Ariel Castro's house of horrors boarded up and surrounded by barricades to protect evidence as furious Clevelanders threaten to burn it down

• A construction crew has nailed boards over the windows and doors to close it off
• The move means that Seymour Avenue can be re-opened for the first time since Monday night's rescue
  
• Police will continue to watch the house 24 hours a day as Cleveland residents have threatened to burn it down

By Michael Zennie In Cleveland

PUBLISHED: 18:36 EST, 11 May 2013 | UPDATED: 19:15 EST, 11 May 2013

Six days after police kicked in the front door of 2207 Seymour Avenue in Cleveland to rescue Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight, a construction crew nailed boards over the windows and doors to close it off.

Police erected a barricade around Ariel Castro’s home on Saturday and barricaded it closed so that they could re-open the street, which has been closed since Monday night when Amanda Berry broke out and called police after a decade in captivity.

Police will continue to watch the house of horrors 24 hours a day after furious Cleveland residents threatened to burn it to the ground. 

House of horror: Workers board up 2207 Seymour Avenue, the house where Ariel Castro is allegedly to held three women captive for nearly a decade

City Councilman Brian Cummings told Fox 8 news in Cleveland that officers have received repeated arson threats against the property.

However, police still want to keep the house intact so they can continue collecting evidence against Castro, who is accused of kidnapping Berry, DeJesus and Knight, brutally beating them and repeatedly raping them for a decade until they were freed on Monday. 

The house will eventually be surrounded by a 10-foot-high fence, as well.

Curious Clevelanders from across the city streamed onto the Seymour Avenue to catch a glimpse of the world-infamous house.

Susan McLaughlin, 53, and her daughter were in downtown Cleveland from the suburbs to taste wedding cakes and decided to make a short detour to check out the Seymour Avenue house. 

Workers unload materials to board up Ariel Castro's home in Cleveland, Ohio, and help protect it from locals who want to destroy it

Castro, 52, is accused of kidnapping Berry, DeJesus and Knight, brutally beating them and repeatedly raping them for a decade. He is being held in a Cleveland jail on $8million bail

‘We just came down to say a little prayer,’ Ms McLaughlin said as she strained to see the barricade home.

‘Everybody in the city is talking about it and we wanted to see it.’

She also wanted to address a question many Clevelanders had for the Ariel's neighbors.

'I wanted to see how close the houses were together. How it was possible that someone could be right next door to this for years and not ever hear anything or suspect anything was going on.'

Police still want to keep the house, third from right, intact so they can continue collecting evidence against Castro, who is accused of kidnapping Berry, DeJesus and Knight

Ariel’s son Anthony Castro told MailOnline his father painted over the windows of the house and kept doors to the basement, the attic and the garage locked, even when Ariel’s wife and children lived there 20 years ago.

Police say the front door was barricaded shut when Amanda Berry forced her way out on Monday and shocked the world with a 911 call announcing she was still alive after she went missing in 2003.

Castro, 52, is being held in a Cleveland jail on $8million bail. 

Police will continue to watch the house of horrors 24 hours a day after furious Cleveland residents threatened to burn it to the ground