Residents involved with the Griffith Showground say they are absolutely heartbroken following the vandalism attack which caused more than $31,000 damage to a historic building.
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Almost 30 windows were smashed, a vintage cash register was destroyed and four fire extinguishers were set off in the overnight attack on Woodside Hall last Monday.
Pat Spry, who has been involved with the Griffith Show Society and the Showground Trust for 63 years, said the destruction was the worst she had ever seen.
"I was absolutely devastated," Mrs Spry said. "I've never seen so much damage done here in my whole life."
I've never seen so much damage done here in my whole life
- Pat Spry, Showground Trust member
"As soon as I heard I came straight down and I just couldn't believe it."
"We're all volunteers and we give up our time to work on this building for the community and this is what happens."
The vandalism comes just months after the conclusion of major works to Woodside Hall, which saw it spruced up with a new kitchen, roof and supper room.
Showground Trust chairwoman and Councillor Christine Stead said the damage is particularly painful considering all the hard work that has gone into improving the building in recent years.
"After all the hard work we have put in with the Showground Trust and all the volunteers it was absolutely shocking," Ms Stead said.
"We got a quote for the damage which said it would cost $31,000 to repair everything and that doesn't include all the mess from the fire extinguishers."
Ms Stead said she was hoping to get the building fully repaired and ready for events again within the next three weeks.
"I've already had a lot of people come up and ask me what they can do to help, but we've just got to wait to hear what the assessors say and then we can get to work."
Those behind the vandalism have been apprehended and Ms Stead issued a reminder to residents that there is significant CCTV across the Showground.
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The Rotary Club's Brian Sainty has seen the building go from strength to strength over the past few years and said he was disappointed by the damage.
"In the past three years we've seen the hall go from something that was pretty tardy to something that is quite fantastic so we were pretty horrified when we saw how bad the damage was," Mr Sainty said.
These thoughts were echoed by caretaker Greg Kench, who added that it was frustrating to see so much hardwork be undone in just one night.
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