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Dover officials look to add gates at Shutte Park

Kelli Steele
/
Delaware Public Media

A gate at the main entrance to Shutte Park in Dover appears closer to reality.

City officials in Dover have wanted to increase security at Shutte Park for some time following several incidents - including a September shooting that left a Delaware State University student dead.

“There are a number of reasons to restrict access to the back end of Shutte Park. A couple of weeks before the shooting, a driver missed a turn and crashed into a fence and was only 10 to 15-feet away from hitting a building where a water pump housing (is located) an important part of our water system is,” said Dover’s new assistant city manager Matt Harline, who notes there has also been some illegal dumping in the park.

Harline recommended last month installing one gate at the entrance to the main parking lot and John W. Pitts Recreation Center and another across Electric Avenue. He says that additional security cameras and signs specifying park hours could also be helpful.

He notes that the estimated cost for the Pitts Center gate is less than $6,000; the cost for the other gate would be substantially more.

Harline says city officials are ready to move ahead with the smaller gate.  He expects to present more information about the other gate to City Council next month after meeting with vendors about it.

 

Kelli Steele has over 30 years of experience covering news in Delaware, Baltimore, Winchester, Virginia, Phoenix, Arizona and San Diego, California.