'We'll continue to fight': Fort Petrie operator fires back at vandals targeting WW II site
Vandalism and time have taken a toll on a Second World War-era fortification site in Cape Breton, but one of its operators says he's determined to keep the historic property open to visitors despite tens of thousands of dollars in needed repairs.
Fort Petrie in New Victoria contains concrete bunkers, gun batteries and a three-storey observation tower overlooking Sydney harbour and the Cape Breton Highlands.
The site was decommissioned in 1956 and reborn as a military museum in the late 1990s.
Playground for vandals
Vandals have been spraying graffiti, "pulling down the railings and busting into the underground bunkers, destroying the washrooms," said Rob Grezel, museum co-ordinator.
Vandalism is nothing new to the site, but Grezel said there was so much damage last year that the museum had to cut its hours of operation, prompting concerns it would have to completely shut down this year.
"We believe [the fort] is very important for our whole community and all of our island, and I believe this tourism year is going to be one for the record books and we certainly want to tap into that," he said.
"We want to bring this up to what it should be and that's what we'll continue to fight to do until it happens."
$100K needed in repairs
Grezel said the weathered site is in need of a long list of repairs if it wants to continue drawing tourists, including a fresh coat of paint, installing new windows and railings and upgrading the underground electrical system which has also been damaged by vandals.
He pegs the work at about $100,000.
Grezel said he's turned to all three levels of government for help, including Liberal MLA Dave Wilton, who represents the area.
MLA hears concerns
"We've been helping [Grezel] try to find different avenues that government can put some money in," said Wilton.
"It needs some windows, it needs some new railings and different things like that that would help promote the [tour] buses to stop."
Wilton said Fort Petrie, which is listed in the Canadian Registry of Historic Places, is significant to the region.
"It's part of our history; it's one of the ones that are left," he said. "It's important to show what those facilities meant when the war was going on."
'We're not going to back down'
Grezel said private donations will allow the museum to open for the season in May.
"We're not going to close, we're not going to back down," he said.
"Our soldiers and warriors who fought for us certainly didn't back down. We're going to continue to move forward."
