FILE PHOTO - Husband and wife, Kamau (right) and Denese (left) Metsimela found a glass door shattered at their restaurant Jamaican Kitchen on Monday, June 21, 2021. Food, beer and a safe were missing.

(LEVI LANDRY / iNFOnews.ca)

A Kamloops business owner is collaborating with other businesses in the city to help support the owners of the Jamaican Kitchen on the North Shore who have been the victims of several break-ins and vandalism, the most recent just last week.

Decorative Metal owner Brock Smith said he wants to help the family business out in "true Kamloops style."

Smith has years of experience cutting steel into decorative pieces. He has recently started using the art as a means of security around business windows, something he is now doing for the owners at the Jamaican Kitchen. Smith was at the restaurant yesterday, June 27, measuring windows.

“My shop table will cut a four by eight foot sheet of steel,” Smith said. “I have a plasma cutter to cut a design that will tie in with the theme of the restaurant. I hate window bars, they look like a jail. This will be a decorative deterrent against crime. This will improve security and be aesthetically pleasing.”

The Jamaican Kitchen is a restaurant in Kamloops that has fallen victim to crime in recent months. Fellow business owners are collaborating to provide better security for the restaurant by installing decorative metal in front of the windows.

Image Credit: SUBMITTED/Denese Metsimela

The restaurant is surrounded by windows.

Smith’s craftsmanship will allow patrons to see out the windows, through the art, while preventing criminals from breaking in. Smith lives on the North Shore, close to the restaurant. He first shared his idea with the owners, Kamau and Denese Metsimela, after the second break-in.

“I was just fed up for them." Smith said. “I know about having a small business and how difficult it is, especially for restaurants this past year in the pandemic. I offered them my time and work, and would only charge for the material. The job requires almost ten sheets of steel and steel prices are like lumber right now, through the roof.”

While the owners were thinking over his offer, Smith was telling his friend, Angus Glasgow, about his idea.  A co-owner of Heavy Metal Gym and fellow business owner on the North Shore, Glasgow decided to pay for the material. Then, the restaurant was broken into for the third time.

A window at Laser Quit Therapies in Kamloops is seen in this submitted photo. The decorative metal acts as a deterrent to break ins while allowing a pleasing aesthetic and the ability to see out from inside.

Image Credit: SUBMITTED/Brock Smith/Kamloops Decorative Metal

“I saw the post on the crime watch page that the restaurant had been broken into for a third time,” Smith said. “So I brought up my offer again to the Metsimelas. They said ‘yes’. Mark Wright, owner of Notre Dame Tire reached out, also offering to cover the cost of materials. Then Mike Kucko, a co-owner of MX3 Services calls, offering to donate materials and help with the powder coating. Suddenly it was cheaper for everyone and more people now get to help out.”

Smith said it will take him two to three weeks to put the design together, gather materials, cut and powder coat the pieces, and complete the installation.

We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor. 

News from © iNFOnews, 2021