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October 8, 2014 VOLU M E 49 | I S S UE 38 | 7 5 ¢
Tri-LakesTribune.net
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Area closed since 1913 open, but already booked for this year South Slope of Pikes Peak will reopen around Memorial Day next year By Rob Carrigan
rcarrigan@coloradocommunitymedia. com The day after the city of Colorado Springs announced the opening of the South Slope of Pikes Peak, all spaces had been reserved already for 2014. Nearly 9,000 acres, at elevation ranging from 10,500 to more than 12,000 feet, had been off limits to the public since 1913. The area was reopened for a few days in October but all permits had been reserved by Friday, and it will not reopen again until the summer of 2015, under similar restrictions. Reservoirs that were opened to the public on limited basis Oct. 4, by permit only, were McReynolds, Mason and Boehmer, but strict rules applied and the area will be closed again for the season by Oct. 13. Permits were obtained online, or by visiting the Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services, Administrative Office, 1401 Recreation Way on Monday through Friday from 8 a.m to 2 p.m. Permit reservations (in-person) had to be made by 1 p.m. the business day prior, or no less than 72 hours prior on the internet. The city only allowed a limited number of vehicles and users each day, to this seclud-
Colorado Springs city officials and representatives from cooperating agencies announced the opening of the South Slope of Pikes Peak on Thursday in Garden of the Gods Park. By Friday, all remaining reservations for 2014 to visit the area had been reserved. Photo by Rob Carrigan
The South Slope of Pikes Peak has been closed to the public since 1913. Courtesy photo
Summit continues on Page 5
Drive instructions to access the South Slope.
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Boehmer Reservoir has hike access only via the Mason Trail. Courtesy photo
Pikes Peak summit upgrade moving along TRI-LAKES TRIBUNE (USPS 418-960)
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P L EA SE R ECYC L E T H I S C OPY
By Dave Smith
Contributing writer For all her towering wonder and purple majesty America’s Mountain – Pikes Peak – is missing the one thing by which all royalty is recognized, a proper crown. But that is about to change. Spurred by more than $1 million left over from a 1999 plan and designated for the planning and design of a new summit house atop Pike’s Peak, a project to remake the famed summit is moving ahead. The project is a bit overdue. In 1999 the money for design and planning was designated in a Pikes Peak Master Plan and attributed to efforts of then-Congressman Joel Hefley. He felt the summit house had outlasted its usefulness and needed to be upgraded or redone. “I am glad they are (moving ahead),” Hefley said, “I have thought for a long time what we had was not adequate for one of America’s greatest parks.” The summit house is now 50 years old and with more than a half million people annually driving, hiking and riding the cog railway to the top of the mountain now is the time Pikes Peak continues on Page 7
The present entrance to the Pike’s Peak summit house is not too inviting for the hundreds of visitors arriving at the site via the cog railway. An upgrade to the building is The busiest doorway on the top of Pike’s Peak is showing its age. An updated portal expected to take place about 2018. to the cog railway trains and the viewing deck are likely when a renovation of the facility takes place around 2018. Photos by Dave Smith
The U.S. Army high altitude medical research facility occupies the eastern edge of the Pike’s Peak summit grounds. The corrugated metal structure will be updated as part of the makeover project slated to begin sometime in 2016.
The present rendition of the Pike’s Peak summit house has stood against the elements for half a century. Plans for an upgrade of the facility and two others operated by Colorado Springs City Utilities and the U.S. Army are moving forward.