Vandals trash Iqaluit’s Inuksuk High School

Trash from several destroyed garbage bags lies outside Iqaluit’s Inuksuk High School, which suffered an extensive bout of vandalism over the Easter weekend. (PHOTO BY GABRIEL ZÁRATE)

(Update 3:15 p.m., April 7)

The estimated cost of damage done to Inuksuk High School during a vandalism spree early Good Friday morning stands between $50,000 and $100,000, a spokesperson from the Department of Community Government and Services said April 7.

Kevin Trudel, the Community and Government Services’s acting director of property and asset management, said a vandal probably entered the school by kicking in the front doors.

Trudel said he hopes the damage can be repaired quickly enough to allow the school to reopen April 12.

“When I heard, I thought, ‘Oh, no! How can this be?’ It felt so senseless,” said Andrew Tagak, chair of the Iqaluit District Education Authority.

Dozens of ceiling panels have been removed due to water damage after someone pushed over a second-floor chemistry lab sink and left the tap running.

The damage was discovered after only a few hours, when the seeping water triggered the school’s fire alarm system and alerted the fire department.

Most of the damage is located around the school’s administrative offices and cafeteria, directly below the chemistry lab.

The carpet in one room had to be entirely stripped.

Somebody apparently entered the lab through the ceiling, by ripping out panels on both sides of the wall and bypassing the locked door.

Panels have also been ripped out beside the cafeteria canteen, which sells snacks to students.

Unlike many other rooms, there is drywall in the ceiling around the canteen, so the culprit was not able to get inside the canteen, which contains a cash box.

The kitchen was also ransacked, with appliances tipped over, pots and pans scattered and flour thrown everywhere.

Most of the mess has now been cleaned up.

But a stove had to be junked completely and it’s not yet clear if any other kitchen appliances are wrecked.

Because of the kitchen and cafeteria damage, Toonik Tyme’s Rotary Club Brunch is cancelled this weekend.

In addition, garbage was scattered outside the building’s loading door, and three of the school’s graduation plaques were ripped off the wall.

On Tuesday April 6 the damaged doors were boarded up, but the boards have since been removed.

Trudel said he hopes the damage can be repaired quickly enough for the school to re-open on Monday, April 12.

The school is closed this week for spring break and bathroom renovations.

Andy Akulukjuk, 23, of Iqaluit, is charged with breaking and entering, mischief over $5,000 and failure to comply with an undertaking.