Consequences of the New Year’s Eve bomb scare in Aspen snowballed as late afternoon turned into the much-anticipated evening.
The scene was surreal as locals and tourists alike roamed the streets looking for information as the sun set. By nightfall, it was clear the menacing packages left at two banks and in an alley had created an economic calamity and a major headache for anyone trying to enjoy their New Year’s Eve, with more than 16 blocks evacuated in Aspen’s core, restaurants and retails shops empty on one of the busiest days of the year. Downtown residents were unable to return to their homes overnight and dinner spreads at private parties that people couldn’t get to were left untouched. It was also a source of gossip for the throngs of revelers in town.
“Store closed due to town emergency,” read a sign on the door of the Lush cosmetics store.
“All (Crystal Palace Grille) staff: We will meet here after bomb threat,” said a sign on the door of the Hyman Avenue eatery.
At 3 p.m., Aspenite Seth Wagner went to Wells Fargo to withdraw cash from the ATM machine. On his way into the building, he noticed a police officer on the street. Once inside the ATM foyer with about 10 other people, he noticed that the doors to the bank’s interior office and lobby were locked and no one appeared to be inside.
On his way out, he made eye contact with the police officer, who politely encouraged him across the street with a tug on the forearm. Still not knowing what was going on, he began walking toward the Sky Hotel. On his way, he passed Vectra Bank, where he saw another officer watching attentively. Given the unusual situation of police presence on two corners, Wagner sensed danger and asked the officer if something was going on.
“Yes, there is,” the officer said.
The events were certainly not what one is used to living in Aspen, Wagner said.
“I have to admit, it got my heart going a little bit,” he said.
At that point, Wagner said he ran to the Sky, where friends and gossip about the situation awaited.
The officers he encountered showed a cool professionalism as they attempted to keep streets clear, Wagner said.
“(The police) were ushering people in a very calm manner,” he said.
Fire trucks and backhoes were positioned to block off certain streets around 4 p.m., just as crowds were thickening in town at the end of the ski day, leaving many confused and startled. Others just wanted to continue going about their business. Police and city officials had the unusual task of telling shoppers and apres-ski revelers that they could not access stores and restaurants because the streets were closed due to a bomb threat.
“What we have here is a serious bomb threat,” a man with the Roaring Fork Transit Authority told a woman wanting to walk down Hopkins between Galena and Mill.
Pitkin County Dry Goods store owner Dave Fleisher said his store received an evacuation phone call around 4 p.m., just as the store was slammed with holiday shoppers.
Closing between 4 and 5 p.m. put a “serious dent” in business on what is one of the most lucrative days of the year, Fleisher said. Still, he complimented the police and firemen, who he said conducted the evacuations “graciously.”
But after 5 p.m., Fleisher reopened the store, after confirming with a police officer that the block was not at that time under a mandatory evacuation.
“We didn’t want to put anyone at risk,” Fleisher said.
In 40 years in Aspen, Fleisher said he had never seen anything like Wednesday’s events. The closest he had ever come was a nearby natural gas leak, he said.
Just then, at 6:05 p.m., a fireman walked into the store, informing Fleisher that the evacuation area had been expanded, and now included his store.
Aspen Police DepartmentA surveillance photograph of the suspect, Jim Blanning, 71, as captured by the Vectra Bank security camera.
“I’ll bet you anything this is someone trying to send a message,” Fleisher said, referencing the symbolic and high profile nature of Aspen on New Year’s Eve.
Around 6 p.m., restaurants in the immediate area of the two banks had to evacuate their first seatings of New Year’s Eve diners. This included the more than half-dozen restaurants on “restaurant row,” also known as Hopkins Avenue between Mill and Monarch streets.
The Hotel Jerome had to be evacuated around 5 p.m. All guest in the sold-out hotel at the time were encouraged to go to the Rio Grande Meeting Room, which is behind the courthouse. By 7:30 p.m., guests were allowed back into the hotel.
Residents on Ute Avenue were evacuated to the Aspen Club, where a group of women who had gotten their hair done and were dressed in formal evening wear sat in the lobby unable to get to their party.
“It’s like being in a movie,” said a front desk employee.
An evacuation center set up at Aspen High School was empty at 8:30 p.m., except for a handful of Red Cross staff. A few of them were about to depart to distribute food and warm drinks to the police and city personnel who were standing outside on the evacuation area’s perimeter. But minutes before they were to leave, they received a call from dispatch telling them not to go. Authorities were concerned about the Red Cross workers becoming potential targets.
“Put on your seat belts because it’s going to be a bumpy night,” said Mitzi Ledingham, who works for Pitkin County Social Services but was helping out at the evacuation center.
The Grog Shop was more packed than usual as it was the only downtown liquor store that remained open, and a clerk commented that it was unfortunate such a boon for the business was at the expense of the other stores.
With so much of the downtown core shut down, the few restaurants that were open saw a major spike in business. The Hickory House, eight blocks from downtown on Main Street, had a one-and-a-half hour wait around 9:20 p.m.
Bernardo Merizalde of Philadelphia, who is visiting Aspen for the first time with his family, was waiting for a table at the Hickory House. He had left his hotel on East Hopkins Avenue, outside the evacuation area, to go see a movie. After finding out that access to the theater was blocked, they walked around town trying to find a restaurant. That didn’t work either, so they caught a bus to the Hickory House, figuring it was far enough away from the evacuation area to be open.
The “bizarre” situation is unfortunate, and must be difficult for local businesses, Merizalde said. Other than the bomb scare, though, Merizalde said his family has enjoyed their visit to Aspen.
A report came from the Little Nell Hotel that for approximately two hours unauthorized people weren’t being allowed into the hotel and others were told they wouldn’t be let back in if they left. Authorities made the rounds of Aspen’s high-end hotels later that evening.
Multiple businesses reported getting conflicting information on the bomb scare and the details of the evacuation. Apparently, a reverse 911 call went out around 6 p.m. that told some businesses to evacuate that didn’t need to at the time.
Pacifica restaurant manager Russell Hoffberger said he received the evacuation phone call, but then called the authorities, who told him he did not need to evacuate the restaurant.
But around 8:30 p.m., a fireman told Hoffberger that new information about the nature of the bomb threat had come to light, and that he would have to evacuate the restaurant. Hoffberger then stopped seating new customers and began closing out the existing tables.
The scenario was certainly frustrating, given that New Year’s Eve is one of the biggest nights of the year, Hoffberger said.
“But at least we had the chance to open,” he said. “There are eight or 10 restaurants that couldn’t.”
curtis@aspendailynews.com.
Catherine Lutz contributed to this report.
