Rick Langenberg
The big $300,000-plus planning and economic development gamble in Cripple Creek is underway, so bet away–at least on paper.
Over the next six or so months, residents, business operators, casino employees, elected leaders, retirees and more will receive detailed glimpses of what the gaming community should look like over the next 20 years; or more specifically, what direction the town should take as she grows up in the mid-21st century and takes a real shot at becoming a destination area.
The list of possibilities is pretty endless and consists of ideas that have been mulled for years. Only now, the wish list may get solidified through the town’s most aggressive master plan effort ever proposed. It is being fueled by a record amount of state grants, and a hefty $100,000 plan donation from Full House Resorts, which owns the Chamonix Casino and Hotel and Bronco Billy’s. Much more is at stake for community leaders as they undertake the first real planning update since 2009.
“It is a very important project for our community,” said Cripple Creek Mayor Annie Durham, who sees the project as a good way to balance the need to maintain the town’s historic character, while exploring ways to expand its growth and tourism prospects. “It is a very exciting time to be mayor.”
Durham and other leaders are anxiously awaiting the results of a preliminary questionnaire and findings from early master plan gatherings.
Here is a glimpse of some preliminary visions and questions put on the planning tables during the plan kick-off period:
*Should Cripple Creek realize its potential as a heritage tourism, gaming site with a western-theme attraction, an entertainment amphitheater, big name country performers and an infusion of more events?
*Should the town foster its potential an outdoor mecca more with a network of ATV and mountain biking and hiking trails, and possibly a tubing, or ski hill, park enhancements, outdoor shops and maybe even a golf course?
*And more Importantly, the town must pursue an aggressive plan to spearhead more housing for a variety of different calibers for workers and for families wishing to move into the area.
This is just a brief snapshot of ideas unveiled recently at community and business engagement sessions, hosted by the main consultants for the project, Kimley-Horn, based in Denver. This company is taking the lead role in compiling the town’s first-ever economic development and tourism plan, along with doing a more conventional strategic comp plan update, often labeled as a master plan. Both projects will be done simultaneously, with the main initial focus dealing with the economic development and tourism component.
The proposed timeline calls for both of these plans, resulting in defined action recommendations submitted to the city council, to be completed by the end of 2025. That’s a pretty aggressive timeline compared to other master plans done in the region, but no other local town has generated the extent of grant and outside planning funds that Cripple Creek has obtained.
Initial community engagement sessions were done during the town’s fall festival and in a recent open house at the Chamonix resort. Plus, another engagement session was organized with local business owners. Another company, Leadline, is helping to coordinate the master plan effort.
Based on comments from early meetings, the idea of having more family-friendly events and festivals and doing additional western heritage tourism projects appears to be gaining the most support. But surprisingly, most residents agree unanimously on the need to spruce up Cripple Creek with more non-gaming and retail activity and historic attractions. The need to market and expand its recreational assets also is receiving many favorable tallies.
However, how to achieve these goals is still the missing ingredient.
“Cripple Creek is a pretty unique town,” admitted Blake Young, a planner for Kimley-Horn. He sees housing and infrastructure as the biggest challenges facing the town in obtaining its goal of becoming more of a destination area. He even sees similar challenges in their plan development as what they confronted in doing a big study for Kiowa, Colorado.
For right now, consultants and city officials have cited community input as their main goal in the plan’s initial stage. They have labeled their earlier forums as listening sessions, and didn’t have any formal presentations. However, the open house at the Chamonix was filled with plenty of informational charts, outlining the history of the town and highlighting its current financial challenges. A nearly 20-question survey is available on the city’s website, giving visitors and local residents a chance to weigh in the types of businesses, attraction and services they would like to see, and what type of growth they wouldn’t want.
“We really want to hear what the community has to say,” said Young.
The Next Steps
The consultants will do another open house within the next few months. At that time, they will do a more formal presentation and outline the conclusions rendered by most participants of their project.
The consultants, though, face one big obstacle in making it to the finish line: overcoming the lack of success with past master plans and even in the city’s own mega-tourism attempts
Past master plans in Cripple Creek have pretty much gathered dust.
And Cripple Creek leaders have taken a mighty stab or two at compiling mega-tourism bids on both the west and east-sides of town. Both of these were proposed by previous administrations near the Mollie Kathleen Gold Mine and the Mt. Pisgah Cemetery respectively. Both efforts, though, hit some tough political winds, and garnered a considerable amount of opposition. One of these was even proposed by the city’s former mayor, Ed Libby. Many locals at the time just believed they were too elaborate for Cripple Creek.
Young conceded that developing some type of tourism project or way to lure more visitors will definitely be considered in the forthcoming plan.
