Homeless Advocates Call For Denver Rec Centers To Be Used As Warming Centers Overnight

DENVER (CBS4)- A Denver recreation center became the scene of a brief standoff between homeless advocates and police officers. Protesters gathered outside this Carla Madison Rec Center at 2401 Colfax Ave. near East High School on Thursday night.

Homeless advocates carried signs that read "24-Hour Warming Centers Now" and "How Cold Must It Get For The City of Denver To Care?" They said the city needs to do more to keep people warm when the temperatures plunge.

The protesters want the city to open rec centers overnight to be used as warming shelters.

"These unhoused folks need to be inside somewhere overnight and not until 9 o'clock at night because the worst part is from 9 p.m. until 6 o'clock in the morning. So they need to be inside then and all the shelters are full, again, tonight as they were last night. They have nowhere to go and so we decided that we would come here to the warming center and hopefully stay for the night," said one homeless advocate.

They did not stay the night inside the rec center. Denver police cleared out the rec center before it closed for the night.