Downtown Colorado Springs library proposes 7-foot fence be erected around property
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) - The historic Penrose Library in Downtown Colorado Springs may be getting an extra safety measure soon, as administrators have proposed erecting a fence around the property.
Administrators with the Pikes Peak Library District (PPLD) presented the plans for a 7-foot-tall wrought-iron fence to the city's Downtown Review Board on Tuesday.
Michael Brantner, the Chief of Safety, Community Resources and Security with the PPLD, says they're looking to protect the property after business hours.
"We just want to make sure that the campus is as safe as it can possibly be for everyone within the community because there's there's no right way to use a library... but there are wrong ways," explains Brantner.
He says the fence is part of a larger security plan that the PPLD has implemented throughout 2024. It comes in light of issues the Penrose Library has run into with personnel inside and outside the building.
"We have security incidents inside and outside of our library throughout the course of the year, and we document those very closely and we look at the causes of those," said Brantner. "Some of those problems are vandalism that occurs downtown, you know, we have some health and safety issues that occur downtown," he added, talking about what the fence would help with.
Parents who use the Penrose Library, like Ronnie Canaan-Chapman says he brings his son Cash, who will turn 1-year-old in one a week, to the library all the time. He says after living in big cities before moving to Colorado Springs, he supports the idea.
"You know, at the end of the day, security is important. And for me too, as a dad, it means a lot to me," explained Canaan-Chapman.
Another library-goer, Larry Wommack, who rode on his bike to the outdoor book return center, says he used to go to the library frequently with his wife but has stopped in recent years due to what he describes as the influx of people who are homeless, spending time inside and outside the building.
"As I'm driving by or riding by after hours, I see people sleeping in front of this library. So yeah, if it protects this building and it keeps it as a resource for everybody can use this." said Wommack, who has lived in Colorado Springs for nearly 15 years. "It's just not as a pleasant experience to use the library it used to be. So now we just get books and we just go home," he explained.
The next steps for the library are to submit more specific plans for construction, such as costs, the location of the fencing along the sidewalk, or on the library property, which be revisited by the Downtown Review Board in early July.
