruption amplified by longer seasons and reduced field access in other jurisdictions.

Parks staff described the damage as part of a broader copper-theft problem affecting citywide lighting. "We're being hit citywide for copper theft," Jason Lacy told commissioners, and the electrical team has been repairing damage daily. Staff said they have welded boxes closed, installed anti-tampering measures and are piloting solar light pillars as one mitigation strategy.

Councilmember Robinson, the commission's liaison, said the city contracted to repair the MLK lights and that they were fixed before Thanksgiving; the cost figure mentioned in the meeting was about $28,000 for that repair. Parks staff and recreation staff also confirmed that MLK lighting is scheduled to run daily from about 4:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., which staff said should provide consistent availability for permitted users and community activity.

Commissioners and staff discussed other mitigation steps — hardened enclosures, boulders around panels, aluminum-core wiring that is less attractive to thieves, and trial installations of 25–40 vendor-donated solar light pillars — but noted those are partial fixes and that theft remains a persistent issue.

Recreation leaders said community groups have sometimes used generators and portable lighting to keep programs running, but commissioners emphasized that durable, city-funded solutions are needed to prevent recurrent season cancellations.

Next steps included continued anti-tampering work by electrical crews, tracking grant and CIP opportunities for resilient lighting and continued coordination with police and other departments about theft prevention.