Colorado residents reflect on bulldozer rampage 20 years later: "Granby is so much more than one day"
Third-generation Coloradan Tina Holley knows what people think when they hear her town's name.
"'Oh, you're from the town where the bulldozer was,'" Holley remembers strangers telling her on a trip to Mexico. "I don't like it, I don't like it at all."
"Granby is so much more than one day 20 years ago," she continued, "and yet, that is what everybody remembers us for."
The Town of Granby itself begrudgingly acknowledged this too.
"It's impossible to ignore the impression this event has had on those who were here 20 years ago and the continued impact this history has on our current community," Mayor Josh Hardy said in a statement.
Town hall was closed to the public on Tuesday and will remain so the next day as well. Sky-Hi News' office doors were locked Tuesday as well, with a lone police car sitting out front. Both are locations targeted by Marvin Heemeyer 20 years ago in the armored bulldozer he modified and then used to destroy 13 buildings. Surprisingly, no one was hurt, aside from Heemeyer who took his own life.
In town, it has created an interesting dichotomy. One resident told CBS News Colorado's Spencer Wilson that he wasn't sure if he should go on camera to speak, considering how the town was split "half and half" in their support or condemnation of Heemeyer's rampage. Others said they had employees who were afraid to come into work in case a copycat decided to come to town.
"I think some people are taking it too seriously," Holley said. "That gives more power to people who want to frighten us, but at the same time, this was a big deal."
"We were very fortunate that day that nobody but Mr. Heemeyer died," Holley continued. "With the world the way that it is, I think we should pay attention a little bit."
Signs of the increased police presence were clear in town Tuesday, between canine units circling town buildings and law enforcement vehicles parked up and down the main street in town. Tourists visiting Grand Lake stopped by Granby simply because it was 20 years later to the day, and they wanted to see the history of where everything happened.
Still, to Holley, the legacy of her town is complicated and feels so far from her view of the independent, creative and private home she calls Granby.
"I don't want to say the bulldozer. I don't want to say that. What I want to say is 'Granby's legacy is its people,'" Holley said. "We're mountain people and we're tough. I'm going to be here a long time, my grandchildren and my children will be here a long time and Granby is here and it's more beautiful than ever and I want the bulldozer to be buried and stay buried."
