DDA Foots the Bill for New Stage Coach Sculpture

~ by Bob Volpe ~

The Woodland Park Downtown Development Authority (DDA) has approved the purchase of a new art sculpture and signature piece, with the intent of reinforcing the town’s western, mountain image.

They were able to complete the art acquisition with the help of outside financial support and with board member donations.

The sculpture is a life-size metal stagecoach being pulled by two horses. The original asking price for the sculpture was $10,500, but DDA Board Member Nick Pinell negotiated the price down to $8,000, by dropping his sales commission.

At last week’s DDA monthly meeting, Pinell noted that, without asking, several donations have been pledged to offset the cost. The Woodland Park Mountain Arts Council donated $1,000, and Board Member and owner of the Ute Inn, Elijah Murphy donated an additional $1,000. Board Member Ellen Carrick also donated $250.

The donations pledged so far have already dropped the cost of the piece to $6,500. Pinell said, “I would have liked to put off the purchase until all the donations are collected, but there is a time constraint on the ability to lock in the piece.”

The board agreed that other businesses and residents would also begin to chip in money as soon as they start asking for donations and hope those donations will cover the entire cost of the sculpture before
long.

Murphy said, “This fits with our mountain culture and western theme.”

The board voted to make the purchase with the only no vote coming from City Council Liaison to the DDA, Kellie Case.

The sculpture was installed last Friday and is now available for public viewing.

City Cleanup and Woodland Station

In other DDA news, the board talked about how well the city cleanup effort is going and thanked all the volunteers who turned out to clean up the district.

The hanging flower baskets are expected to arrive and be installed by June 15 as another item in the DDA’s ongoing effort to beautify downtown.

The discussion then turned to Woodland Station. The board reported that the trees planted are growing nicely, the grass planted is doing well and is now in need of mowing.

The DDA is also seeking a permanent administrative assistant. The job opening was put out several weeks ago and the DDA has received three applications so far for the position. The date has been set for interviews on June 11.

Finally, the board announced a special workshop with the city council to discuss the DDA’s proposed amendment to the original Woodland Station disposition and development agreement