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Sarah Roach was shocked when she arrived at the public swimming pool in Lawrencetown, N.S., on the morning of April 13.
The pool she swam in as a child, and now manages as an adult, had been broken into and robbed of its copper pipes.
“It’s like when you walk into your house, if you knew your house was broken into,” said Roach. “That feeling of, ‘Oh my gosh, everything I’ve worked for, believed in and cared for is now gone.’”
The padlock on the exterior fence was missing, the door jamb was broken and two new showers in the men’s washroom were gone.
Roach called police immediately, but there have been no arrests. The outdoor pool doesn’t have security cameras and neighbours in the Annapolis Valley village did not report seeing anything suspicious.
The copper pipes connected the water heater, bathrooms and the pool pumps. Without the pipes, the pool cannot open on Canada Day like it typically would.
Thousands of dollars in damage
Roach estimates repairing the damage could cost nearly $3,000, which the small pool can’t afford.
In response, the surrounding community has come to its rescue.
The Lions Club plans to hold a spaghetti dinner with proceeds going to the pool. A brewery held a fundraising concert, and a local pet groomer donated money from nail trims.
“It’s overwhelming,” Roach said. “We’re so, so, so thankful for all of the support.”
‘This pool gives so much to kids’
Miriam Orlando-Frame, who lives in the area, said her sons have been coming to the pool over the last five years. She said it’s a spot for local youth to meet up and play after school.
The pool has previously held free afternoon swims for children and keeps its swimming lesson costs low so people in the area can afford to swim. The pool hires local youth as lifeguards.
“You get people bringing their young ones for their first time in the water,” said Orlando-Frame. “And then you have the older kids who come to just be kids again.”
She said her boys were shocked when they found out about the break-in and couldn’t understand why their beloved pool was targeted. But Orlando-Frame said she’s not entirely surprised.
“There’s been a lot of break-ins, a lot of theft, a lot of people doing things that I’m sure they never thought they’d find themselves in the position to be doing,” she said.
“But this pool gives so much to kids.”
RCMP said they believe the break-in happened some time between April 10 at 9 p.m. and April 11 at 4 p.m. They are encouraging anyone with information related to the incident to contact them.
In the meantime, RCMP said they’ve ramped up patrols in the area.
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