Two park projects dedicated

A dedication ceremony was held for two Courtney-Ryley-Cooper Park rehabilitation projects in Idaho Springs on Oct. 26.
The ceremonies recognized the reopening of the Fishing Is Fun Clear Creek/Idaho Springs Project and the 150th Anniversary Gold Rush Park Rehabilitation Project.
The ceremonies did their commemorating in unusually chilly weather with snow flurries whipping around the participants, who did their best to stay warm.
Fishing Is Fun
A stream-recovery project in downtown Idaho Springs received an $80,000 boost from a Colorado Division of Wildlife Fishing is Fun grant. The grant led to the restoration of a stretch of Clear Creek by Courtney-Ryley-Cooper Park and created an urban fishery.
The projected was deemed necessary because Clear Creek, as it ran through the city, was impaired by mining runoff, inadequate sewage treatment, and channelization from adjacent road and highway construction, according to the Division of Wildlife.
The grant was used to deepen the stream channel and install structural improvements to benefit trout such as boulder clusters, engineered pools and cross vanes. In addition, bank stabilization and revegetation work was also performed on both sides of the project area.
Ed Rapp, president of the Clear Creek Watershed Foundation, which oversaw the project on behalf of the city, said the effort was a prime example of effective collaboration.
“This is the model and the way to go for the future of getting things done that are of mutual benefit,” Rapp said. “In Clear Creek, it has worked great. Elsewhere around the state of Colorado where everybody is engaged in a confrontational mode, nothing gets done.”
Albert Frei and Sons Quarry provided support in the form of tons of rock used to create structures and stabilize the stream bank.
Additional support came from the Trask Family Foundation, the Henderson Mine and the west Denver chapter of Trout Unlimited. Frontier Environmental Services of Arvada performed the construction and donated its services for the preliminary design and project development.  
“This is one of those big success stories that you just love to talk about,” said acting Clear Creek County Commissioner Tim Mauck. “The partnership between the foundations, the county, the city, Trout Unlimited and our business community is exceptionally important to improving the quality of life here in Idaho Springs.
“Everyone really pulled together over the last few years to create some great fishing, and that helps to build Clear Creek’s image as a destination fishery.”
Playground improvements
The improved Courtney-Ryley-Cooper Park playground was also officially dedicated and given a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
The playground’s construction, which began in May, finished this August, but the dedication was postponed until the Fishing is Fun project was completed.
The much-needed face-lift that was almost five years in the making was made possible by a grant from Great Outdoors Colorado for $124,800.
That, combined with $5,600 from the city and other private donations, put the total cost of the park’s renovation at $211,000, which was $50,000 less than originally planned.
The city had to cut $50,000 from the project because a grant from the Colorado Department of Local Affairs was pulled due to the bad economy, City Administrator Cindy Condon said.
Plans to build bathrooms for the park were scrapped, but a host of improvements did make it, which included a climbing structure and age-specific play areas.
“I think, overall, it is a great project,” Condon said. “We hear a lot of people say how they like the new climbing structure that was added for the older children.”
The new playground is a serious improvement over its previous incarnation, which Condon said got smaller and smaller over the years as insurance inspectors found it less safety-compliant.
“So years ago there was a little wooden house the kids could climb on, and that had to come out because of splintering, and you couldn’t use wood any more,” Condon said. “So little things were taken away, and pretty soon that whole half of the park had nothing down there.”
Condon, who secured the grant for the playground and cut the ribbon during the opening ceremony, said the project had been in the works since 2006.
She added that the motivation to get the project on rails started last year with the 150th anniversary of the gold rush celebrations.
“It’s a closure — finally after all these years you make it happen,” Condon said.

Don Allan

City Administrator Cindy Condon and Idaho Springs Mayor Jack Morgan participate in the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Courtney-Ryley-Cooper Park playground.

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