WESTLOCK — Westlock Memorial Hall and the Westlock and District Food Bank were broken into just before Christmas.
It is believed to be the second incident for the Memorial Hall in the past two months, as it was reported broken into in early November, while the second break-in came just days before Christmas and on the last day of operation of the year, for the food bank.
Hugh Thomson, board member with the Friends of the Westlock Memorial Hall Society confirmed the break-in took place late last month, on the night of Dec. 18 or in the early morning hours of Dec. 19.
“They were there the night before putting things together (for the food bank) and when they came back, that’s when they found the problem with the door busted open,” said Thomson. “They pried open the back door of the hall and then got in and pried open the door to the food bank, which was a separate lock.”
Thomson said although the food bank was also broken into, only a small amount of chicken was taken, while the Memorial Hall received most of the damage.
“I don’t know what it’s going to cost to get everything fixed,” he said, noting doors have been patched up and several locks on the main doors have been changed as well.
“There’s a bunch of locked areas in the Elk room that they had broken into too. Our Elks have a place in there for storing our stuff and they broke in and threw stuff all over the place and upset everything. There was a little bit of liquor in there, some part bottles and they took that,” explained Thomson.
The Memorial Hall office was also broken into, where several items are kept, including keys and it is unknown if any keys for doors (and other locked areas) were taken, as Thomson noted they believed the culprits had keys for some doors in the hall “because some places were open with no damage.”
“We changed the locks on the food bank and we changed the locks on the outside doors of the memorial hall,” he said, noting the hall has been cleaned and is again ready for residents to rent and use for events.
Westlock RCMP Staff Sgt Jeff Sehn said he had no details available regarding the November incident and said the December incident is still under investigation. He asked if residents have any information regarding the break-in last month to please contact the Westlock RCMP detachment and noted that routine investigations like this often involve RCMP reaching out to nearby residents and businesses for any information or security video footage they may have.
With the locks now changed twice in recent weeks, Thomson said they hope that will be the end of the break-ins at the hall.
“We don’t know (if it will happen again). The first lock was changed (in November) and they didn’t open that door this time that we know of,” said Thomson, noting the back door that caterers use to access the kitchen. “We’re still at it and we’re trying to look after (the hall).”
