Standing outside in the cold winter winds, Metro riders are missing the bus shelter that used to stand at the Valley Square stop on Main Street. The old shelter was recently removed by Metro because of problems with vandalism.
Metro Spokesperson Mike Smith said the shelter was removed by Metro station because of recurrent vandalism.
The last act of vandalism to the shelter, which costs about $3,500, affected the shelter’s stability and left it unsafe, Smith said. While Smith said Metro’s maintenance teams usually does a great job of repairing the shelters, it costs a lot of money to do so.
Smith said he wasn’t sure when another shelter will go up. There is ongoing discussion about what to do next.
“The Metro station and the city of Westbrook need to collectively come up with a game plan to police the area,” Smith said.
Bonnie Dunton of Westbrook thought teenagers ruined the shelter at the downtown bus stop in Westbrook. “I wish they had it back,” she said on a recent cold day while waiting for a Metro bus.
Wanda Torrey of Anchorage, Alaska, who also thought that teenagers were responsible for the shelter’s removal, said, “Its kind of sad that kids can’t find things to do without destroying public property.”
“There needs to be a little bit more dialogue in the city of Westbrook about how to solve this problem,” Smith said. “When someone sees a glass panel they think, ‘I’m gonna break it.’ How do we keep these kids from vandalizing?”
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