Methamphetamine contamination discovered inside the Englewood Civic Center restrooms

The City of Englewood has temporarily closed the library, north Civic Center lobby and second-floor restrooms due to meth contamination. 

This comes a week after Boulder's library reopens following the discovery of meth contamination in its bathrooms. 

The City of Englewood has been following the closure of the Boulder library after testing there showed exhaust vents with levels above state thresholds for methamphetamine contamination.

The city proactively tested the restrooms and other surfaces in the Englewood Public Library. The restrooms on the second floor of the Englewood Civic Center were also tested.

Test results in the restrooms exceeded state thresholds for methamphetamine contamination. Other spaces in the library also tested positive for lower levels of contamination. 

Christina Underhill, director of parks, recreation, library and golf at City of Englewood, says libraries have changed since COVID-19. 

"We've seen an increase in our unhoused population using the library. We have different people coming into the library for use. We have seen some drug increase," Underhill said. "We have a lot more medical calls coming out of our library and this is happening nationwide."

Victor Rachael, public works director for the City of Englewood, says they've begun remediation so they can open the facility back up as quickly and safely as possible.

"We're collaborating with Arapahoe County Public Health, the state, and Boulder, given their experience, to bring this to a conclusion," Rachael said. "We understand that there is no absolute silver bullet to this issue. There's got to be a multi-prong approach."

Areas with meth contamination will require specialized cleaning. 

The city will follow the best practices to respond to the situation based on guidance from public health officials and remediation specialists.

City officials are unsure of when the library will safely reopen.