'Unbelievable': Downtown Victoria businesses frustrated with recent vandalism

A wave of vandalism has crashed onto Victoria's downtown core, leaving a sea of broken windows and frustrated business owners in its wake.

Some owners say they've considering moving their businesses out of downtown – despite offers from city hall to cover some of the costs caused by the vandalism.

The Greater Victoria Public Library is one business being affected, forced to close Thursday for the sixth time in just over two weeks, after having its windows smashed.

Russell Books and six other business were caught in the crossfire as well, with windows smashed last Wednesday.

Baggins Shoes fell victim last month, and now the store owner, Belinda Wallenburg, says she’s considering moving.

"You have to care about the staff. We have to make sure there’s adequate people in the store, just in case an incident arises," she said.

Wallenburg says she's also tired of dealing with the stress caused by the downtown crimes, and her staff don’t blame her.

According to Mark Filipovic, owner of security company Themis Security, vandalism is unquestionably on the rise downtown.

"Compared to last year, we're receiving about a 20 to 22 per cent increase in calls for service – alarm calls, vandalism, loitering, trespassing," he said.

On Thursday, Victoria council voted to extend the timeline for accessing a grant called the Safety Initiative Reimbursement agreement, which helps businesses pay for broken windows or petty vandalism.

The program will now be extended until the end of this year, or until the balance of the fund has been exhausted.

Most of the money has already been used though, with only about $10,000 left from the original $65,000. In addition, a business can only cover a portion of the damage with the grant money, up to a maximum of $1,000.

One of Victoria’s city councillors, Stephen Hammond, supports the grant, but says "it is an unbelievable tragedy that we have to have a program like this because of vandalism and illegal activities going on in our city.

On Friday, city council and businesses are scheduled to discuss the spike in vandalism and will consider adding more money to the funds available to offset the growing costs of doing business in downtown Victoria. 

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