New vision proposed for downtown Colorado Springs includes beaches for tubing, boating

What if visitors to America the Beautiful Park could wander down to a beach alongside Monument Creek to soak up the sun and dip their toes in the water?

Renderings presented to the Colorado Springs City Council on Monday showed that kind of idyllic vision for America the Beautiful Park and four other sites along Monument and Fountain creeks that could be transformed into community gathering places. 

Lyda Hill Philanthropies granted about $800,000 to the visioning project for the creeks that started in 2020. To help the ideas come to fruition, a new nonprofit called the Fountain Creek Watershed Corp. is now getting started and it will work closely with the city on the efforts, said former City Councilwoman Jan Martin, who was involved in the leadership team for the plan and is now helping to found the nonprofit. 

Kayaking down Fountain Creek? It could be part of the re-imagined look for Colorado Springs creeks

The plan envisions healthier creeks with habitats that would serve fish and birds and provide welcoming beaches for kids and their caregivers, said Chris Lieber, a principal with N.E.S., a landscape architecture company that worked on the project. 

"Fish, birds and kids. We think that’s what success could mean on a very tangible level," he said.

The analysis looked at Monument Creek from Popcycle Bridge near West Van Buren and Wood Avenue south to the confluence near America the Beautiful Park and along Fountain Creek from the confluence to the intersection of South Tejon and Interstate 25. 

Along that stretch, the plan identifies five park sites with new adjacent private development, such as apartment complexes or office space that could help pay for the redevelopment. To make room for parks, construction would remove levees along the creek to allow for features such as beaches, lawns and trails next to the water. Dropping down into the creek bed could also help reduce noise from nearby I-25, Martin said. 

The first project could be in America the Beautiful Park, where a berm separating the creek from the park could be removed and allow for the construction of a beach and terraces where visitors could watch tubers and boaters float down the creek. Boating could be made possible by the confluence of the two creeks near the park that increases the amount of water flowing downstream, Lieber said. 

The site selection process for the first project is not finished, but America the Beautiful Park is a good candidate because of the recreational opportunities, Martin said. The berm adjacent to the creek has asbestos in it, an issue that has halted work in the past and would need to be mitigated, she said.  

Another more short-term project would be near South Tejon Street and I-25, where tubers and boaters that left America the Beautiful Park could take their craft off the water. A new sloped lawn could lead down to the water and a pedestrian bridge could cross the Fountain and lead to the Ivywild neighborhood. 

One of the mid-term projects envisions replacing the Colorado Springs Utilities Fontanero Service Center with a new neighborhood and putting in a new river beach and plaza for residents. 

"Can we do better as a community along our creek than perhaps the places we change the oil on our vehicles?" Leiber said. 

Another mid-term goal is to improve Monument Creek near Colorado College so that it is more inviting for students to enjoy. For example, development could add a new amphitheater and pedestrian bridge. 

The long-term project is likely redeveloping the waterfront near the Drake Power Plant that is slated for demolition. Like the other sites, the plan envisions a welcoming set of terraces and beach. 

Colorado Springs City council members lauded the ideas for the creeks and promised to help bring them to fruition. 

"I could not be more thrilled," Councilwoman Nancy Henjum said. 

One of the first steps the city could take is adopting a formal master plan for the creeks that could have more detail and community input than the initial vision, city officials said.  

Martin said she hoped the first project could be underway in two to three years with the help of numerous partnerships, particularly Colorado Springs Utilities because it owns much of the land along the 8-mile corridor. 

Water in the creeks is, of course, key to the plan and Colorado Springs Utilities has control over that as the water provider in town, she said. 

"We just don't know from a climate perspective what to expect. We do believe as of today there is enough water," she said.  

For more information, visit coscreekplan.org.