Danbury City Hall Reopens Its Doors

In what amounts to a safety versus security trade-off, Danbury reopened two closed stairway exits to the public.

A state Fire Marshal visited City Hall on March 7 after members of the City Council noticed City Hall only had one exit for the public. This story first emerged at the March 5 City Council meeting, which was when some city council members saw the blocked exits.

"He gave us some advice," said Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton.

That advice was to open the stairwells as one-way exits for the public. Don't use them as entrances. Only city employees can open the doors and enter City Hall through the side and back doors.

"If you want to come back in, you swipe your ID," Boughton said. He said the same locks originally used to lock the doors from the inside will be reversed and now will lock the doors from the outside.

Deputy Fire Marshal TJ Wiedl said the new plan should both solve the security issue and improve safety in City Hall.