Thieves have struck yet another Whitehorse business, this time breaking into a storage container on the construction site of a glass-blowing studio.
Luann Baker-Johnson is building Lumel Studios on the Motorways land on Front Street.
She said the thieves stole $6,000 worth of equipment from the storage container over the weekend, including a generator, an industrial vacuum cleaner, drills, and saws.
“They even took our carpenter pencils,” she said.
The equipment had been neatly organized in bins inside the storage container. “Unfortunately, that makes everything very easy to snatch out of there,” she explained.
Baker-Johnson said she had to replace some of the equipment right away, to be able to keep working. She hopes her personal insurance will cover some of what was lost, but she said it will likely take time to build up a new equipment collection.
“Give me a few more Mother’s Days… and I’ll get my tools back again,” she said.
In the meantime, local contractors have offered to lend her tools so she won’t have to delay construction.
Baker-Johnson hopes to have the studio open by mid-November, and to have people making their own blown-glass ornaments before Christmas.
“This isn’t going to stop us,” she said. “We continue to build, because this is going up.”
Baker-Johnson said she hopes her studio will be a place where young people can come and learn to do something creative, instead of getting into trouble.
She also said her tools have “Lumel Studios” printed on them, in case any are found around town.
A number of Whitehorse businesses and organizations have been broken into this summer, including the Mae Bachur Animal Shelter, the Boys and Girls Club, and Christ the King Elementary School.
The Whitehorse Chamber of Commerce has called for more RCMP officers to be posted to the territory in response to the spike in crime.
The RCMP have advised business owners to install outdoor lighting and security systems where possible.