Closing of picnic shelters at Dorchester Park in Colorado Springs explained

A Colorado Springs official provided more details Monday about the recent closing of a picnic shelter at a park overrun by homeless people.

Kurt Schroeder, programs manager for the Department of Parks and Recreation, said the main shelter at Dorchester Park, just south of downtown, was fenced in last Wednesday to temporarily keep homeless people out.

A smaller shelter at the park will be fenced in later this week, he said. Several people were essentially camping out at the shelter Monday.

“People will see this as us trying to take back our parks from the homeless,” Schroeder said. “That’s not the case here. We’re doing this at the recommendation of the Police Department, out of concern for public safety.”

Schroeder said police have found that illegal activity — such as public drunkenness, drinking on city property, drug use and occupying the park after hours — regularly happens at the park.

Cassandra Garcia, a homeless woman who stays at the park, disputes any claims of illegal activity.

“I’ve been here for years and I haven’t seen any,” she said. “Maybe pot-smoking. That’s about it.”

In recent years, the park routinely swarms with homeless people, many of whom occupy the shelters, and other people rarely visit the park.

Schroeder said the shelter closings will continue until the city figures out a way to revitalize the park and encourage more law-abiding citizens, whether homeless or not, to visit.

On Monday, there were noticeably fewer homeless people at the park, but dozens still gathered along the park borders, which still may discourage people from visiting.

“Time will determine how that goes,” Schroeder said. “We were just at the point where we had to do something.”

Wilson Rooker, a homeless man who lives in his van parked near the park, said he understands the city’s viewpoint.

“I know the park is a mess and too many people hang out here,” he said. “But it seems like the city doesn’t understand the position of those who stay under (the shelters) when the weather is bad. It’s the only shelter they have. Where are they going to go?”

Schroeder said the park situation isn’t nearly as serious at other city parks, and that Dorchester is unique because it’s close to where the homeless travel, gather and receive services.

“It’s also a park that isn’t directly connected to a neighborhood,” he said.