East Hamilton Radio dealing with repeated vandalism, as well as COVID-19 impacts

It's been an especially rough couple of weeks for a 90-year-old Hamilton business.

East Hamilton Radio says it is dealing with repeated vandalism, causing tens of thousands of dollars worth of damage, in addition to a 30 per cent drop in revenues because of government lockdowns.

EHR Manager Jason Lopez says their air conditioning units and solar panels were vandalized by copper thieves two weeks ago, and he arrived on Friday to find that someone used a brick to smash the window facing their parking lot.

Read more: Indoor COVID-19 restrictions could ease by fall if 75% are fully vaccinated: PHAC

“The quote we got on just the air conditioning units alone is like $30,000,” said Lopez, “I'm still waiting for our solar installer to come quote on that, but to get those installed and fixed, it's a very specialized field, it's not going to be cheap either.”

“These are costs that aren't fun at any time of the year,” added Lopez, “but when you have that much less income coming in, it makes it that much more difficult.”

Lopez says one thing he is thankful for is the loyalty of customers while restricted to curbside pickup and online sales due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Read more: COVID-19: Hamilton reports 94 new cases, researcher says 1,000 a day in Ontario possible by June

“There are people out there in Hamilton that are getting the message to support local,” said Lopez. “If there's something that I could definitely say it's before you click to buy on Amazon and hope to get your two-day shipping, think about all these stores out there offering curbside.”

Lopez fears the vandalism may be a repeating pattern and worries about the direction the neighbourhood has taken, adding that he hopes it isn't “a sign of things to come.”

East Hamilton Radio has been on the corner of Barton Street and Kenilworth Avenue since 1931.

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