Police leave door open for charges after unhinged act at Flin Flon Snow Lodge

The theft of a door in Flin Flon is not quite an open and shut case yet for police.

Flin Flon RCMP began an investigation after the wooden door, at the entrance to the community’s temporary snow lodge, was stolen Saturday at about 5 a.m., by someone driving a red Ford Bronco.

Thanks to tips from the public, RCMP recovered the door — and a second unrelated door — after executing a search warrant at a residence on Inlet Arm Road in nearby Schist Lake on Monday.

The property owner wasn’t home and RCMP are now asking for the public’s help in finding 62-year-old Paul McIntyre, who has been charged with possession of property obtained by crime.

Flin Flon Mayor George Fontaine said everyone is scratching their heads as to why someone would steal a door — which is mainly a piece of plywood, painted white, and affixed to a screwed together door frame.

“I was shocked,” Fontaine said Wednesday.

“I don’t know who the person is who did this, but it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. This wasn’t an expensive ornate door. You’d think they would have wanted what was on the other side, not the door.

“It was only up for one day.”

The Flin Flon Snow Lodge, which was created from ice and snow, is designed for events, including dinners and concerts, and is intended to be the first step in creating an ice hotel in the future.

Coun. Bill Hanson, who put the door together for the cold structure, said: “it took longer for the paint to dry than to make it.

“I was blown away when I heard it was gone — especially since it was a community-driven project.”

Hanson agreed whoever made off with the door may actually have been looking for more.

“There was a guy sleeping in an office we had in there so they probably scared off the person,” he said. “They may have been after the sound system.”

Becky Cianflone, president of the Flin Flon and District Chamber of Commerce, said even though the door was taken hours after the lodge’s official opening, “it didn’t put a damper on the weekend.

“It is a really exciting addition for our community,” Cianflone said.

“We think this will be a great asset. It is a wonderful way to bring the community together, especially after the wildfires last summer.”

The city’s roughly 5,000 residents were evacuated last summer when a blaze spanning more than 300,000 hectares burned near the community.

Hanson made a new, temporary door for the lodge and he plans to install the original again next winter — but with a twist.

“The committee is going to have local artists paint it and feature it next year.”

Anyone with information on McIntyre’s whereabouts is asked to contact Flin Flon RCMP at 204-687-1422 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-8477.

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca