Act of vandalism temporarily closes Republic Aquatic Center

Republic city employees arrived at the Republic Aquatic Center on Sunday, July 14, to find a lawnmower at the bottom of the pool. As a result, the aquatic center was closed on Sunday and remained closed on Monday, July 15, while the pool was cleaned. According to a press release from Mike Landis, Republic public information officer, the pool was cleaned and treated with chemicals on Sunday at 1:30 p.m., but a 24-hour waiting period was required before swimmers could enter the pool. As of press time, the aquatic center was scheduled to be reopened at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, July 16.
According to the press release, the act of vandalism cost the city more than $7,000 on Sunday alone; $1,000 for the direct cleaning of the pool, plus $6,200 in estimated lost revenue, based on the anticipated attendance calculated from attendance numbers on Saturday, July 13.
The city apologized to those whose plans to go to the aquatic center were spoiled by the vandalism.
“We offer our sincerest apologies for all those negatively impacted by this senseless act of vandalism,” the press release stated. “For those of you that had plans to visit our facility on Sunday or today, for those of you that had a birthday party or private rental booked and were forced to cancel, for those of you that were to take part in swimming lessons or other program- ming this morning, and for our employees who have lost hours and wages, this is truly an unfortunate event.” Anyone with any knowledge of the vandalism is asked to call the Republic Police Department.
As of press time, it remained unclear if there was any video footage of the event, or if the lawn-mower was property of the city or privately owned.

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Lawrence County Record

312 S. Hickory St.
Mt. Vernon, MO, 65712
www.lawrencecountyrecord.com

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