About one year ago, District 1 Councilwoman Eileen Fuoco started getting calls from constituents about the area behind the Atwood Avenue Walgreens. Abutting St. Rocco Church and residential houses, the site has been a magnet for loitering and worse, and Fuoco decided to reach out to Walgreens to see if anything could be done. A fence now running along the property line, Fuoco hopes her constituents will see an improvement.
“They’ve been having huge problems here, which was unbeknownst to me. My main concern is there’s a church here, a school here,” she said. “I want people in the Thornton area to know they’re a little bit safer.”
Before the fence went up, Walgreens Manager Dave Martin said they dealt with vandalism and vagrants, with spray painting on the side of the building and several instances of people setting up camp near the building.
Just beyond the parking lot, in the woods, he has seen serious litter problems. When Fuoco first visited the property, she saw everything from syringes and trash to baby clothes. She speculates it was a crash site for the homeless and potentially a meeting spot for drug deals.
“When I walked back there, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I never knew this activity was going on,” said Fuoco, who said she has lived in the Thornton area for roughly 40 years.
Martin concedes that his employees, who used to park along the property line behind the Original Italian Bakery, were intimidated by unknown drivers meeting back there. The store closes at 10 p.m., with employees leaving between 10:30 and 10:45 p.m., well after dark, so many of Martin’s staff began parking in the main lot, limiting spots for customers. Martin said he called police several times to try and clear the area.
“It’s tough for them to catch them. It’s a cat and mouse game,” he said.
While Martin was receptive to Fuoco’s concerns, she had to take her request to the top. The Walgreens CEO asked the councilwoman to get back to him on size limits for fencing, to which she relayed that anything higher than six feet would require a permit. To speed up the process, Walgreens ultimately went with that six-foot limit. It was winter by the time a decision was made, so the company waited until things warmed up before installation.
“He wanted to make sure it was done right,” Fuoco said of the CEO. “Everything goes through channels.”
The new fence, which went up one month ago, connects with an existing fence along the rear of the property. Access to the wooded area behind the store is now limited, with the fence ending at the slope leading to a brook.
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