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The Bangs Community Center in Amherst.

AMHERST - Attempted thefts from offices inside the Bangs Community Center and the discovery of intruders in the building are leading to increased efforts to improve security.

"The reality is we have to stop thinking of ourselves as a little town immune from big city problems," said Senior Center Director Nancy Pagano.

Pagano told the Council on Aging at a recent meeting that the Bangs, like the Jones Library, is a building open many hours each day to the public and is therefore vulnerable to attracting people who don't have business in the building.

Pagano said she and other department heads, in consultation with the police department and Town Manager John Musante, are beginning to brainstorm ways to ensure the building is safe. Two basic ideas are increasing the use of cameras and locking more doors, both interior and exterior.

"We're trying to come up with things that are not expensive and can be easily done," Pagano said. "We don't want to spend money, but we want to make things better."

The Bangs Center, located on Boltwood Walk, houses the Amherst Senior Center, the health department and Leisure Services and Supplemental Education, as well as rented space for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Hampshire County and Center for New Americans programs.

Police Chief Scott Livingstone said the concerns primarily center around young adults in the building who have damaged property and homeless individuals using facilities in inappropriate ways.

"We respond there whenever they call," Livingstone said.

In addition, he said, the department's downtown patrol officers get to the building as often as possible.

Julie Federman, the health director, said urban problems are encroaching on Amherst. A person recently tried to leave the health department's office with an employee's pocketbook and another time a person whose motives were unclear got into the offices where records are kept.

"These have been real eye-openers to us," Federman said. "We're concerned about it not being as safe a building as it has been in the past."

She explained that because it is a public building, no one wants to have every interior door locked, noting that many people use the building, from senior citizens to children. Locking more doors would make the Bangs less inviting, she said.

"What we're trying to do is balance accessibility with security," Federman said.

Pagano said other ideas have been to issue key cards and hire security staff, especially after 4:30 p.m. when the offices close but the building remains open for public meetings. But hiring a security guard comes with costs and the key cards, while less expensive, might be a challenge to oversee.

"There are pros and cons to every idea we've come up with," Pagano said.