Garden of the Gods completes crucial waterline project

Yahoo

7 days ago

(COLORADO SPRINGS) — On Tuesday, June 3, the Colorado Springs Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services (PRCS) department marked the completion of an improvement project at Garden of the Gods Park that will provide crucial access to water for park safety.
The Garden of the Gods waterline project recently wrapped up, after eight months of ongoing work. The project was made possible by collaborations between PRCS, the City of Colorado Springs Office of Accessibility, Colorado Springs Fire Department and Colorado Springs Utilities.
The project involved the installation of 8,000 feet of new waterline and 9 fire hydrants to enhance park and fire safety, and improve emergency response capabilities by ensuring a readily available water source.
Additional improvements were made to enhance accessibility, with the creation of a fully accessible parking lot and ADA compliant trails into the Central Garden. Approximately 3,200 feet of asphalt was replaced to provide accessible parking nearer to the Central Gardens. A more sustainable, accessible concrete trail into Central Garden was also created.
A little over two months ago, a fire burned dangerously close to the park and nearby homes. Fire Marshal Kris Cooper said these improvements will provide greater access to critical water infrastructure that could save lives and property in the event of an emergency.
'Over 5 million visitors to the park every year, and with that comes a lot of human activity. And unfortunately sometimes that creates fires. Humans are our greatest cause of fire in our area,' said Colorado Springs Fire Marshal Kris Cooper. 'We do spend a lot of time in the park… and so this gives us great benefit with added access.'
Funding for the waterline project came from Colorado Springs Utilities, the Office of Accessibility, the Lodgers and Automobile Rental Tax (LART), Park Land Dedication Ordinance (PLDO), and the Garden of the Gods Foundation.
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