The city of Elgin plans to hire three unarmed security guards for the Edward Schock Centre of Elgin to deal with unruly teens and an influx of homeless people taking shelter at the downtown recreation center.
“We will have a security guard to ensure people who are coming to the center are there for the equipment, an event or some other purpose. Otherwise, they will not be able to utilize (the facility),” City Manager Rick Kozal said at this week’s Elgin City Council meeting.
Andy Frain Services will supply the guards, who will be stationed at the center’s three entrances during business hours and will enforce the facility’s policies and code of conduct, Kozal said. Additionally, two guards will be assigned to Lords Park and Wing Park on weekends during the summer.
The council approved a one-year contract with Frain for $475,000 at its Wednesday night meeting.
Initially, the city’s Parks and Recreation Department planned to hire one security guard this year to monitor activities and deal with minor incidents involving teens inside the center but plans were upgraded because of the issues stemming from the number of homeless people coming to the facility at 100 Symphony Way.
The Gail Borden Public Library has been a location where the unhoused have gone for shelter during the day, but they are “no longer making accommodations for people experiencing homelessness,” Kozal said.
That’s resulted in a shift of some of those people to the Schock Centre, “creating issues that are impinging upon the quality of amenities that we provide for paying customers,” he said.
Gail Borden officials could not be reached for comment.
Some Elgin City Council members applauded the move, but Councilman Corey Dixon said the bigger issue is not being addressed.
“It’s not the usual homeless population … but the uptick in folks coming to our community (that) has caused significant issues across the board,” said Dixon, noting that the library has had a lot of complaints. “We already had a problem with the houseless community, being that they were houseless, and we were kicking the can down the road. We didn’t do much about it.
“These issues aren’t going to go anywhere,” he said. “We aren’t going to be able to arrest our way out of this. We can’t hope someone will save us from these issues. … These are just Band-Aids, and we need surgery.”
Gloria Casas is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
