Parksville has been conducting a soft opening of a new public park washroom; however, vandals have already destroyed some of the facility.
Since Wednesday, March 27th, staff have been opening the new public washroom in Parksville Community Park ahead of the official launch date for the facility to run through cleaning and security procedures.
The City of Parksville said they chose a closing time of 7 p.m. for the new washroom in order to mitigate any possible late-night vandalism.
Despite their efforts, while the new washroom was accessible during their soft opening of the facility, significant damage was done to the men’s washroom specifically.
Before 7 p.m. on Sunday, March 31st, the City says that extensive damage was done; soap dispensers were ripped off the wall, soap was dumped all over the flooring and the urinal privacy separator and the stall door were completely torn off.
Later that day, they say the exterior of the building and the men’s room door were tagged with markers.
“We are extremely disappointed [that] senseless destruction in the Parksville Community Park continues,” said a City of Parksville spokesperson in a media release.
“We estimate the damage this time to be at minimum, $6,000 in addition to staff time for cleanup.”
Prior to this, the City says they were looking forward to the official launch of the washroom, but now the men’s room will be closed indefinitely.
Oceanside RCMP is investigating the incidents.
