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A house sits atop Iron Mountain above ManitouSprings. Colorado Springs and Manitou Springs have pitched in to buy the mountain - and the house - in an effort to preserve the land from development and connect miles of area trails. Courtesy of Steve Garufi
BY R. SCOTT RAPPOLD
THE GAZETTE
Manitou Springs will soon have the money to buy Iron Mountain and tear down the house that prompted a 19-year legal battle and that many believe mars the area’s landscape.
And hikers will soon have an unobstructed network of trails linking the west side, Red Rock Canyon Open Space, Manitou Springs and the Manitou Incline.
Tom McGee bought the land encompassing Iron Mountain in 1989, but the city declined to extend utilities for him to subdivide it for houses. So he built the infamous home perched on the 7,131-foot summit.
Last year, on the eve of a trial over his efforts to build a driveway, the city and McGee reached a deal for the city to buy the land in three parcels for $1.1 million.
Purchase of Iron Mountain, lower right, will help link Red Rock Canyon Open Space to Barr Trail, which leads up the east face of Pikes Peak. Dena Rosenberry, The Gazette
Manitou planning director Dan Folke said the city has spent $650,000 on two parcels, meeting the settlement timeline of buying 17 acres by Sept. 30, 2010, for $300,000 and 40 acres for $350,000 by Dec. 15.
The city is required to buy the remaining 42 acres by July 15 or McGee gets the land back and access for housing.
Manitou officials asked the Colorado Springs Trails, Open Space and Parks program, funded by a city sales tax, for $60,000 to help buy the remaining parcel. The TOPS Working Committee approved the expenditure, and the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board did likewise with a unanimous vote Thursday.
Officials said the expenditure wasn’t approved to improve the skyline but to connect area trails. The Paul Intemann Memorial Nature Trail is blocked by McGee’s property from extending from the Section 16 open space in west Colorado Springs to Barr Trail and the Manitou Incline.
“It really is a key piece and a key property to purchase in order to make all these trail connections take place between Colorado Springs, Manitou Springs and even up Ute Pass,” said TOPS manager Sarah Bryarly.
“All of a sudden the trail system in all of these communities is starting to come together and be linked up, which is huge for our region,” Bryarly said.
The western end of the Paul Intemann Memorial Nature Trail takes hikers nearly to Barr Trail, the Manitou Incline and links to the Ute Pass Trail. Dena Rosenberry, The Gazette
The $60,000 from TOPS will be combined with $50,000 from the City of Manitou Springs, $25,000 from a local foundation, and $397,500 from Great Outdoors Colorado, which uses lottery funds for parks and open space.
Folke said the grant won’t be awarded until December, but he has been assured it is near the top of the priority list.
Bryarly said the city and Manitou have co-funded projects before, including the purchases of land for Red Rock Canyon Open Space and Section 16, and they are cooperating on a plan to legally open the Incline. To comply with the TOPS ordinance, the city will be the legal owner of 5 acres.
Folke said there is a road that can easily be turned into a trail on Iron Mountain, and the public will be allowed access shortly after the purchase next summer.
The city will dismantle the house atop Iron Mountain in 2013. Preservation of an undeveloped Iron Mountain was a key factor in Manitou voters approving the city’s trails and open space tax, Folke said.
“It’s all coming together and we’re very excited about it,” he said.
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Contact R. Scott Rappold:
476-1605 Twitter @scottrappold
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