Colorado town makes room for religious meetings
by Ed Thomas
February 22, 2007
(OneNewsNow.com) - - The city of Idaho Springs, Colorado, is constructing a new meeting room for public use inside its city hall. The move is in response to a lawsuit that claimed religious groups were being unlawfully barred from using the city council chambers.Plaintiff Dave Barkey filed suit in 2005 after he and other participants celebrating the National Day of Prayer were informed by an Idaho Springs city administrator that a city council meeting room, which had been reserved as an alternate site for the NDOP event in the event of inclement weather, was off-limits for religious use according to city policy.
Attorney Joel Oster of Alliance Defense Fund, who is serving as legal counsel for Barkey, says the city's prohibition against religious use of its facilities was in effect despite the fact that other non-religious groups were allowed use of the chamber rooms. It was only after Barkey's lawsuit was filed, Oster notes, that the city closed the chambers to the general public.
According to Alliance Defense Fund, Idaho Springs has now decided to build a new meeting room in city hall that will not be barred from religious uses or purposes.
