Tri Lakes Guide 2013

tri-lakes 2013 COMMUNITY GUIDE

A SUPPLEMENT TO THE TRI-LAKES TRIBUNE

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Cover and inside photography by Rob Carrigan

W E L C O M E

President Jerry Healey

tri-lakes

Editor & Publisher Rob Carrigan Editorial Lisa Collacott Norma Engelberg Advertising Sales Karen Stensland

F E AT U R E S

Laura Meyers

6 Tri-Lakes Saw Mills 10 History of Palmer Lake 12 Western Museum of Mining & Industry 18 Tri-Lakes Fur Trade 24 Tri-Lakes Center for the Arts

Joanne Horst Layout & Design Scott Andrews Advertising Design Sandi Austin Nick Elias Erin Franks

TRI-LAKES INFO 8 Town of Monument

Tina Meltzer Andy Rickard

Town of Palmer Lake

16 Education 20 Fire & Police

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Saw mills make their mark in Tri-Lakes history

By Lisa Collacott

Black Forest, a very prosperous land, thick with trees in the mid1800s; and railroads, with a need for lumber to supply growing towns along the tracks, were soon dotted by sawmills on the landscape.

Those who owned saw mills reaped in prosperity, especially General William Jackson Palmer, who once owned most of Black

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H I S T O R Y

Forest which at that time was called the Pinery.

“General Palmer bought a huge amount of land out there. He bought it for $2 an acre,” Judy von Ahlefeldt, author of “Thunder, Sun and Snow: The History of Colorado’s Black Forest,” said.

It all began in 1860 when a man by the name of Robert Finley came to Black Forest and brought in the first sawmill operation. The sawmill industry lasted well into the 1940s with just a handful still operating in the 1950s and 1960s. The sawmills also operated in outlying areas of Black Forest as well including Spring Creek, Husted, Table Rock, Eatonville and possibly even Monument. In 1970 von Ahlefeldt moved to Black Forest and remembers a sawmill that was still up and running.

In her book von Ahlefeldt talks about the different sawmills. Jerome Weir and business partner Judd bought the Finley mill in 1863. According to an article in the Douglas County News dated June 23, 1966 the very first post office in Eastonville was located in the Weir sawmill. In 1865 Calvin Husted started his mill on Monument Creek near Husted while Philip P. Gomer established Gomer’s Mill northeast of Eastonville on Kiowa Creek.

Gomer’s Mill was a major supplier of timber to the Kansas Pacific Railroad which was located

north east of Black Forest according to von Ahlefeldt’s book. She goes on to say that Palmer was director of construction for the railroad but had plans to start his own railroad and would need timber for that. In 1869 he formed the Colorado Pinery Trust Company and purchased more than 43,000 acres of land in Elbert and El Paso Counties.

Another big mill operation came in 1917 and that was the Edgar Lumber and Box Company. A majority of the saw mills according to von Ahlefeldt’s book were located in Black Forest.

Saw mills in outlying areas H.C. Blakely owned a saw mill north of Monument, possibly in Palmer Lake, in 1875. Someone by the name of Huddle owned a mill in Monument in the early 1900s,

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according to von Ahlefeldt’s book, but no details are given. Rogers Davis, museum director for the Lucretia Vaile Museum in Palmer Lake, said one well known family from Monument owned a saw mill.

“The Schubarth family had one but no one knows specifically where it was,” Davis said, adding that Schubarth most likely had a portable saw mill.

“Schubarth had a portable set-up. He would go where the timber was,” confirmed Jim Sawatzki, local filmmaker.

Sawatzki said a wellknown saw mill in the area was owned by D.C. Oakes.

Oakes saw mill was northeast of Larkspur. He was one of the earliest saw mills,” Sawatzki said.

“Wood from his mill built some of the early structures in Denver. He was a very early pioneer, an in-

S A W M I L L S

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teresting figure.

According to the Larkspur Historical Society Daniel Cheeseman Oakes set-up his saw mill in 1859 in Douglas County in an area called Riley’s Gulch.

His saw mill also housed a post office and was washed away in the flood of 1864.

In her book von Ahlefeldt lists a G.W. Higby mill and in “History Colorado, Volume Four” authored by Wilbur Fiske Stone he mentions a J.W. Higby who bought 1,640 acres near Monument and erected a number of saw mills. Wood from his saw mills provided 50,000 railroad ties for the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad Company. It is not known if the two were related or not.

The saw mill industry was just one of the many industries of the area that is no more.

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Photo by Lisa Collacott

Photo by Lisa Collacott

T R I - L A K E S

C O M M U N I T I E S

Town of Monument

Town of Palmer Lake

• Incorporated 1879 • Population 5,530 • 40 full-time employees, 1 part-time employee, 7 administrators • Departments: Public works, water, law enforcement, administration, community development and development services • 2013 General Fund Projected Revenues $4,459,995 Expenditures $4,352,264 • Town hall: 645 Beacon Lite Road Mon-Fri 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

• Town Hall 719-481-2954 or 719-884-8017 • Police Department 719-481-3253 • Water emergencies 719-487-9291 • Water billing - Monument 719-884-8037 • Water billing - Triview 719-884-8047

• • • • •

Incorporated 1889 Population 2,420 5 full-time employees, 3 part-time employees Mayor and five town council board members Departments: Water, roads and parks and recreation, law enforcement and fire • 2013 budget $2.8 million • Town Hall: 42 Valley Crescent Mon-Fri 8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

• For all town related questions call 719-481-2953

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Dr. Thompson, I presume?

Just what the doctor ordered

By Rob Carrigan

It has been said that nature -- with all its overwhelming power -- knows what we need and the doctors know nothing.

Almost from its very beginning, Palmer Lake, a town initially tied to the very idea of being a health destination, has tested that theory.

“Dr. W. Finley Thompson assumed such a prominent leadership role in Palmer Lake during the 1880s that everyone has regarded him as the founder of the town,” writes Daniel W. Edwards in his new book “Dr. William Finley Thompson: Dental Surgeon and Founder of Palmer Lake”

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Photo courtesy Palmer Lake Historical Society/Vaile Museum

that was published in July.

Thompson was the town’s first mayor and built area landmark Estamere House (Estemere).

Dr. Thompson himself, in a promotional piece published in the summer of 1884, laid it out pretty clearly.

“The healthfulness for the locality of Palmer Lake is fully recognized by all, and the prominent members of the medical faculty have frequently urged the establishment of a summer and health resort at this point...”

Thompson saw the area being developed in the same manner as European sanitariums in the Alps created for ‘lungers,’ a term often used to

describe those suffering from tuberculosis and asthma.

“It is now conclusively proved that dry and rarified atmosphere is wonderfully curative, even in cases of tubercular disease. Colorado is full of people who came here in actually dying condition, who now are enjoying even robust health. Asthmatics are especially benefited in this altitude, and sufferers from this most distressing of all maladies have received permanent relief by residence here … The climate of Palmer Lake (Divide) presents without question, advantages of very superior character…” according to Thompson in the promo-

tional flyer.

Marion Savage Sabin, in her1957 book, “Palmer Lake: A Historic Narrative,” makes a similar observation about Thompson’s intentions.

“Here was the very place for a health resort and vacation community of luxurious type and not to be out-done by famous spas he had visited in Europe.

Here in ideal combination were scenic beauty, pure bracing mountain air and warm sunshine, icy springs rich in mineral content, healing pine forests, the seclusion – and at the same time accessibility by rail – which should assure the success of such an undertaking.”

Daniel Edwards notes

that, “By May of 1888, he (Dr. Thompson) was actively engaged in making this happen – building a 70-room hotel with attached sanitarium – his last vigorous attempt to develop Palmer Lake.”

Edwards writes that two prominent physicians, experts in the treatment of lung problems, played important roles in that development. Dr. Alfred Tucker-Wise, the medical director for the Swiss Hotel Kursaal in Maloja, and Dr. Charles Denison, professor of diseases of the chest and of climatology at the University of Denver, consulted with Thompson regarding the construction and early operation of hotel.

Continued page 13

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Museum brings western mining history to life

By Norma Engelberg

When the pumps, engines and mills come to life at the Western Museum of Mining & Industry, the sights and sounds of mining fill the air to the delight of the many children and adults who visit the museum every day.

Located at 225 North Gate Boulevard, the mu-

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seum is 27 acres of indoor and outdoor displays that include a steam shovel, other steam- and pneumatic-powered engines and pumps, a 5,000-book research library that is also available online, an old farmhouse, a theater, an authentic assayers’ office, two burros and a gift shop that has recently become a source for prospecting and small-scale mining equipment.

The museum was founded in 1970 as the Museum of the West, using as its nucleus mining artifacts donated by Frederick McMenemy and Katherine Thatcher Farrar. In 1972, the museum was renamed to the Western Museum of Mining & Industry. Since then it has won many awards including the 2012 Best Cultural Attraction Bronze Award.

In 1978, the museum staff recreated a 19th century stamp mill using authentic building methods and materials. Much of the equipment inside the working stamp mill came from The Yellow Jacket Mine in Montezuma.

Don’t know what a stamp mill does? Why not come out for a visit?

The museum is open 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday through Saturday and guided tours, included with admission, are offered at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. Admission is $8 for adults, $7 for military and AAA members, $6 for seniors ages 60 and older and students ages 13 and

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Dr. Thompson Continued from page 11

older, $4 for children ages 3-12, infants to age 2 get in free. Bus and group rates are also available.

Every month there is something new to see and hear at the museum: new exhibits, new lectures on historic and modern mining and new activities for children. Events to watch for include the 50th annual Pikes Peak Gem and Mineral Show sponsored by the Colorado Springs Mineralogical Society June 7-9; cookie mining that helps kids learn about the business of modern mining with the help of a few chocolate-chip cookies and some tiny “miners’ tools,” periodic visits with the museum’s resident burros Nugget and Chism and a weekly farmers’ market through the summer.

For more information, call the museum at 719488-0880 or visit www. wmmi.org. To access the online research library, visit http://opac.libraryworld.com/opac/home.

Thompson also brought in his friend, Thomas Gaddes, a dentist associated with Thompson from his time in London, to become the medical superintendent of the sanitarium at the Rocklands.

Interestingly enough, Gaddes became the first elected Town Physician for Palmer Lake in March 1889, the same year he also obtained his M.D. from the Denver College of Medicine. Later in life, he also received patents for a number of inventions produced in England -- among them a wave mill which generated electricity from ocean waves, an automatic egg boiler, a window sash fastener, and a strainer that worked with a tea or coffee pot.

The dentist/physician combination was fairly common at that time, and in fact, Dr. Thompson, M.D., received his license to practice medicine on April 1, 1890, from the Colorado State Board of Medical Examiners.

“Finley’s hopes for a sanitarium at Palmer Lake were dashed by several factors,” writes Daniel Edwards. “First, not enough money was raised to implement his plan for a main sanitarium building with detached cottage and grounds. Then, Dr. Charles Denison apparently abandoned his support for Finley’s project.”

Two new sanitariums in Colorado Springs (Bellevue and Albert Glockner) apparently didn’t help matters either.

By late summer of 1890, the financial burden of the Rocklands and other ventures compelled Thompson to leave town, basically skipping out owing a lot of people a lot of money. The hotel was never wildly successful and was eventually destroyed by fire in 1920.

Thompson’s personal residence, Estamere, lives on of course, and is considered the ‘crown jewel’ of Palmer Lake, as does the town plat recorded in November of 1883, by Dr. Thompson and Dr. William A. Bell.

Bell was a Manitou Springs physician, director and financial recruiter for Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, and developer of Briarhurst Manor, his personal residence.

His Monument Farms organization began buying property in the Palmer Lake area as early as 1870 and had amassed nearly 3,000 acres by the time Thompson showed on the scene. Bell, and his organization, actually realized a healthy profit from land sales in the area.

Just what the doctor ordered. Perhaps there is a distinction between what various doctors know, and don’t know?

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places of Monument Community Presbyterian Church Sunday Worship 9:15 a.m. with Praise Team 11:00 a.m. with Chancel Choir 10:00 a.m.

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T R I - L A K E S

United States Air Force Academy • Established April 1, 1954 • First class sworn in at temporary location at Lowry Air Force Base in 1955 • Construction began at current location north of Colorado Springs on July 11, 1955 • Classes began at current location on Aug. 29, 1958 with a cadet wing of 1,145 • First graduating class of 207 cadets took place on June 3, 1959 • In 1975 President Gerald Ford signed into legislation a bill allowing women to attend military academies • First women cadets entered the academy on June 28, 1976 and graduated in 1980 • Currently the cadet wing is 4,000 • The class of 1959 chose the falcon as the mascot on Sept. 25, 1955 • The academy sits on 19,315 acres • There have been 19 academy superintendents • The academy’s estimated financial impact to the region is $999,088,829

Academy District 20 • Founded in 1874 • Number of schools – 33, four are in the TriLakes area • Discovery Canyon Campus – • High school – 947 • Middle school – 894 • Elementary school – 514 • Edith Wolford Elementary School – 364 • Antelope Trails Elementary School – 524 • School in the Woods – 78 • 2012/2013 General Fund Budgeted Revenues – $172,741,024 Budgeted $7,652 per student • Academy District 20 serves more than 24,000 students and has received an Accredited with Distinction ranking from the Colorado Department of Education for three consecutive years. The district prides itself on outstanding academic achievement for students while offering a wide range of education opportunities that include the visual and performing arts, music, robotics and technology. D-20 has been named among the 100 Best Communities for Music Education. The graduation rate is among the highest in the state for large school districts of more than 10,000 students.

The teachers meet all of the requirements for highly-qualified status and many of the new teachers arrive with master’s degrees and valuable experience. World languages

are taught in every elementary school.

International Baccalaureate education is available in several elementary schools, two middle schools and two high schools.

An online high school program is offered and the district has a popular Home School Academy for families who want to enhance their home school education with science, technology, world languages and more.

• For enrollment call 719-234-1200 or www. asd20.org.

Lewis-Palmer School District 38 • The Lewis School District #5 was founded in 1874 and served first through eighth grade. Ninth and 10th grades were added in 1917. The Palmer Lake School District #33 was founded in the late 1800s. In 1948 the two districts consolidated to form The Lewis-Palmer Consolidated Schools #38.

• Student population: • Lewis-Palmer High School – 963 • Palmer Ridge High School – 1077 • Lewis-Palmer Middle School – 828 • Lewis-Palmer Elementary School – 428 • Palmer Lake Elementary School – 340 • Bear Creek Elementary School – 801 • Prairie Winds Elementary School – 399 • Ray Kilmer Elementary School – 404 • Home School Academy – 51 • 353 teachers • 2012/2013 General Fund Budget Revenues$42,021,781 Budgeted $7,291.65 per student • D-38 schools are consistently among the top in Colorado. They have received Accredited with Distinction by the state for three consecutive years. Students score higher on standardized testing compared to neighboring school districts and to the state. They have placed in the top 10 percent overall for ACT college entrance exams and beat the average on advanced placement tests by 20 percent. D-38 sends more than 85 percent of their students to post-secondary education. They are the only district in Colorado named to the College Board Advance Placement Honor Roll three times and the only district in southern Colorado named to the list in 2013. One-hundred percent of teachers are rated as highly qualified in their subject areas and more than 60 percent have master’s degrees or doctorates.

• For enrollment information call 719-4884700 or visit the district website at http:// lewispalmer.org

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Life Academy • Founded in 2005 • Student population varies, anywhere from 12-18 students • Grades- Middle school and High school • Tuition $460 per month • Financial aid and scholarships available • Life Academy has mixed-age, multidisciplinary students that meets in a 100-year-old log cabin. They are student focused and teacher directed, creating individual planners on a daily basis. The curriculum written is to Colorado academic standards administered by experienced teachers with a Christian and conservative world view.

• For information about enrollment call 719237-8345, email info@ourlifeacademy.com or visit the website at www.ourlifeacademy. com.

Monument Academy • • • • • •

Opened in 1995 Student population- 950 Grades- Preschool, K-8 Public charter school 2012/2013 Budget- $5,700,996 Monument Academy adheres to The Core Knowledge Sequence Guide. The Core Knowledge Sequence is a detailed outline of specific content and skills to be taught in language arts, history, geography, mathematics, science and the fine arts.

As the core of a school’s curriculum it is intended to provide a coherent, content specific foundation of learning while allowing flexibility to meet individual student needs.

• For information about enrollment contact registrar Ann Zarkovacki at 719-481-1950, ext. 1246

St. Peter’s School • • • • •

Founded in 2003 Grades Pre-K-8th grade Current student population- 135 Annual tuition - $4,830 for 2013/2014 Preschool tuition - $165-$535 per month based on the program selected • Financial Aid and Scholarships are available • St. Peter Catholic School is an accredited school that offers superior academic preparation for all students in a faith based Catholic environment.

• For enrollment information call 719-4811855 or visit www.ucsppr.org.

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Photo by Lisa Collacott

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By Rob Carrigan

Blame it on the

Russians

Some folks blame the Russians for the end of the fur trade in the TriLakes area.

“In 1946 the fox farms were a good thriving business,” wrote Lucille Lavelett. “The United States made a trade agreement with Russia; Russia traded their furs to the U.S. for a metal we had, to be used to harden steel.

The fur market soon became flooded with Russian furs. There was no sale for U.S. furs, and all the fur farmers had to get out of the business.”

In “Monument’s Faded Neighbor Communities and Its Folk Lore,” Lavelett noted that an area off of

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H I S T O R Y

Baptist Road was once one of the largest and best fox farms in the west. The farm, established by a man by the name of Shelby in the 1930s, was first managed by Dave Gibbs.

Gibbs later owned his own fox operation east of Monument on Highway 105.

Famous fur farmers flourished all over the TriLakes area in the middle part of the last century.

Jack Duckels, Colorado’s largest mink rancher during the height of the state’s fur industry in the 1960s, got his start in the Palmer Lake area.

“Duckels first raised turkeys and foxes near Palmer Lake in the 1920s.

In 1932, he brought three pairs of foxes to today’s First Avenue and Havana Street – far enough away from Denver, he supposed, not to bother anyone with the smell,” according William J. Convery in a recent edition of Colorado Heritage, the state historical society’s magazine.

“To supplement his thriving fox business, Duckels added mink in 1933. The small sideline eventually eclipsed all other operations on his ranch. By 1961, the Aurora rancher employed twenty full-time hands to help feed the daily ration of some 15,000 pounds of meat byproducts, fish, cereal and fresh horsemeat to his 20,000 hungry charges,” Convery said.

According to Lavelett, the Baptist Road fox farm had eight units of fenced pens that accommodated 3,500 breeding foxes. “In 1937, the farm shipped 200,000 furs to eastern markets.”

Other factors might share some of the blame for the collapse of the fur industry here. Rising social criticism (Doris Day, the star of “A Touch of Mink”, turned animal rights activist led the Hollywood charge), the sluggish economy, and the advent of synthetic fur all were factors. But many blame the Russians.

“The rise of foreign competition ironically demonstrated how domestic fur producers had sown the seeds of their own demise. In the heady days of the 1950s and early 1960s, American fur farmers had gladly supplied foreign breeders, trained those breeders’ interns, and sold them breeding stock. Jack Duckels, for one, made extensive business contacts in Japan, Norway, and the Soviet Union. In the 1960s he traveled to Soviet trade shows and invited Russian merchandisers back to the United States to tour his own farm. Shadowed by FBI agents, the Soviets learned the ins and outs of mink ranching and signed lucrative contracts to buy Duckel’s brood minks,” wrote Convery.

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Above: Fox pelts stacked for market, circa 1920. Photos courtesy History/ Genealogy Dept. Denver Public Library.

Below: Men work fox pelts in a workshop in Denver, circa 1920.

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fire

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The Tri-Lakes area is served by four fire departments: Tri-Lakes Monument Fire Protection District, Westcott Fire Protection District, Black Forest Fire and Rescue Fire Protection District and Palmer Lake Volunteer Fire Department. These four departments, along with the Larkspur Fire Protection District in Douglas County, make up the North Group. Because of mutual-aid agreements, the departments roll on each other’s calls.

Black Forest Fire and Rescue Fire Protection District

Palmer Lake Volunteer Fire Department

Tri-Lakes Monument Fire Protection District

Westcott Fire Protection District

• Black Forest Fire and Rescue has been protecting the Black Forest area since 1945.

The department provides both fire and emergency medical services.

• Established: 1945 • Fire Chief: Bob Harvey • Main phone number: 719495-2300 • Area covered: 48 square miles • ISO rating: 5/10. Homes within 5 miles of a station are rated 5, outside of 5 miles the ISO rating is 10.

As of 2009 when station #2 opened, most of the coverage area is within 5 miles of a station.

• Personnel: Total 54, eight paid firefighters including two senior officers and 46 volunteers. All personnel must qualify for at least one medical and one fire position.

• Stations: Station #1, Headquarters, 11445 Teachout Road (corner of Teachout and Burgess roads), built 2002-03.

The station houses administrative offices, meeting and classroom space, sleeping and living quarters for 10, maintenance and parking bays for equipment and supply storage.

• Station #2, 16465 Ridge Run Road, houses one ambulance, one structure fire engine, one wildland fire engine, and one water tender. The station has sleeping and living space for four.

• Equipment: Three ambulances, two engines, one wildland fire engine (brush truck), four tenders (water haulers).

• Annual budget as of 2012: $1,420,425

• The Palmer Lake Volunteer Fire Department is a local volunteer fire department with no paid staff. The department provides both fire and emergency medical services.

• Established: 1937 • Fire Chief: Pending.

• Main phone number: 719499-1066 • Area covered: 5 square miles • Personnel: 27 volunteers, a combination of emergency medical responders, firefighters and support staff.

• Stations: The department has a single, three-bay station at 12 Valley Crescent in Palmer Lake near the town hall and the Lucretia Vaile Public Library.

• Annual budget for 2013: $121,850.

• The Tri-Lakes Monument Fire Protection District was formed in 2008 with a merger of the WoodmoorMonument Fire Protection District and the Tri-Lakes Fire Protection District (formerly the Monument Volunteer Fire Department). It has a paid staff offering both medical and fire services.

• Established: 2008 • Fire Chief: Pending • Main phone number: (719) 484-0911 • Area covered: 68 square miles • ISO rating: ISO rating 3 within the Town limits of Monument. ISO rating 4 within one-thousand feet of a fire hydrant located outside of the town limits of Monument. ISO rating 9 in areas more than one thousand feet from a hydrant or that don’t have hydrants.

• Personnel: Approximately 50 firefighters/emergency medical technicians/ paramedics • Stations: Administration Complex: 166 Second St., Monument, CO 80132 • Station #1: 18650 Colo. 105, Monument, CO 80132 • Station #2: 18460 Roller Coaster Road, Monument, CO 80132 • Station #3: 1855 Woodmoor Drive, Monument, CO 80132 • Equipment: A variety of engines for wildland and structure firefighting and ambulances.

• Annual budget for 2013: $5,520,580.

• The Westcott Fire Protection District was named after Donald Westcott, a firefighter who died in the line of duty while fighting structure fire in 1976.

• Established: 1981 • Fire Chief: Vinny Burns • Main phone number: 719488-8680 • Area covered: The district boundaries are Interquest Parkway north to Baptist Road, East of I-25 to east of Colo/ 83 and along Highway 83 to Hodgen Road. 11,611 acres or 18 square miles.

• ISO rating: 5 • Personnel: Fire chief and assistant chief, one station captain, two duty shift officers, Nine firefighters/ emergency medical technicians, 30 volunteers, one administrative assistant.

• Stations: Station #1: 15415 Gleneagle Drive, district headquarters.

• Station #2: 15505 Colo. 83, opened in March 2012.

• Station #3: 15000 Sun Hills Drive, training station and fire marshal’s office.

• Equipment: one ladder truck, three engines, one tender, two brush trucks, two chief vehicles, a Hummer, an ATV and an air trailer.

• Annual tax revenue for 2012: $1,678,074.

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tri-lakes 2013

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police El Paso County Sheriff’s Office • Originated in 1861 • El Paso County is made up of 2,158 square miles with 1,900 square miles of unincorporated area • Sheriff’s office covers a population of 168,000 • Currently 121 patrol officers, approximately 10 deputies patrol 8 districts per shift • Budget for 2012• $7,853,068 allocated for patrol division • $14,415,419 allocated for detentionsoperations • $13,460,816 allocated for detentionsfloor security • $2,453,598 for investigations • $406,911 for emergency services • $3,363,832- administration • $5,437,349- operations • With the public safety tax that voters approved in November of 2012 the sheriff’s office will soon hire 131 new positions and 22 unfunded positions that were cut in 2009 • One to two deputies patrol the TriLakes area but with the new hires it will increase to two to four deputies

Photo by Lisa Collacott

Monument Police Department

Palmer Lake Police Department

• • • • • • • • • • • • • •

• Originated in 1975 • 1 full-time officer, 8 part-time patrol officers • 1 lieutenant • Covers 3.1 square miles • 2013 budget- $275,506 • Police department is located at next to town hall at 42 Valley Crescent • Main number- 719-481-2934

Originated in 1974 1 chief 1 lieutenant 2 sergeants 1 corporal 7 patrol officers 1 community resource officer 1 detective 1 reserve officer 1 support services manager 2 records technicians Cover approximately five square miles 2013 Expenditure Budget- $1,446,940 Police department is located at 645 Beacon Lite Road • Main number- 719-481-3253

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tri-lakes 2013

By Lisa Collacott

The story of the

Tri-Lakes Center for the Arts

Photo by Lisa Collacott

Tri-Lakes Center for the Arts was a just a small town art center for local artists.

But within the past couple of years that has changed. The center is still a place for Tri-Lakes artists to showcase their art but it has also become a place for sculptors, concerts, comedy shows, theatrical productions and even classes and brings in artistic talent from all over the region and nation.

“We draw talent in from Colorado Springs, Castle Rock and Woodland Park,” Dr. Michael Maddox, executive director for TLCA, said.

The TLCA was formed

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in 1998 by a group of artists who wanted to band together to open up an art center for the Tri-Lakes area. When Maddox became a member of the board of directors he told them that those outside of Palmer Lake looked at the TLCA as merely a small town arts and crafts center. He had previously worked with other art centers around the region including the Fine Arts Center in Colorado Springs.

Maddox was eventually named executive director and said he’d accept the position “only if we can re-brand. We need to create a broader appeal.”

And so they did and since then they have had well known musicians such as: We Five, Dotsero, Wendy Woo, Willy Porter, Thin Air Jazz, Positively Pikes Peak paying a tribute to Bob Dylan and the John Adams Band paying tribute to John Denver.

Actor Ronny Cox, also a singer and songwriter, has given a concert at the TLCA. Other performanc-

es have included: “Sense and Sensibility” presented by Tin Roof Productions, WYNOT Radio Theatre Show, Wisdom Within These Walls, improv group Stick Horses in Pants and

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and a Resident Artists Exhibition and the outside north wall will soon have a giant mural painted by world renowned artist Michael Noel Wallace.

“We have our annual Vi-

Photo by Lisa Collacott

Madcap Mysteries Dinner Theater.

The TLCA still has plenty of art exhibits throughout the year. There’s been the Reflections of Modern Art Exhibit, Glass Magic

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sions of Light Show and our Lewis-Palmer School District 38 art show to inspire up and coming artists,” Maddox said. “We want to do all we can to inspire young kids.”

A R T S

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The TLCA is making history by bringing these top notch performers and artists to the town nestled up against the mountains and in a building that has quite a bit of history itself. In 1898 the building was the Thomas A. Hanks Livery Stable and Transfer Service, the first livery stable in Palmer Lake.

In 1957 it was owned by Charles Orr who used it for an Angora wool processing plant. The Denver Rio Grande Railroad used to repair cars at the south end of the building and in 1969 Fred Walker purchased part of the building. Walker loved to purchase and restore Kaiser and Frazer cars and up until recently the building bore the Kaiser/Frazer sign.

The TLCA has a mission to nurture emerging artists, demonstrate cultural creativity and promote fine arts and humanities to the Tri-Lakes region and outside the area. The center is located at 304 Colo. 105.

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