Best Reopening

In the wake of September 11, security experts decided that the main entrance to the City and County Building should be locked and all traffic funneled through a side door. Besides being a big pain in the neck for workers and visitors alike, it smacked of a siege mentality gone too far. The decision to finally reopen the doors of City Hall on January 28 afforded Mayor Wellington Webb an opportunity to do a bit of grandstanding: "This is the people's building, and we are not going to let the terrorists win," he said. But the plain fact was that taking off the locks and chains provided a minor but significant sign that normalcy was returning.