Two local recreation facilities were the targets of break-ins last week.
Between Tuesday night and Wednesday afternoon, both the Colinton Community Centre and the Athabasca Flips Gymnastics Club’s facility, located in the Athabasca Agricultural Society complex north of town, were broken into.
RCMP believe that sometime between 5 p.m. Jan. 21 and 10 a.m. Jan. 22, one or more individuals entered the Colinton Community Centre by breaking a window.
Inside, a number of doors were pried open. Drawers and shelves were ransacked, with numerous items reported as missing.
Meanwhile, Athabasca Flips coaches arrived at their facility Wednesday afternoon to find the lock on the doorknob had been broken off. Inside, a fire extinguisher had been emptied throughout the building, and binders and other materials were strewn about.
“The whole place was covered in complete white from the fire extinguisher,” Flips president Nichole Collins described.
RCMP say they believe the incident took place between 9 p.m. Jan. 21 and 2:10 p.m. Jan. 22.
Collins said an appeal was issued through social media for help dealing with the aftermath of the incident.
“Within an hour, we had 20 parents show up to help clean,” she said Thursday. “Everyone came together to have it cleaned by 9:00 last night. We had to fully scrub every inch of that gym from ceiling to floor — twice.”
Collins said the show of support in the wake of the incident made her feel good “to know that we still have a community that stands together.”
Collins, who is also a director with the Ag Society, said they will need to assess security issues throughout their facilities.
“We need to evaluate that property and make further steps towards the safety of that facility,” she said. “We need to make sure those kids are safe.”
Athabasca RCMP Sgt. Brian Scott said there is no initial indication that the two incidents are related, but acknowledged that further investigation may prove otherwise.
Anyone with information regarding either incident is asked to contact Athabasca RCMP at 780-675-5122 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).
