Jennifer McPhee
Northern News Services
Yellowknife (Jun 27/01) - The real costs of vandalism often exceed original estimates, especially when hidden costs are considered.
That's what Alain Rossignol, owner of Ace Enterprises Rock Quarry, is finding out.
Vandals armed with golf clubs entered his quarry on the May long weekend and destroyed just about everything they could find.
Rossignol estimates the damage at $30,000, twice the amount on a police press release. "But I won't know the exact costs until I replace everything," he said. "Right now, I can't afford to."
The vandals smashed windows and damaged the control panel and air conditioner inside his massive rock crusher.
They also damaged a large rock loader and smashed the windows of many of the vehicles in the quarry.
His insurance will cover fixing the crusher. But he doesn't have insurance for many of the other damaged vehicles.
More importantly, his crusher -- which crushes $5,000 worth of rock a day -- wasn't fixed for five days because parts had to be ordered from Ontario. "Insurance doesn't cover lost time," he said.
Since the quarry couldn't operate Tuesday, employees spent the morning cleaning up broken glass.
The police found fingerprints at the scene, but, so far, not the culprits.
Interestingly, the quarry wasn't the only target that weekend. The Folk on the Rocks site and the Yellowknife golf club were also hit. Several golf clubs -- two were found at the quarry -- were stolen from the club.
Trevor Maywood, the Golf Club's owner, said he suspects that high school kids may be responsible because graduation parties were held the same weekend.
"Hopefully, we'll find out who did it," said Rossignol. "Not just for the money," he added. "I'd just like to know."
