Dozens of local residents, businesses, community and government leaders join for a town hall in Idaho Springs to talk about and question: “What’s on the horizon for the town and county?”
Yards Tap House, 2731 Colorado Blvd.,offered the space and food for the event April 10 with several key players in business and government providing updates and answering questions about the rapidly changing landscape of the town.
Idaho Springs director of Business & Community Promotion Sadie Schultz led the discussion that included Mayor Chuck Harmon, leaders in the construction of the Trek Trails at Virginia Canyon Mountain Park and updates on the Clear Creek Metropolitan Recreation District skate park set to break ground soon.
“My commitment in my new role is we’d have community conversation every quarter, one focused on the east end and one focused on the downtown district,” Schultz said. “There are significant changes in the landscape, daily tourist population and business culture heading to Idaho Springs and the county, in some cases rapidly.
“These are meetings designed so that businesses and residents have a place to interface with community leaders and city staff,” Schultz told the Courant during the meeting. “We have a lot of changes coming our way over the next couple of years and the biggest feedback I’ve heard is that it’s hard to get information or to know what’s happening,” she said.
Progress on the Trek Trails at Virginia Canyon Mountain Park has been in the works for the last eight years toward a master plan of 28 miles of designed trails, incorporated with plans for the Mighty Argo Cable Car, according to the Colorado Mountain Bike Association (COMBA).
The trails were kept closed during the extreme weather habitat season that expired in March, according to COMBA.
However, plans to reopen public access to the trails have been pushed back due to the on-going construction of the Gondolas at the Argo, according to COMBA Executive Director Gary Moore.
“The work that’s going on out there just now, helicopter flights, big holes being dug, bags of concrete flying through the air, rocks rolling downhill, right now there’s just no way to organize all that,” Moore said. “There’s no way to have the public out there, especially in the numbers they would show up in.”
Despite the Argo construction, Moore said careful communication with developers allows trail construction to continue.
“We’re continuing to build the next top-to-bottom trail called Eureka; it’s a blue-level trail. That won’t be right away but should be open in maybe July,” Moore said.
Many Idaho Springs residents may have already noticed the large commercial helicopters flying overhead the Argo.
“The flights are staged and flown directly up the gondola line by Mountain Blade Runner helicopters, operating out of Boulder,” Mighty Argo partner Mary Jane Loevlie said.
Those flights will likely continue into June and July as heavy machinery is brought to the top and more than 400 yards of concrete are poured into 14 tower foundations at various stages of the mountain.
Hundreds of flights will continue to supply construction efforts and in July residents and locals may have an opportunity to witness several Blackhawk helicopters deliver some of the heaviest and most important towers to the project, Loevlie said.
Also in May Members of the Idaho Springs “SkateBoard” and the Clear Creek Metropolitan Recreation District hope to break ground on a long anticipated skate park in east Idaho Springs where the Shelly/Quinn ballfields are currently located.
New Line Skateparks, was named to design and construct the 18,000-square-foot skatepark with a budget of at least $1.17 million, according to CCMRD General Manager Cameron Marlin.
Idaho Springs Mayor Chuck Harmon said the highlights, activities and events of the new venues will bring more people to town.
“It is going to bring more people and more traffic… yeah if there’s a couple 100 more people walking around downtown it should be a good shot in the arm for the businesses but I don’t think that’s going to affect locals that much,” Harmon told the Courant.
Harmon said the area of construction on the eastside is in a part of the city that was never really overbuilt.
Still, he expects some scrutiny from the public. He said keeping himself and the council accountable is a “very necessary part” of government.
“I’m here for the long haul and the last thing I want is the flavor of this town to change, you have one chance to get it right,” Harmon said.
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