Community comes together to fund Belknap Mill window repair after vandalism

LACONIA — Four windows at the historic Belknap Mill were vandalized in June. A glimmer of hope for those at the nonprofit came when supporters acted quickly, helping with a successful fundraising campaign to replace them.

“With all the negativity and sadness about it, the way the community stepped up, we were just speechless,” Development Manager Fallon Reed said.

Reed said the first broken window, discovered by staff on June 10, was on the back of the mill, in the building’s powerhouse. She said one rock went through the glass. While staff originally hoped it might have been an accident, it now appears to be the work of vandals.

A janitor found three more broken windows the next day, on the morning of June 11, but this time, it was clearly vandalism, as more than a dozen rocks were found in the office area with the shattered glass.

“It seemed intentional,” Reed said. “That was unfortunate.”

Reed said when the vandalism was discovered, staff first had to make sure everyone was safe, and nobody was there when the incident occurred. She said staff checked to see if anything was stolen from the office, and it didn't appear there was.

They wondered how and why someone could do something like this to a nonprofit agency devoted to community events and preserving history.

“It was kind of disheartening that someone could do something to a building like this,” Reed said. “We are pretty low key. It’s not like we have a stance on anything that would cause people to have an opinion, one way or another.”

Reed said the Belknap Mill is mostly made up of volunteers, and there are many in the community who hold the building near and dear. She said the team got right to work to fix the issue.

“The folks at Belknap Landscaping came right over, and boarded the windows,” Reed said. “We had them covered quickly, and were back to operations in a little bit of a darker office.”

The repairs were completed by Granite State Glass, starting with the powerhouse window on July 16, then the office windows the following day.

When the vandalism occurred, the Belknap Mill put a call out for fundraising through social media, as well as asking members and those who subscribe to their newsletter for help.

Thankfully, Fallon said, the community responded quickly to the campaign, which brought in almost $8,300.

“This covered the cost of the repairs, and allowed us to make enhancements to the windows to, hopefully, prevent damage in the future,” Reed said.

Reed said enhancements included a reinforced, impact-resistant part of the window to stop them from shattering if an incident like this happens again. Reed was thankful to the community, saying it was not expected, nor in their budget, to make these kinds of repairs.

Reed said it is unclear what happened, and, “unfortunately, we just may never know.”

The Belknap Mill has been taking this opportunity to make security enhancements around the building by applying for a grant through the Nonprofit Security Grant Program of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the New Hampshire Department of Safety. She said this was already on their radar, and not in response to the vandalism, but it just happened to be in the same timeframe.

The grant provides funding to enhance physical security for nonprofit organizations, and the deadline was July 13. She said if grant money is awarded, the Belknap Mill could use it for additional cameras, reinforcing windows and locks, and “a number of other things we unfortunately pay more attention to, in this day and age.”

“With our events throughout the year, we need to make sure security is where it needs to be, to make sure everyone is safe,” Reed said.

Reed expects to find out about the grant in September or October.

This weekend is Mill After Hours, a free event hosted by the mill and the Laconia Putnam Fund, beginning at 5 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 7. There will be an exhibit of Jeremy Bonin's photography, as well as music from Miles to Memphis Duo.

The Belknap Mill hasn’t had many problems in the past, aside from minor tagging with spray paint, which was able to be removed. This type of vandalism caught them off guard, but Reed said the city manager and police department have been very helpful in efforts to ensure this doesn’t happen again.

“The police department has been great about responding to everything we need,” Reed said. “They have a regular presence around here, so hopefully it was just a fluke, so we can move on, and not have to worry about this again.”

Chief Matt Canfield said police got video from the area, but didn’t see anything from June 10 or 11, which led to identifying suspects. He said police canvassed the area for anyone who saw or heard anything, but the vandalism likely took place in the middle of the night. He said video from the Belknap Mill didn’t catch anything, and other nearby businesses who provided video didn’t have angles to see the windows.

Canfield said a real-time crime center will be up and running in September, after a full-time employee was included in the city budget passed in July. He stressed this is not just putting up cameras and watching people around the city, and they recognize and respect citizens' constitutional rights. The center would help with situations like this, and other larger investigations, as businesses and residents opt in, to help with security.

“That is to improve the safety and security of Laconia, and speed up investigations, as well as provide intelligence faster for officers,” Canfield said.

Canfield said they have not produced enough leads to identify a suspect, and the Belknap Mill vandalism case is still open. Anyone with information can call Laconia Police at 603-524-5252.