The Situation
This building sits inside a municipal park in the Leamington area of Ontario. It serves as a washroom and rental facility for events, but for most of the year it sits unattended. During winter, nobody is there at all. Between rental bookings, it can go days or weeks without anyone on site.
The building had been broken into through the windows multiple times. There was nothing valuable inside to steal, but that did not stop it from happening. The windows were smashed, the interior was vandalized, and the municipality was left dealing with repair costs, cleanup, and work orders every time it happened. Eventually, the decision came down to either investing in a permanent solution or keeping the facility closed.
What Sunrise Installed
When the municipality renovated the building, Sunrise installed three motorized roll shutters on the window openings. Each window is roughly three feet by four feet. The shutters use high-density foam-filled aluminum slats in silver to match the building's exterior trim. All three are motorized and connected to WiFi, so whoever books the facility can open the shutters remotely from a phone or tablet without anyone needing to visit the site.
The entry door was handled differently. A shutter on the door would have blocked the emergency exit path, creating an egress violation under the Ontario Building Code. Instead, the municipality replaced the original door with a steel entry door that provides both physical security and compliant emergency egress. The shutters then cover only the windows, which were the actual entry points being targeted.
This split approach, steel door for egress and shutters for the windows, gave the municipality a building that meets code requirements and stays protected when nobody is there.
Remote Access for Rental Bookings
The WiFi integration is what makes this system practical for a rental facility. When someone books the building for an event, the facility coordinator can open the shutters remotely without driving out to the park. When the event is over and the building is locked up, the shutters come back down and the windows are secured again.
During winter, all three shutters stay closed for the entire season. The building is sealed. Nobody needs to board up windows, check on plywood, or deal with the aftermath of another break-in in January. When spring comes and the facility reopens, the shutters go up and the building is ready.
For municipalities managing multiple park buildings across a service area, remote operation eliminates the need for a crew to visit each site just to open or close window coverings. That is a real operational savings over the course of a year.
The Result
Since the shutters were installed, the building has had no further break-in incidents. The windows are intact, the interior stays clean, and the municipality is no longer budgeting for repeated glass replacement and damage cleanup at this site.
The facility is back in service for rentals and events. It opens when it is booked and stays secured when it is not. The building does what it was built to do, and the shutters are the reason it can keep doing it without constant maintenance attention.
Project Details
Location: Leamington area, Ontario
Building type: Municipal park washroom and rental facility
Number of openings: 3 windows (shuttered) + 1 door (steel, no shutter)
Window openings: Approximately 3 ft × 4 ft each
Slat type: High-density foam-filled aluminum
Colour: Silver
Operator: Motorized, WiFi controlled (remote access for rental bookings)
Door: Steel entry door for emergency egress compliance
Seasonal use: Closed during winter, opened for rentals and events in season
Managing a Park Building or Public Facility?
If your municipality or organization is dealing with vandalism on buildings that sit empty between uses or between seasons, roll shutters are the most practical long-term fix. Start with photos of the building, the window openings, and a short description of the situation. Sunrise reviews every opening before recommending a system direction.