Peace Center considers move
Hart Interim Library could be new home
Scores of terrified fans stormed through the lobby doors and onto the basketball court at Auburn High School Wednesday night, creating mass confusion and eventually canceling the final 49 seconds of Guilford's 54-47 win over Auburn.
Auburn coach Bryan Ott huddled near the stairwell on the other side of the gym, holding his crying daughter.
“There were some people who were in tears like she was,” Ott said after police cleared the gym and fans were sent home. “There were others that were mad and shaking. You saw the whole herd of people running.
“I didn't have the first clue (what happened). We were in a time-out huddle and all of a sudden everybody is stampeding toward us . ... Our guys were smart enough to run. Since I can't run anymore, I am just making my way there gradually, but I am looking for my wife and daughter. They got with me right away.”
Several police officers at the scene declined to comment. Later, four officers and a school administrator from both Auburn and Guilford said rumors that a gun was involved were false.
An hour after the incident, Rockford Public Schools sent out a news release saying the incident was sparked by adults who couldn't get into the soldout gym.
The statement said: “Several adults
The Hart Interim Library building could become the next home of the Rockford Family Peace Center and allow it to add medical services for survivors of domestic and sexual violence and their children to the office.
Rockford is setting aside $1 million of its remaining $3.2 million in federal American Rescue Plan dollars to potentially acquire and prepare the building, which is more than four times larger than the Peace Center's current location.
It is a rare opportunity to expand services, said Jennifer Cacciapaglia, executive director of the Mayor's Office of Domestic and Community Violence Prevention.
"We're on top of each other," Cacciapaglia said. "Everybody is sharing multiple office spaces. Which is fine and we can live with that. What we can't live with is that we cannot onboard one more partner."
The Family Peace Center is meant to be a single location where victims of domestic or sexual violence and their children will find safety, support and all sorts of related services.
Moving to the Hart building would increase its space from roughly 11,000 square feet in the ground floor of the parking deck at 315 N. Main St. to roughly 50,000 square feet at the Hart building, 214 N. Church St.
The plan would be to bring on more partners, including potentially adding medical treatment and testing.
The Rockford Public Library plans to sell the Hart building once it moves into the new main library, possibly this
Matt Trowbridge
were verbally arguing at the concession stand. A pedestrian stanchion was knocked over and made a loud sound which caused confusion in the gym. Police and RPS staff responded. No RPS students were involved. All staff and students are safe. Police remained on scene until the game was over and all was clear.”
Players got out of the way fast. “Once I see one person running, we all got the memo,” Guilford senior forward Michael Jalil said. “You've just got to get going after that.”
“Stuff like that shouldn't happen,” Guilford all-conference guard Malachi Johnson said. “Everyone is trying to enjoy a good basketball game. Instead people want to ruin it by doing selfish things and ruining the experience for everybody else.”
In the 1990s, officials moved RPS football games to Saturday afternoons one year after a big fight in the stands. In the early 2000s, Auburn had to play its basketball games against East and Jefferson one season on Saturday afternoons because of altercations in the stands.
“I fear stuff like that,” Guilford's Johnson said. “As kids, we want to enjoy ourselves. We want to enjoy these types of games. Packed house games. Playing in front of thousands of people. Stuff like that happens, and it ruins the experience and fun for everybody else.”
Contact: mtrowbridge@rrstar.com, @matttrowbridge or 815-987-1383. Matt Trowbridge has covered sports for the Rockford Register Star for over 30 years, after previous stints in North Dakota, Delaware, Vermont and Iowa City.