Thanks to a donation from a Moose Jaw plumbing company, Wakamow Valley won’t have to clog up funds to pay for repairs after vandals destroyed bathrooms early this week.
Margaret Moran is the CEO of the urban natural park in Moose Jaw. She said a maintenance man discovered the disgusting mess when he went to lock up the public bathroom for the night around 8 p.m. on Tuesday.
“They completely destroyed two urinals and one toilet and then the other toilets that were remaining they blocked them completely,” Moran said, describing the mess.
“So there’s a lot of work to be done. They put seriously anything that they could find in the park – it seemed like dirt, pine cones, empty water bottles, lots of toilet paper – so they blocked them up completely.”
She said the vandals likely struck within a two-hour time frame Tuesday evening because a maintenance check had also been done at 6 p.m.
Moran admitted it’s hard to understand why anyone would vandalize a park meant for public enjoyment.
“Whether it’s kids doing it on a dare, or somebody that’s upset for some reason, it’s very hard to figure out these things,” she said.
When pictures were posted on the Wakamow Valley Authority Facebook page, the post was shared more than 500 times in 24 hours.
Fortunately, the post also attracted the attention of some local plumbers who stepped up to help out.
Acott Plumbing and Heating has offered to donate all the supplies to replace the toilets and urinals, along with the labour to make the repairs within the next week.
Moran said the donation came as a huge relief because it could save the park up to $4,000 between the cost of parts and labour. She noted the park has a limited budget each year and now a project to install a new obstacle course designed for teenagers and adults can go ahead as planned.