‘These things set you back.’ A second break-in at Fresno’s Storyland in two weeks

For the second time in two weeks, someone broke into Fresno’s Storyland amusement park.

On Wednesday, employees discovered someone had broken into the admission booths at Storyland and its sister park, Playland.

Five windows were broken, along with a pad lock and the doors to one of the buildings. Someone also got into the park’s concession stand, where they took a stash of candy bars.

Police are investigating the incident as vandalism.

There are no cameras at the park, so there is no suspect description and no way to tell if it’s the same person who broke into the park late last month, police said.

In that incident, a cash register was destroyed but no money was stolen, said Bruce Batti, Board Chair for Playland/Storyland.

If the losses were minimal it’s because the theme park — located next to Fresno Chaffee Zoo — has had six or seven break-ins already this year and learned to be proactive, Batti said. It now keeps anything worth taking — maintenance equipment for example — off site.

“If we get broken into, there’s nothing they can take,” Batti said.

“It kind of becomes like white noise, sadly. You allow for it and plan for it.”

That’s not to say it doesn’t cause disruptions. People have broken windows and doors, cut locks and even used the building’s ventilation system to gain entrance into the park’s buildings. Every time it happens, it takes time and resources away from Storyland’s main mission, he says.

The park does employ a security company and has given thought to hiring overnight security similar to the Chaffee Zoo.

And that might have been an option before the coronavirus pandemic closed the park for a year, Batti said.

Storyland just reopened in March.

Playland remains closed, but is slated to reopen in late September.

In a way, the two parks are still rebuilding from an almost permanent closure in 2015. After being officially joined in the mid-1990s, the parks were temporarily closed due to bad finances and dwindling revenue. They were reopened with much fanfare a year later, but only after considerable effort and thanks to much community support, Batti said.

“You right the ship,” Batti said, “but these things set you back.”