The city of Columbus is weighing how to balance a welcoming and inviting atmosphere at City Hall with a possible need for increased security.
The city has set aside money in the 2018 city budget to analyze security for the architecturally significant government building and also look at any security issues that may exist with the city’s fire stations, also architecturally significant, which are open around the clock seven days a week, Columbus Mayor Jim Lienhoop said.
The city has earmarked $100,000 from Local Income Tax revenues to evaluate Columbus City Hall and other city buildings and identify and create a progressive plan on how to approach security, said Jamie Brinegar, city director of financial services.
The three-story, 60,000-square-foot municipal building was designed by the architectural firm of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, which describes the building as heartland modernism, saying its form, unique geometry and detailing typify the city’s strong design sensibility.
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“This building was built in 1981, at a time there were not the security concerns we have now,” said Mary Ferdon, executive director of administration and community development.
City Hall is open daily 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays. Thousands of people visit each year, some for city business and others who just want to see the architecture.
The building was designed to anchor Columbus’ municipal zone, taking up an entire city block near the Bartholomew County Courthouse, which also has its own city block.
Columbus City Hall’s upper two floors house city departments including the mayor’s office, a public meeting hall and city council chambers. The architects designed the building with a semi-circular, double-story curtain wall of glass.
The city has never had to replace the two-story glass panels, Ferdon said. However, the glass was recently resealed and insulated for weather efficiency as part of building maintenance, along with a spruced-up interior with new paint, floor coverings and furnishings.
Stairways lead to the upper floors from the front and back with the interior featuring louvered wood doors in front of the offices and oak and bronze finishes. The doors, which can be locked at each office entryway, are surprisingly strong, Ferdon said.
The design and finishes were designed “in keeping with the civic character of a city hall and make the spaces feel inviting,” the architects said on their website.
While most visitors only see the front area of each city office where they are welcomed by city employees, security protocols are in place that provide employees places to go in the event of an emergency. They are secure locations behind the public areas of the offices, she said.
Security differences
While city hall and the courthouse are both in a municipal zone together and designed to play off each other, security procedures at the two buildings differ.
The Bartholomew County Courthouse has limited its public entrance to the east side of the building, where visitors are subject to walking through a metal detector and checked with a hand-held metal detector if the alarm goes off. Similar to airport security, the detector will sound for items as small as metal buttons or zippers on a jacket.
One or two Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department deputies provide protection in the courthouse through camera surveillance and communication with each office in the building during office hours. The security station has a direct communication line to the sheriff’s department, which is about a block away.
Columbus City Hall does not have this type of entryway security, although the police department is located within city hall and officers can be anywhere in the building within a minute.
Unlike the courthouse, city residents may walk into city hall and visit the department head they wish to speak with, and are generally not too visible to the office personnel until they arrive, Lienhoop said.
Those visiting city hall may enter the building at two side doors from the front, or a revolving door at the center, and aren’t visible to upstairs offices because of the overhang from the offices above.
When coming into the back of city hall, visitors go up steps or take the elevator to the main hallway, and again are shielded from view by the overhang of the offices above.
One area that will be part of the security evaluation is the back entrance, where an added overhang outdoors has had a continuing leaking issue during rainfall, Ferdon said.
In addition to possibly modifying this entrance for maintenance and security concerns, city officials also hope to come up with a way for the general public to access the Columbus Police Department from City Hall, rather than leaving the building and going around to the east side for access.
Balancing needs
There have been a few incidents during Lienhoop’s term in which there have been security concerns about a city hall visitor, which the security analysis will address, along with honoring the architectural structure of the facility and the need to preserve that, the mayor said.
At one point in city history, believed to be around the time of 9/11, city employees were issued identification badges, but that practice has not continued, Ferdon said.
Columbus Police Department officers routinely attend public meetings as a security presence, including Columbus City Council and Board of Works meetings.
“In this day and age, schools, factories, businesses and government are all looking at security of buildings to make sure we are being proactive,” Police Chief Jon Rohde said.
When Rohde speaks to church groups and other organizations in Columbus about security, he reminds them they need to balance security with the welcoming nature they desire to project to the public.
He reminds them that any increases in security will result in the welcoming nature being reduced somewhat, Rohde said. If you increase the welcoming components, the security presence may appear decreased, he said.
While the police department does provide security for city hall meetings and events, officers are not experts in building security, but will contribute anything needed in the security analysis, Rohde said.
One of the major differences between Bartholomew County Courthouse security and Columbus City Hall is that no guns, knives or anything that could be used as a weapon are allowed in the courthouse, and anything found is confiscated by security. There are warnings about what types of items are allowed through security in signage at the door.
In contrast, at Columbus City Hall city residents who have valid gun carry permits are allowed entry to the building and have been observed wearing guns in holsters at city meetings.
Anything involving regulating the Second Amendment would be part of the process of examining security at the building, and everyone would have to be equally and fairly treated, Rohde said.
Installing metal detectors and scanning people would have an impact on the welcoming feeling of the building, he said.
“You have to find the right balance — and it’s not just city hall. It’s the parks department and city utilities. We’re really just at the beginning stages of this at city hall. With the process, we have to reach that balance that is unique for each individual building,” he said.
Rohde said there are things the city can do to make the building more secure without making it seem less welcoming, but what that looks like will be determined through the evaluation.
The Columbus Fire Department buildings throughout the city are being considered by the city’s public safety committee to examine current procedures and whether updated emergency notification options need to be installed, Brinegar said.
The committee is focusing on Fire Station 1, located downtown, as one of the stations that might need upgrades or entryway modifications, he said.
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Columbus City Hall, 123 Washington St., was built in 1981, designed by architect Skidmore, Owings and Merrill.
The architects describe the building as heartland modernism, saying the building’s form, unique geometry and detailing typify the city’s strong design sensibility.
In addition to the mayor’s office, city hall has offices for Columbus main city departments, including community development, redevelopment, planning, the clerk-treasurer’s office, the Human Rights Commission and others.
In 2014, Skidmore, Owings and Merrill received the “25-Year Award” from the Indiana Chapter of the American Institute of Architects.
The American Institute of Architects in Indiana described the building as “a post-Modern masterpiece” with beautiful composition “without taking itself too seriously.”
It was also described as “a great civic building with a bold design that continues to radiate a community presence in the city’s historic core.”
Constructed of brick and Indiana limestone, the building’s notable features include a recessed main entrance and two cantilevered brick walls that extend across the space of the recession.
Locally, the firm’s work also includes The Republic’s former office building at 333 Second St., across the street, which will become home to Indiana University’s master’s degree in architecture program this fall.
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