KENNEBUNK, Maine — Weeks after lifeguard chairs on Gooch’s Beach in Kennebunk were vandalized and tipped over, a local contractor is donating replacements.
“I just thought it was the right thing to do,” Scott McLeod said as he delivered the chairs to Kennebunk Public Works on Monday.
On the weekend of July 18, Kennebunk Fire Chief Justin Cooper said his crews responded to an incident on the beach and found several lifeguard chairs vandalized and upside down.
When they were returned to an upright position, the lifeguards found them too dangerous to use.
“Screws came loose and wood was broken off our stands,” Tiffany Twombly, head lifeguard in Kennebunk, said Monday.
The lifeguards went several days without a vantage point, using a breakwater to keep an eye on swimmers, before the Kennebunk Public Works Department was able to put a “Band-Aid” fix on the chairs.
But a more permanent solution was already in the works. Scott McCleod is the father of Tiffany Twombly’s boyfriend. He also owns Ash Cove Construction and took on the challenge of replacing the broken stands.
“I let Tiff know that I would donate some lifeguard towers, and here we are,” McLeod said.
He and his crews got to work on a fix, donating time and lumber to create four new lifeguard stands while repairing a fifth.
“I had a subdivision going and we did the work there, and everyone concentrated and got them done,” McLeod said.
On Monday McLeod delivered them to the Kennebunk Public Works Department, the last stop before they land on the beach.
Those responsible for tipping the stands have still not been found, though Cooper has an idea of the punishment that awaits.
“I don't want to press charges or get these kids into big trouble, but I would absolutely add them to the community service list," the police chief said.