The newly opened washroom facility in Parksville Community Park has already been seriously damaged by vandals.
Prior to the Easter weekend, staff opened the new washroom building on March 27, as a “soft opening” to run through cleaning and maintenance procedures with facilities staff as well as the process for opening and closing with Footprints Security, according to a news release by the City of Parksville.
To minimize possible vandalism to the washrooms, the city chose an early closing time of 7 p.m. But, in what appears to be two separate incidents, significant damage was done to the new washroom building prior to the 7 p.m. closing on Sunday.
The interior of the men’s washroom was extensively damaged while the building was open Sunday afternoon. The soap dispensers were torn from the wall and soap dumped over the space. The urinal privacy separator and the door to the accessible stall were completely ripped off the wall.
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Later in the day, the exterior of the building and the door of the male washroom were tagged with markers.
“We are extremely disappointed senseless destruction in the Parksville Community Park continues,” the city said in the release. “We estimate the damage this time to be, at minimum, $6,000 in addition to staff time for cleanup.”
The new male washroom is closed indefinitely, according to the city.
The vandalism was reported to Oceanside RCMP, the city added, as it does with any incidents in the Parksville Community Park.
The Kin Hut washroom was also opened for the season to the public on March 27.
— NEWS Staff
