Volunteers: Tool theft won’t stop restoration of Startup Gym

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, September 28, 2016

STARTUP — They worried about the roof. On stormy days, it rained inside the building. But they never worried about the unlocked doors.

An estimated $3,000 worth of construction equipment was reported stolen from the Startup Gym on Friday. The Sky Valley Arts Council and volunteers have spent the past year restoring the community center that was built in 1937.

Checking the doors and keeping an eye out for people wandering the property was not top-of-mind.

“If we walked in and saw a stranger, we wouldn’t have assumed they were thieves. We would have showed them around,” said project manager Debbie Copple.

Volunteers arrived at the Startup Gym on Friday and realized their chop saw was missing. Upon closer inspection, they discovered other equipment gone, including a $2,000 sound system and a $189 yard trimmer.

There was no forced entry. The theft likely occurred Sept. 20 or 21, Snohomish County sheriff’s spokeswoman Shari Ireton said. There was no additional information available.

Keys to the building have been given out over the years to people who rented the gym for community events. Not all keys were returned. Again, Copple never thought twice about making the Startup Gym available and accessible.

She suspects someone visited the gym and propped open one of the back doors. Once the crews left for the night, she thinks the person returned for the equipment.

Each door is now checked daily.

Sky Valley Arts Council and volunteers began restoring the building in September 2015. About 25 volunteers contribute their time and tools to the project. Five volunteers were among those who had tools stolen.

They didn’t waste a minute.

Volunteers hurried home to grab anything they had to finish the project.

Instead of using a nail gun, they hammered nails by hand. Although workers are on to their second-string equipment, part of the gym is expected to open by October.

“They were focused on what mattered and moving on,” Copple said. “It put everything in perspective for me. Whoever did this, nothing good can come to them and we know it.”

Last week a family rode their bikes by the gym and stopped out of curiosity. A girl, 6, walked inside and stepped up on the theater stage. Copple asked if she could see herself singing on stage. The girl replied, “Totally.”

“And she will sing on that stage one day,” Copple said.

Caitlin Tompkins: 425-339-3192; ctompkins@heraldnet.com.