A North Bay business is asking the city to take responsibility after some vandals caused property damage on Sunday.
“We were notified by the staff, around 9:30, 9:45 [in the evening], that someone had thrown a brick through the window [on Sunday night],” says John Lechlitner, owner of Cecil’s Brewhouse and Kitchen. “We sent someone down from an affiliated company in construction to get it boarded up temporarily overnight. When we came down this morning, we also realized that one other window was broken. These windows are safety glass. They don’t break easy. And it looks like at least one other window was attempted [to be broken].”
Lechlitner says there were patrons in the restaurant dining as the bricks came in.
“We have called the City. The downtown, we’re wondering where security was last night,” he says. “Because if you look up and down the street, there’s a few other buildings that sustained damage. There’s rumors that there was some parked vehicles from the construction company damaged. We were told there was going to be security throughout this. This didn’t happen in a five-minute time span.”
The owner says he doesn’t know who did the damage or why, but a police report has been filled out.
“Somebody needs to be responsible for not having adequate security,” adds Lechlitner. “We’re not talking something happening in the middle of the night. We’re talking evening hours. […] We were told of security, and we witnessed it too. At least when the first block was being done. There was a security person very visible. I haven’t noticed them when this block is being done, but that’s not to say they haven’t been here at times or most of the time.”
The city’s downtown core has been getting a facelift for the last few months, as the Main Street Revitalization project is ongoing.
The $8.95 million project is being done in phases and tackles Main St. one block at a time. Construction wrapped from Sherbrooke St. to Wyld St. earlier this summer, and the work from Wyld to Ferguson streets is currently ongoing.
Lechlitner says there are two issues he and other owners are facing.
“One is the security. This is a city-initiated project. The City is at the top of the food chain on this. They have to bear responsibility,” he says. “There’s also the financial issue. These windows aren’t cheap to replace. At a time when we’re emerging out of COVID, business is just coming back to normal, and then the construction starts, which slows business down. And we understand that. But this is like a double hit.”
The North Bay Police Service says two reports have been received regarding two incidents on Sunday “at approximately 3:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.”.
“In both incidents, windows of downtown businesses in the 100-block of Main Street were smashed with bricks,” reads the statement. “The North Bay Police Service is currently investigating both incidents. Anyone with information about the incidents, including security camera or dash cam footage of the area around the time of the incidents, is asked to contact the North Bay Police Service at 705-497-5555 and press 9 to speak with an officer.”
MyNorthBayNow.com has also reached out to the city and will update this story when more information becomes available.
