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Bus shelters trashed

Amanda Vaughan
Northern News Services
Published Wednesday, September 26, 2007

YELLOWKNIFE - Yellowknife's public works crews have reported a staggering 31 panes of glass from transit bus shelters have been broken in acts of vandalism already this year, slightly more than twice the average amount replaced in any given year.

NNSL Photo/Graphic

Public Works maintainer Guy Canning stands beside a bus shelter on 52nd Ave. that is waiting for new glass after it was smashed in an act of vandalism. - Amanda Vaughan/NNSL photo

"We've average about 15 panes a year for the last three years," said Jim Mercereau, assistant superintendent for roads and sidewalks with the city.

Mercereau said that 2007 was shaping up to be a "very bad year" for damage control on the bus shelters.

The city issued a press release last week asking the public to remember that vandalism affects all of the citizens of Yellowknife. The release came after a three-day spree two weeks ago, in which nine panes of glass were broken.

"That's probably the most we've seen in one small period of time like that," said Chris Greencorn, a public works engineer for the city. Greencorn said Yellowknife's vandalism problem is pretty random, with incidents spread out throughout the year, though they do occasionally see little clusters of damage to public property from time to time.

He also said that bus shelters seem to be targeted most often.

"We have spent as much as $10,000 on them in one year in the past," Greencorn said, though he didn't have a figure handy for this year's damage at the time.

Guy Canning, one of the department's maintenance employees, said that it takes about three hours to replace the glass, but could take longer depending on the type of damage done to them.

"Sometimes the corner pieces that hold the glass in are broken too, or the weather stripping at the edges of the panes is cut up from the glass being broken in so many times," said Canning, while adding that keeping the shelters in one piece is an ongoing job.

"It's frustrating. It keeps happening every year," he said.

Greencorn said that maintaining the shelters is a high priority, as they are necessary for transit users during the winter months.

"It's the only windbreak for folks standing at the stops," he said, adding that when they are vandalized, they try to get them fixed as soon as possible.

Mercereau said that the city has tried alternatives like plexi-glass, however those get damaged just as often.

"The vandals still burn them or scratch their names into them," Mercereau said, adding that the plexi-glass panes are also more expensive.

"So we will just stick with what we have for now, until there's a better alternative," he said.

In the press release, the city reminded the public that the shelters are costly to fix, at $500 per pane of glass plus installation time, and that there are bylaws in place to punish people who are caught destroying public property.

Const. Daryle Foster, of the Municipal Enforcement Division, advised in the city's statement that the fine for damaging the shelters is $1,000. The release also contained a statement from deputy mayor Mark Heyck, about citizens talking to their children about vandalism.

"Children are often an untapped resource. Talk to your children about right and wrong and how damage to public property affects us all," stated Heyck.

Canning thinks the vandals should be working off their fines.

"They should send the people who do this out with me for the day to clean up after it," he said, gesturing at a shelter on 52 Avenue surrounded by scattered broken glass.