Riverbend Community League Hall vandalized again
Posted January 2, 2023 12:41 pm.
Last Updated January 2, 2023 2:18 pm.
The Riverbend Community League Hall was vandalized over the weekend.
“It’s almost like we have to rebuild the hall from scratch,” says Miep Raedschelders, the president of Riverbend Community League.
Vandals broke in sometime overnight on New Year’s Eve, destroying almost everything inside the hall. The bathrooms, walls and flooring all smashed, with racial slurs and demeaning words spray-painted on the walls.
Riverbend Community League Hall was vandalized over the weekend. (Photo Credit: Jonas Gilbart, CityNews)
“I don’t even know where to start in estimating the cost, but I can easily imagine it being well over a hundred thousand dollars,” says Raedschelders.
Raedschelders believes insurance will allow them to restore the building, but she says seeing racial and misogynistic slurs spray-painted in the hall hits hard.
“Diversity is really important when you’re building community. So, seeing slurs, whether it’s for effect or targeted is really hard.”
The hall was vandalized in October 2022 and kept their doors closed for months to repair the facility. The hall was set to re-open this week.
Raedschelders hopes the senseless act will bring the community together once again to rebuild, even better.
