Tuesday, September 3, 2019
COLLEGIAN.COM
Vol. 129, No. 6
Whitewater Park to open midSeptember The $11.5 million construction of the Whitewater Park is close to finishing
By Laura Studley @laurastudley_
we would not have the market for breweries. You have this culture that makes microbreweries like New Belgium so unique and possible in Fort Collins.” Fort Collins’ history of beer crafted a community and culture revolving around the social drink. This connection came to a head with the creation of New Belgium Brewing Company. The Fort Collins staple was founded on the
The construction of Poudre River Whitewater Park, located just east of North College Avenue and north of Old Town, is almost complete. “Back in 2014, there was a Master Plan that was approved by a council,” said Kurt Friesen, director of the Park Planning and Development department for the City of Fort Collins. “The Master Plan provided a vision for the Poudre River through all of downtown, basically from Shields to Mulberry. It really provides a vision for how the Poudre River can develop over time through downtown.” The park, which will be handicap accessible, will include a multiplicity of attractions, including two primary boating features for kayakers and tubers, a children’s play area, a pedestrian overlook, a south bank terrace with seating and a bridge that connects to the Poudre Trail. Among these features, the planning also includes ecological benefits. “We have some fish passage features that allow for small native fish to be able to move up
see TOUR DE FAT on page 12 >>
see PARK on page 4 >>
Fort Collins community members gather for New Belgium Brewery’s 20th annual Tour De Fat on the intersection of Mountain Avenue and Howes Street on Aug. 31. Extravagant costumes and man powered floats competed for the $500 credit toward beer and merchandise at New Belgium Brewing in Fort Collins. PHOTO BY ALYSSA UHL COLLEGIAN
Cycles, costumes, community: Tour De Fat celebrates beer culture By Sam Sedoryk @Samsedoryk
For the past 20 years, Labor Day has meant two things for Fort Collins residents: beer and biking. This phenomenon is due to New Belgium’s Tour De Fat. The event first began as a way to honor the long history of the biking and craft brewing communities but has become a symbol of the freedom and reckless abandon associated with the people of Fort
Collins. Though a staple of the town, the history of brewery culture in Fort Collins stretches much further than the opening of New Belgium Brewing Company in 1991. Fort Collins was a nonalcoholic town until 1968, when student protests at Colorado State University helped end prohibition, which legalized the consumption and brewing of beer. The students’ passion for the culture and science surrounding beer through-
out history made Fort Collins the perfect breeding ground for microbreweries in the 1980s. Today, Colorado, particularly Fort Collins, has been nicknamed the “Napa Valley of beer.” “It’s good to remind people that the end (of) prohibition was connected to CSU, and the students that worked on the movement were for student rights, beer and freedom,” said Professor Thomas Cauvin, who specializes in public history. “Without CSU,