City of Greenwood Village via Facebook
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Emergency responders saved a person from the DTC Identity Monument again on Tuesday, January 13. This occurred just over a month after rescuers engaged in a ten-hour standoff with a distressed man who climbed the sculpture in December.
Tuesday’s rescue didn’t last nearly as long. The unidentified individual safely climbed down after approximately one hour atop the 100-foot-tall sculpture in the Denver Tech Center, according to Megan Copenhaver, spokesperson for the City of Greenwood Village. The incident was first reported to authorities at around 9:15 a.m.
The climber was in a “mental health crisis situation” and taken into protective custody, Copenhaver says. Police do not plan to pursue charges at this time.
Following the back-to-back crises, the Greenwood Village Police Department is “working to coordinate with property management on potential security measures to help prevent similar situations in the future,” Copenhaver says.
Officials describe the climbing occurrences as unusual. Police have no reports of similar rescues involving the DTC Identity Monument prior to December, according to Copenhaver. However, the sculpture is well-known to local climbing enthusiasts.
Multiple people, including popular social media influencers, have shared pictures and videos of themselves scaling the monument. The rock climbing guide website Mountain Project even has a page dedicated to the sculpture, which users have dubbed the “Stairway to Prison.”
“We all go to prison at least once in our life. Why not enjoy a great crime/climb with the best colors artificial lighting can provide,” the Mountain Project page reads. “You are also doing a service for the Denver Tech employees that have to slave away behind unbroken glass.”
The DTC Identity Monument was created in 2008 as a landmark and symbol of the Denver Tech Center, a business and economic hub in Greenwood Village, twelve miles south of downtown Denver. It was founded in 1962 by George Wallace, a prominent Denver developer, as one of the first suburban office parks in the country.
On Tuesday morning, a person could be seen sitting at the summit of the sculpture, having used its ladder-like steel piping to ascend.
Drivers on Interstate 25 and witnesses in nearby office buildings posted photos and videos of the situation on social media.
Officials shut down the interstate’s northbound off-ramp at East Belleview Avenue and DTC Parkway south of Belleview during the incident. Both roads have since been completely reopened.
The climber’s name, age and other identifying information are not being released, which is the city’s policy when responding to a person in crisis.
