Columbine High School demolition proposed in Colorado

DENVER, June 7 (UPI) -- Twenty years after the Columbine High School shooting that killed 13, administrators are suggesting tearing down the facility to discourage people compelled by a "morbid fascination" with the Littleton, Colo., school.

Jason Glass, superintendent of Jefferson County School District suggested in a Thursday letter to parents that it might be time for the school be demolished and reconstructed on a new site to discourage other school shooters and members of a "macabre" subculture called "Columbiners" who are fascinated by the 1999 incident, which "serves as a point of origin for this contagion of school shootings."

"Today, school safety experts recommend tearing down buildings where school shootings take place. Since the morbid fascination with Columbine has been increasing over the years, rather than dissipating, we believe it is time for our community to consider this option for the existing Columbine building," Glass wrote.

Every year, local police and the district's security staff encounter "hundreds of individuals" who make a grim pilgrimage to the school, but this year, the numbers have increased, Glass said.

Even though the school is one of the "safest in the country," the number of false bomb threats and trespassing incidents in the past 11 months has increased dramatically, Glass said.

In April, a Florida woman described as being "infatuated" with the Columbine school shooters was determined by the FBI to be a credible threat. Sol Pais, 18, triggered a massive manhunt that closed down schools throughout the state. She was found dead in the foothills outside Denver.

The JeffCo School District Board was considering allocating a $60 million to $70 million to demolish the current structure and build a new school, Glass said.