Barrier in front of City Hall described as security measure
Police have no comment about the recently erected fence
Above: A man sleeps this morning in front of the metal fence around City Hall.
City Hall has taken on a rather besieged look as police maintain a metal fence that zigzags around the building’s main entrance, blocking off foot traffic from War Memorial Plaza and Holliday Street.
For the past two weeks, city employees and others headed for the heart of city government must slip through a small gap between the fence and the side of the building to gain access to the hall.
The three-foot-high fence, known in the trade as a “bridge foot style barrier,” is typically used for crowd control at concerts.
As far as we can tell, the fence was erected around City Hall on August 14 when demonstrators, protesting the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO., marched past the building to protest police brutality at BPD headquarters at Fayette and President streets.
While the protesters have long departed, the fence remains. This morning two men slept along its perimeter on benches in War Memorial Plaza.
Asked how long the fence would remain, police spokesman Capt. J. Eric Kowalczyk emailed back, “We don’t comment on security measures in place for City Hall.”
The mayor’s press office has not responded to our queries.
The bike-rack-style barricade runs rather haphazardly around City Hall. Employees and the public can access the building through a small gap on Lexington Street (below) or Fayette Street. Photos by Mark Reutter
