"A City Beautiful Dream - The 1912 Vision for Colorado Springs" is the latest in a series of regional history books published by the Pikes Peak Library District

As Colorado Springs studies loosening the reins on developers by expediting the process for getting their plans approved, I thought I’d look at how the planning process evolved.

Funny thing. The planning department overhaul comes  on the 100th anniversary of the City Council’s adoption of its first formal plan for the future development.

In fact, the Pikes Peak Library District has published a book: “A City Beautiful Dream – The 1912 Vision for Colorado Springs.”

It’s the 10th book in the library’s fascinating regional history series. (It’s $14.95 and available at the library, the Pioneers Museum and ClausenBooks.com.)

The project started — doesn’t every government effort — with a consultant hired by the City Council in late 1911 for $2,000 to evaluate the city’s design.

Charles Mulford Robinson, photo courtesy Pikes Peak Library District

At the time, Charles Mulford Robinson had established a reputation for designing modern cities. So he got the job.

Tim Scanlon, a former Springs city planner who now consults with Shooks Run Research, described  Robinson as being ahead of his peers in envisioning how cities might be built.

“Robinson advanced the practice of comprehensive planning . . . that continues today,” Scanlon wrote in an introduction to the book.

Though Robinson plan never was fully implemented, several of his recommendations are evident today, said Tim Blevins, the library’s special collections manager who coordinated publication of the book.

This 1904 map of Colorado Springs shows the downtown grid consultant Charles Mulford Robinson detested as well as the railroad lines he blamed for polluting the air and inhibiting movement due to their poor location and at-grade street crossings.

“We use the plan quite a bit in special collections to answer reference questions,” Blevins said.

Robinson observed the strengths and weaknesses of Colorado Springs, based on research he conducted 1905-1911 for two separate reports that were the basis of his 1912 report: “A General Plan for the Improvement of Colorado Springs.”

Issued three years after the death of founder Gen. William Jackson Palmer, Robinson’s plan was critical of some of Palmer’s key design features: the wide streets and downtown grid.

Robinson said the Springs should design its streets to enhance its railroad stations, hotels and parks as its three obvious “focal points in the life and activity of the community.”

But he said Palmer’s “tiresome” grid did nothing to enhance community, calling it “as commonplace as Philadelphia’s or Chicago’s.”

He advocated disrupting the unimaginative grid by varying the widths of streets.

Wide roads would be thoroughfares while more narrow roads would discourage horses and buggies and become quiet residential streets.

His plan forcefully advocated building parks and playground and ridding the city of air pollution by imagining electric trains instead of smoky steam engines.

Consultant Charles Mulford Robinson urged the City Council to rid Monument Creek of those "wretched shacks" as seen in this photo looking south from the Bijou Street bridge. Photo courtesy the Pikes Peak Library District.

He advocated a height limit on buildings downtown and ridding the city of at-grade railroad crossings.

Wonder what he’d think of the city today and efforts to muzzle city planners? Hmm.

Eliminating the Sante Fe Station, top, on East Pikes Peak Avenue, was one of consultant Charles Mulford Robinson's recommendations. It took a route through the east side of Colorado Springs, spreading smoke and causing too many transportation delays with its numerous at-grade street crossings. Robinson urged turning the Denver & Rio Grande station, bottom, into a "union station" and consolidating all train travel in it.

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EVEN IN 1912 CITY PLANNING WAS IMPORTANT is a post from: Side Streets

The many faces of Lon Chaney, silent movie star and Colorado Springs native

How do we inspire our children to dream, to work hard to overcome adversity and achieve greatness?

One way is to hold up as inspiration those who grew up down the street and went on to win acclaim. We erect statues and put their names on parks, boulevards and buildings.

It’s time Colorado Springs so honors Lon Chaney, one of the greatest stars of the silent movie era and a pioneer in the use of makeup.

Sure, the tiny theater in the City Auditorium was named for Chaney in 1986. But he deserves much more.

Lon Chaney is a hero to Michael Blake, an actor and award-winning makeup artist, who has written several biographies of Chaney.

A persuasive case is made by Michael Blake, a Hollywood actor, makeup artist and author of several biographies on Chaney.

Chaney’s parents, Frank and Emma, were deaf and mute and quite poor.

Blake’s research identified nine rental houses where the family lived before Chaney left to pursue acting.

Frank Chaney was known as “Dummy the Barber,” Blake said. It was an affectionate nickname, he said, given him by his millionaire clients who included Springs founder Gen. William Jackson Palmer and gold miner/philanthropist Winfield Scott Stratton.

Emma was a teacher at the School for the Deaf and the Blind, which her father Jonathan Kennedy founded.

She suffered from inflammatory rheumatism, Blake said, forcing Chaney to drop out of school in fourth grade to care for her.

“She was basically a shut-in,” Blake said. “She couldn’t hear or speak. Lon was her eyes to the outside world.”

The Colorado Springs Opera House as it appeared in 1885. Courtesy the Pikes Peak Library District Special Collections.

While growing up, Chaney worked many jobs, including as a carpet-layer, wallpaper hanger, tour guide on Pikes Peak and prop boy at the Colorado Springs Opera House, where his brother was the manager.

He made his acting debut there in 1902 and soon joined a touring company. He eventually settled in California and went on to star in 80 silent films. But he returned many times to visit family and friends.

“This guy was a big movie star,” Blake said. “He deserves a statue, a park, a big theater, a film festival.”

I agree. We need to give our kids inspirational role models. We need to show them they can achieve great things in whatever career they choose, whether it’s public service, science, education, sports or the arts.

Lon Chaney shows them they can be the poor son of “Dummy the Barber,” a dropout caretaker for their invalid mother, and still become a huge star.

And they can be from Colorado Springs!

Heck, we all ought to be celebrating Chaney. He’s at least as worthy as Hank the Cowboy, for crying out loud!

I vote for a life-size bronze outside the Chaney Performing Arts Center.

Maybe folks who agree should bombard the City Asset Naming Board.

Can’t afford the outrageous $50 nominating fee? Launch a social media campaign. What do you say, Mayor Bach? City Council?

#LetsHonorLon.

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Here’s some links to other good stories about Chaney in Colorado Springs:

On Thursday, June 21, 2012, I wrote about Lon Chaney and the need to recognize him.

In 1999, The Gazette wrote about Michael Blake and his efforts to honor Chaney. Click here to read it.

Follow this link to read another 1999 story that describes him as a generous family man.

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Three houses where Lon Chaney lived as a child still exist. They are 509 W. Bijou St., 738 N. Spruce St. and 802 N. Walnut St. Here is a map:

Three houses where Lon Chaney lived during his childhood in Colorado Springs.

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LON CHANEY’S INSPIRING LIFE STORY DESERVES RECOGNITION is a post from: Side Streets

On Friday, I witnessed the birth of Colorado Springs’ own Lorax society.

OK. That’s not its actual name. And there were no truffula trees. Or brown Bar-ba-loots.

But this group would make Dr. Seuss proud.

It’s the new non-profit Palmer Tree Coalition and its mission is to protect and preserve the urban forest created by our own Lorax — Springs founder Gen. William Jackson Palmer.

Colorado Springs in the 1870s

When Palmer arrived in the Pikes Peak region in 1869, it was treeless prairie.

In the years after Palmer’s men drove the first stake to create Colorado Springs in 1871, his town company planted 10,000 trees, which ultimately led to neighborhoods today shaded under canopies of mature elms, oaks, ash and maple trees.

But the recent climate and economy have not been kind to Springs-area trees. Drought stressed the region’s trees, leaving them vulnerable to disease and beetle infestations, which decimated our urban forest.

In the past decade, thousands of trees died or were destroyed. Then the economy cratered, prompting city officials to reduce the parks budget to a stump.

“We are a friends group created to support the city forestry department,” said Nancy Strong, of the coalition. “We are encouraging people to plant and care for trees. We’re hoping to raise some funds and support city forestry and keep our urban forest thriving.”

Colorado Springs founder Gen. William Jackson Palmer encouraged pioneers to plant trees around the city after its founding in 1871.

It was only appropriate the group held its first fundraising effort on Friday. It was Arbor Day.

The group met in a park in the Middle Shooks Run neighborhood and celebrated the day by honoring 41 Columbia Elementary School students who wrote and illustrated essays about trees. Prizes of books and seedlings were distributed.

And there was a tree planting event, of course.

Finally, several coalition members sold several dozen trees for planting. Proceeds will help fund the coalition.

The trees were a variety of hackberry, catalpa and Kentucky coffee trees. Most were balled and bugged in burlap for planting along city streets.

The event kicked off what the coalition hopes will be an ongoing effort to sell trees. Anyone interested in learning more can email PalmerTreeCoalition@gmail.com or call 520-7679 for details..

“We’re trying to carry on the legacy of Gen. Palmer,” said Barbara Bates, one of the coalition members.

“We need trees,” she said. “Trees are so important to making this a human-friendly environment.”

Ever wonder what the Springs would look like without Gen. Lorax, I mean Palmer and his tree-planting vision?

Drive south toward Pueblo and imagine your house. Surrounded by dirt.

Nothing to provide shade. Nothing to stop the wind. To protect birds.

And no truffula fruits for the brown Bar-ba-loots.

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LORAX SOCIETY CARRIES ON WORK OF SPRINGS FOUNDER is a post from: Side Streets

Folks in Black Forest are proud of the unique, unincorporated community north of Colorado Springs where they live. It’s 100 square miles of hills, Ponderosa pines and meadows.

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Some are so proud the Black Forest History Committee put together a DVD, booklet and map of the Forest and its history.

I found it fascinating. Of course, it starts with Gen. William Jackson Palmer, the entrepreneur who came here after the Civil War, built Colorado Springs, the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad and just about everything else around.

Of course, his growing town and railroad needed lumber so, in 1870, he bought 43,000 acres in the Forest and started chopping down trees. Soon, there were 16 sawmills turning pines in railroad ties and construction materials.

Before they were through, the original forest was wiped out.

When the loggers left, pioneers remained and started building their community.

That’s where the DVD really gets interesting. When it starts talking about the people who stayed and the changes the area went through before it became one big suburb.

For example, it tells about Oliver Shoup, a sawmill executive who ended up governor of Colorado. A main east-west road is named in his honor.

There’s a story of the black, tufted-ear Abert squirrels seen commonly in the forest.

Did you know fox were raised in the Forest, until a U.S. trade agreement with Russia flooded the market with cheap furs and the industry collapsed? The exotic fox raised here were simply turned loose. They mated and produced some of the odd-color fox now seen in the region.

You’ll also learn about the people who settled in Black Forest and helped make it the place it is today such as beloved teacher Edith Wolford.

And then there are the photos, like those on this page. There is a story behind each.

The DVDs are $15. If you want to buy the one, contact Tery Stokka, of the history committee, at 495-0895 or email him at tstokka@juno.com. Proceeds support the committee and the Black Forest Community Center.

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TAKE A HISTORICAL TOUR OF BLACK FOREST is a post from: Side Streets

This is a farewell to Paul Butcher, the patron saint of neighborhood parks. And trails. And open space. 

He’s one of the good guys of government. It’s popular to bash bureaucrats. Don’t bash Butcher. 

In fact, next time you are riding one of Colorado Springs‘ many trails, or hiking open space, or just watching your kids play in a neighborhood park, take a sip from your CamelBak and toast Paul. 

From 1994 until he retired April 30, he directed the Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services Department. 

 During that time, he presided over the largest expansion of parks, trails and open space since Springs founder Gen. William Jackson Palmer was donating land up until his death in March 1909. 

Butcher benefited from passage in 1997 of a one-tenth of a percent sales tax to pay for acquisition, construction and maintenance of Trails, Open Space and Parks, or TOPS, which generates about $6 million a year. 

The numbers are impressive: 5,000 acres of open space acquired; 100 miles of trails built; 48 neighborhood parks added to the inventory; dog parks; skate parks; swimming facilities; spray grounds; countless ballfields, sports courts, playgrounds and picnic areas. 

Paul decided to retire after watching his department gutted by severe budget cuts. 

In 2007, his agency had 225 employees and a budget of $19.9 million. Today, it has 140 employees and a budget of just $6 million general fund dollars. It generates about half that amount. 

And the future looks grim. 

“If we stay on the course we’re on, there’s a complete inability to maintain the park system to the level we did five years ago,” Butcher said. “It would be foolhardy to build any more parks if the city is required to maintain them.” 

That’s because irrigation systems, grass, playgrounds are expensive. So are the people needed to mow them, empty trash cans and fix sprinklers and repair vandalism. 

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Paula and Paul Butcher kneel on the front row, on the right, surrounded by their family in this 2008 photo.

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“It was an opportune time to retire,” he said, explaining he will be maximizing his time with his wife, Paula, their six kids and four grandkids. 

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It can’t get much worse. Sure, the city could cut the remaining funds. But it would be foolish. Only about 12 people on staff are paid from the city general fund. The agency is doing the bare minimum at this point. 

Cutting more would jeopardize the $4 million it receives in lottery funds, which can only be used for parks. They can’t pay for someone to attend City Council meetings. Or for electricity. Or the water bill in the administration building. 

And there’s little to be gained, he said, from selling park property. Most parks have clauses in their deeds requiring them to remain parks or revert to the previous owners. 

“It would be very difficult to sell off parts of the parks system,” he said. 

So he is off to pursue his volunteer work, family life, daily runs with his lab, Shadow, and relax a bit. He considers the city’s acquisition in 2003 of the 789 Red Rock Canyon Open Space a highlight of his career. 

Read a 2007 story I wrote at this link. Here’s a map of the park. 

Here’s a look at the canyon in a 2004 photo by The Gazette’s Bryan Oller: 

NEIGHBORHOODS LOSE THEIR PATRON SAINT OF PARKS is a post from: Side Streets

Folks in the Ralwes Open Space Neighborhood want the Colorado Springs City Council to decide if the policy to encourage ”infill” development has any limits.

At Tuesday’s council meeting, they will ask the council to reject plans for the Horizon View subdivision. They argue the projec tis incompatible with the neighborhood, which sits along Mesa Road between Fillmore and Uintah streets.

Kristine Hembre, left, an allergy doctor, bought the five-acre property in 2006 and made plans, through her Elle Development Co., to tear down the existing house and replace it with five new houses on a modern cul de sac with a paved street, curbs and gutters, sidewalks and sewers.

Such amenities are unusual along that stretch of Mesa, where residents take pride in the rural feel of things. They don’t have curbs, gutters and sidewalks or paved driveways or even city sewer service. Here’s a look at the area from www.FlashEarth.com:

Rawles residents boast that they have preserved their area so well that Springs founder Gen William Jackson Palmer might still recognize it, a century after his death. According to legend, Palmer rode Mesa to get from his Glen Eyrie castle to Colorado Springs.

 Below is a page submitted by one of the neighbors:

So they are fighting the project on the basis that large homes on 20,000-square-foot lots would be incompatible with the surrounding rural feel of the neighborhood.

 Here’s a look at preliminary blueprints filed with the city:

The Colorado Springs Planning Commission gave the plan unanimous approval because it meets zoning and other requirements. And planners reason that it is exactly the kind of project the City Council wanted to encourage when it established a policy to encourage “infill” development.

The idea is for developers to look for vacant  land within established neighborhoods where houses or apartments can be built, rather than automatically building new subdivisions farther and farther out on the eastern edge of the city.

 But Rawles neighborhood leaders said the council should care about preserving the character of older neighborhoods.

You can read the entire file and see more blueprints here.

Here’s a closer look from FlashEarth at the property:

The Rawles Open Space is a 7.6-acre tract named for the former owners of the property. It was deeded to the Palmer Land Trust to preserve it. Another 19-acre tract nearby also is owned by the Trust, which works to secure conservation easements to preserve undeveloped land. Read about the Palmer Land Trust.

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DEVELOP OR PRESERVE? is a post from: Side Streets