Summary

Media tours Columbine High School which will reopen for the fall semester on August 16th.

Source CONUS Archive
Record ID 166991
Story Slug COLUMBINE PREPARES TO REOPEN (8/6/1999)
Location LITTLETON, COLORADO
Format PKG
Date 08/06/1999
Archive Time 56:59
TRT 1:34
Supers Littleton, Colorado Jack Swanzy, Jefferson District Architect Mike Sheehan, Columbine Student Body President Jule Cole, Columbine Student Rick Sallinger, Reporting
Video Description Jeffco official walking down corridor with media in tow, columbine flower in floor tile, media walking down outside stairs, sot, file of damage to library, file of library entrance, lockers covering up library entrance, temporary library building, sot w/student body president, new tile floor in corridor, file of bullet holes, cafeteria, tiles on wall, video security camera, photo id, sot w/student, tiles on wall.
Description Media tours Columbine High School which will reopen for the fall semester on August 16th.
Script LEAD: IN LESS THAN TWO WEEKS, IT WILL BE AN EMOTIONAL RETURN TO COLUMBINE HIGH SCHOOL. APRIL 20TH WAS THE LAST tiME STUDENTS WERE IN CLASS. THE UNFORGETTABLE DAY WHEN TWO GUNMEN SHOT AND KILLED 12 STUDENTS AND ONE TEACHER THEN TOOK THEIR OWN LIVES. FRIDAY, REPORTERS WALKED THROUGH THE ENTRANCE OF THE SCHOOL AND FOUND A MASSIVE RECONSTRUCTION EFFORT. THE ONLY PART OFF LIMITS: THE LIBRARY. RICK SALLINGER WAS AMONG THE REPORTERS INSIDE AND HAS THIS REPORT. SCRIPT: IT'S STILL COLUMBINE, BUT IN MANY WAYS, IT'S JUST NOT THE SAME. THE CHANGES ARE DELIBERATE. ARCHITECTS TAKING ON THE ROLE OF PSYCHOLOGISTS HOPING TO ERASE THE SITES AND SOUNDS OF APRIL 20TH. (SOT: Jack Swanzy/Jefferson County District Architect) "if we can make students walk down these halls and not cringe and go to class and learn then we've been very successful" MOST OF THE KILLING TOOK PLACE IN THE SCHOOL LIBRARY. THIS SCENE IS NO LONGER VISIBLE TO THE EYE. THIS WAS THE ENTRANCE TO THE LIBRARY AND... THIS IS HOW IT APPEARS TODAY. FOR NOW THE LIBRARY WILL BE HOUSED IN A TEMPORARY BUILDING. MIKE SHEEHAN IS THE STUDENT BODY PRESIDENT. (SOT: Mike Sheehan/Student Body President) "we had a plan in place for the library to be open this year but the parents wanted to take the time to close it off and i respect that because they are the victims and i really can't feel what they are feeling right now" THE BLOOD STAINED CARPETS HAVE BEEN REPLACED WITH TILE, THE HUNDREDS OF BULLET HOLES THAT WERE VISIBLE ARE NOW GONE FROM SITE. THE CAFETERIA LOOKS LIKE NEW. 16 VIDEO CAMERAS HAVE BEEN INSTALLED THROUGHOUT THE BUILDING TO HELP PROVIDE BETTER SECURITY. STAFF AND STUDENTS WILL HAVE AN I-D CARD TO ENTER THE BUILDING. (SOT: July Cole/Columbine Student) "when it first happened a lot of people were saying they were going to be really uncomfortable going back into the school, but really as time goes by you want to end it on a good note instead of what happened you know" THAT NOTE IS PERHAPS BEST SYMBOLIZED BY THE TILES DECORATED BY COLUMBINE STUDENTS, VICTIM'S FAMILIES AND RESCUE WORKERS WHO WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER THAT HORRIBLE DAY.
Not everything listed in the CONUS Archive is necessarily licensable. Reporter sound/image is not licensable

Keywords

School shooting
Columbine
}