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Riverview, N.B., sports facilities impacted by copper wire thefts

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RIVERVIEW, N.B. -

Outside the Riverview Tennis Club in Riverview, N.B., cut copper wires are left dangling from their poles.

“It’s left us without power, without WiFi, phone, things that we need to operate properly,” said club president, Derek Quann.

“We would normally not be opening anyway for probably a couple of weeks, but if the damage isn’t repaired, it’s obviously going to affect the operation.”

It’s looked this way for the past week, ever since vandals hit the area on April 28 and cut and stole wire from both the club and the adjacent Harold Page Baseball Field on Biggs Drive in Riverview.

“I actually came on scene and the town representatives were here, we were looking at the damage together and again it was like, ‘Oh not again,’” said Quann.

The New Brunswick RCMP don’t have exact numbers when it comes to copper wire thefts in the province, however, they say since 2022 there has been a significant increase in reports which have resulted in millions of dollars' worth of losses to businesses, homes and government departments.

“Interesting, today we are strengthening the act. The, scrapyard act. And again, making it harder for copper thefts to fence their stolen goods,” said Riverview PC MLA and New Brunswick health minister, Bruce Fitch.

“It's a shame that people are resorting to that and destroying public infrastructure in order to make a few bucks.”

He says overall it’s an “unfortunate” and “terrible” incident, adding that both provincial and municipal money has been invested into the tennis courts.

The Town of Riverview says restoration work is already underway and the incident was reported to Codiac RCMP when it happened.

“Our priority is to assess the damage and secure any exposed wiring,” said communications for the Town of Riverview, Ashly Barron, in an email to CTV News.

“We’re putting a plan together to address repairs alongside our regular maintenance to get these assets ready for the season.”

Barron confirmed that the overhead lighting at 55 Biggs Drive was impacted, which affects both the field and the courts.

However, for the non-profit club, Quann says it has a big effect.

“We bring tennis to the community, people of all ages and abilities and when something like this happens to a non-profit club, it really affects the bottom line,” he said.

“We try to keep things at a very low cost to users and a lot of that happens because our members contribute hundreds of volunteer hours to prepare and maintain the courts every year, so it really becomes disheartening, it’s disappointing, it’s a bit of a blow to morale.”

This is also the second time that the club has been hit by theft in recent months.

“There was a previous incident, a break-in, where we lost some small items, but things that we need to replace to the value of several hundred dollars,” said Quann.

The Riverview Tennis Club is a non-profit organization that has six clay-based tennis courts with over 100 members.

According to Quann, 80 per cent of the clubs revenue go towards paying youth employees. Breaking it down, he says youth employment grants normally cover 80 per cent of the payroll costs and the rest comes mostly from membership and program fees.

“It doesn’t sound like maybe a whole lot, but for a club like ours, $100 means something,” he said.

“We’ll recover. We have some great, loyal members, but again, when you walk in the door and you see wires cut or you see something missing or damaged that needs to be fixed, it’s a blow to the morale.”

Quann says that a security system unfortunately just isn’t in the club’s budget and they rely on eyes and ears in the community.

“People are living in difficult times, this is what we presumed happened here,” he said.

“There are things that can be done from the point-of-view of security cameras or patrols, things like that, but hopefully there would be a bigger solution or something would happen so that people maybe aren’t living the same kind of challenged lives that bring about things like this.”

Pointing out a few positives, Quann says there has been no damage to the courts and he is confident that even without overhead lights, at least for now, the club will be able to do what they do best.

“Fortunately, tennis is an outdoor sport, so there will be lots of tennis played,” he said.

For more New Brunswick news visit our dedicated provincial page.

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