Pueblo city councilman defends fencing at Bessemer Park

PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) -- A Pueblo city councilman is defending the city's decision to place a fence along the perimeter of Ray Aguilera Park (also known as Bessemer Park) in Pueblo. Last October, District-4 councilman Roger Gomez proposed the fencing to help stop crime in the area.

"These folks back in the day could send their kids over the park. Now they're sending their grandkids over, and they're coming back with needles," Gomez says.

Not everyone is a fan of the decision. Posts on social media compare the look of the park to a prison. But Gomez is pushing back on that.

"It doesn't look like a jail. I think it's gorgeous," Gomez says. "It's gonna be designed to have open cuts. It's gonna be designed where they're gonna have sliding gates that the park rangers will open and close. At night, they're gonna close it down. In the morning, they'll open it early so that these people can send their grandkids here to play in the park. It's time to take our stuff back, and this is one of the prime places for my district."

Gomez says his primary concern is safety.

"At night, after the dark time comes, this is gonna be infiltrated with homeless and people who are having issues. The destruction that has happened to this park, and the amount of police overtime, and involving the health sector, and involving the municipal court system. If you did a cost-benefit analysis, the price for this fence would be pale in comparison after a year or so. And it should knock down this problem with the needles and the drug addicts and all that."

The $400,000 project is being paid for with Colorado Lottery funds. Gomez suggested the project could expand to other parts of Pueblo if successful.

Stay up to date with the latest local news, sports, and investigations by downloading the KRDO13 app. Click here to download it from the Apple App Store. Android users can download it from Google Play here.