MOUNT VERNON — Two windows were damaged at the Mount Vernon Memorial Theater on East High Street recently, according to a report filed with the Mount Vernon Police Department Thursday morning.
John Nixon, the technical director for the theater, discovered the damage when he stopped by the theater Thursday morning to do some housekeeping after the summer play season.
“It just felt like there was air flowing up there, and I thought someone left a window open,” Nixon explained.
“I went upstairs and someone had climbed up the fire escape on the south side of the building and kicked in the window in the upstairs dressing room,” said Nixon.
The window was broken with such force, according to Nixon, no part of it will be able to be salvaged. He said there appeared to be shoe or boot prints on the window’s frame.
“That whole frame and glass were laying on the dressing room floor, broken.”
Another window, up one more flight of fire escape steps was also damaged, but only the lock will need replaced.
Knox County Maintenance Superintendent John Alberts told the county commissioners Thursday morning he estimated the two windows would cost about $400 to repair.
Alberts supervised a crew working on fixing the windows Thursday afternoon.
“Nothing was missing,” Nixon said. “I keep most of the equipment locked up, and everything appeared to be there.”
“The police department looked around, and could not tell if anyone had been inside,” Nixon said.
MVPD Capt. George Hartz confirmed that officers had investigated the vandalism, but they were unable to definitively determine whether or not there had been an actual break-in.
“They weren’t sure when the damage had been done or if anybody had been inside the building,” Hartz said, noting the damage was done sometime between Aug. 8 when the summer production wrapped, and Thursday morning when the damage was discovered.
“It looked pretty recent,” Nixon said, adding there was not any damage from wind or rain evident near the smashed window.
“There weren’t any other reports that I have seen, of vandalism or break-ins near there last night,” Hartz said Thursday. “It was isolated.”
“Anybody with information is welcome to call and report that to the police department,” Hartz said.
The MVPD can be reached by calling 397-2222.
