In the meantime Schafer said he s going to push hard to get security cameras installed once the CPR building reopens. The building, located in a remote area of Lion s Park, has had numerous windows broken by vandals in past years. But this is the first fire since a major fire in the mid-eighties destroyed an attached heritage boxcar. Firefighters were called to the building last month to put out a spot fire in the nearby grass and one in the recycling bins across the road. It was part of a number of spot fires throughout town over three nights that police speculated could have been set by a pyromaniac.
Fire investigators have no estimate of damage so far.
RCMP are asking anyone with information on suspicious activities in the area prior to the fire to call police. By Lolly Kaiser Community groups which used the CPR building as a base are scrambling to find alternate digs until the building is repaired sometime this fall. In the long-run however, the Chamber of Commerce and Tourist Information Centre have been hit the hardest with the tourist season just starting. According to Mayor Linda Larson the Chamber will be housed temporarily in town hall and they plan to set up the tourist info in a trailer next to the CPR building within the next two weeks. The best case scenario is to put the repairs out to tender for June and the work will take another two months.