Facing community opposition, a Colorado school district said on Wednesday that it would drop a proposal to tear down Columbine High School, which has been confronting growing threats and thousands of curious trespassers since the 1999 massacre there.

In June, the Jefferson County Public Schools in suburban Denver asked for community input on what, to many, was a radical idea to reduce Columbine’s morbid allure. The district proposed razing most of the school building and rebuilding it farther from the road, where unwanted visitors now pull over to take photos or traipse onto school grounds.

While the plan was supported by Columbine’s former principal and the school district’s head of security, it hit an emotional nerve for many in the community. Some said the plan was too expensive and disruptive, and would not solve the problem of so-called Columbiners, people obsessed with the April 1999 school shooting that killed 12 students and a teacher. Others said tearing down Columbine — even 20 years later — would be a capitulation to school shooters.

“It was very emotional,” said Frank DeAngelis, who was principal at Columbine during the attack and for years after. “There’s a lot of history at Columbine.”