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the
Sopris Carbondale’s
weekly, non-profit newspaper
Sun
Volume 4, Number 33 | September 27, 2012
ieves, vandals targeting TSC By Lynn Burton Sopris Sun Staff Writer
S
ince opening its doors in 2010, more and more people are being drawn to the Third Street Center for its arts and entertainment events, community meeting rooms, and private events and parties. Since April though, the non-profit center has also become a magnet for thieves and vandals. Third Street Street Center Executive Director Jody Ensign told The Sopris Sun there have been numerous break-ins, thefts and incidents of vandalism in the past six months. The person or persons responsible for the thievery even stole a banner with the TSC logo from the building’s entrance. “It could be hanging in someone’s bedroom,” Ensign said. The Third Street Center building — owned by the town of Carbondale and leased to the non-profit Third Street Center — is the old Carbondale Elementary School building and is now home to 41 tenants, most of whom are non-profit groups or artists, plus the music/entertainment venue PAC3 and the Third Street Café. Ensign and others are a bit puzzled because there aren’t a lot of valuable items in the Third Street Center, although someone did make off with a TV positioned in a hall; it played a DVD explaining the facility and its history. Soon after that loss, someone stole the table the TV sat on. Ensign and the Carbondale police suspect young people are committing the crimes. Breaking into the TSC and bringing something back might even be some kind of “gang” initiation. “They even tried to take the Energy Navigator” that is used to measure the building’s energy use and is attached to a wall, Ensign said. Someone rifled through Ensign’s desk, which sits just inside the front door in the reception area. She knows this because she found an empty box of Cheetos in the trash can, which previously resided in her desk drawer. Thieves have also stolen food from the Third Street Café. Most of the incidents have occurred during the weekends. Police chief Gene Schilling and Ensign encourage people to call the police if they notice anything suspicious going on near the Third Street Center. Police also have two sets of finger prints, following an incident last weekend in which a volunteer guard inside the building saw someone in a hoodie peering through a window, then flee toward the Second Street townhouses to the east. “We have some leads,” Ensign said.
Alondra Casas, a third grader at Crystal River Elementary School, made the best of the last day of summer on the school’s playground on Sept. 21. Photo by Lynn Burton
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