The manager of Kimberley’s Gyminy Crickets program said vandalism targeting the Gymnastics Club construction site was upsetting, but hopes construction remains on schedule.
Last week, an unknown person accessed the construction site and cut some of the building’s electrical wiring.
Anna Kennedy, Gyminy Crickets manager, said they hope to fix the damage soon.
“Somebody came in and did some damage to the electrical work,” said Kennedy. “They’re hopefully going to get an electrician in there right away to fix it, so we can continue and get back on track with construction.”
Kennedy said it was disheartening to learn of the incident.
“It’s really upsetting to go through the arson a couple of years ago, then have somebody affecting the gym in this way again,” said Kennedy. “It feels like someone has a problem with it, we don’t know who.”
The rebuild comes after the original gymnastics club building was lost to arson in December of 2021.
Kennedy said they still hope to reopen the club in the spring.
“We’re trying really hard to open back up. We know the community is really needing the daycare, so we’re working as hard as we can to get it back up and running,” said Kennedy. “This is just one more hurdle we have to jump through.”
There are also hopes for additional security measures.
“Maybe the city could be able to put up cameras in the meantime so we don’t have this issue going forward or if we do, it’s caught right away,” said Kennedy.
Kennedy said losing the gym had a deep impact on the community.
“The younger kids who are coming of age to do it haven’t been able to join is upsetting. The younger kids were looking forward to it and now that wasn’t an option,” said Kennedy. “We had our older gymnast quit because it’s not an option for parents to take their kids to other towns to take their kids for gymnastics. They’re missing out on that physical activity, teamwork and everything else.”
Despite the hardship, Kimberley residents have shown support to the Gymnastics Club.
“To see how upset our community has been and seeing the amount of people who want to support the rebuild shows that it has reached a lot of people,” said Kennedy. “A lot of people want to help and get it going again. We appreciate all the community support we’ve received.”
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