Vandals continue to target tourist bureau

Vandals have targeted the Windsor Visitor Centre for the third time this summer. Staff arrived for work Sept. 3 to find three windows smashed out for a second time in less than a week. In fact, one of the damaged windows had just been replaced the night before after a similar episode over the weekend. Nothing inside the centre was broken or removed like the previous assault, but it left staff with yet another mess to clean up.

Tourist counsellor Tara Davis said she was upset when she arrived that morning to face more broken windows. “I'm starting to wonder if this is going to become a regular thing. It’s definitely not good for business.”

Tourism coordinator VanEssa Roberts said it has been very discouraging. “Its hard to operate a visitor Centre when you’re vacuuming up broken glass.”

Although the sign on the door said ‘closed’ that morning, Roberts noted they certainly wouldn’t turn away visitors. “This is just unfortunate because the centre does so much good for the community and we are trying to showcase our region to the world in a positive way.”

Windsor town RCMP are investigating both incidents and continue to patrol the area.

“We’ve cut back a lot of the bushes, but really you can’t see what is going on here from the road,” Roberts said. So far, there are no suspects, but staff members guess it is the same person or persons each time.

The centre was managed in previous years by the now defunct Jaycees. This is the first season that the Town of Windsor and the Municipality of West Hants have had the full cost of operations solely on their shoulders. Roberts said they haven’t tallied just how much the vandals have cost them, but it will put a dent in the operational budget.

The centre was built in 1973 and the windows are part of the original building