The City’s ability to purchase 355 acres of open space inside the city is a fantastic, once in a lifetime opportunity.

Purchasing this open space by the city was first considered in the Mid-1990s, decades ago, but there was no funding to do so.

With the right vision, this will become a tremendous community asset for all of us to enjoy.

Walk with me and envision what this area could become:

• Numerous hiking trails, some in beautiful forest areas to include mountains and wildlife views.

• A large dog park and dog walking areas with trees and open space, safe from neighborhood traffic.

• Easy handicap access from parking lots to handicap trails like nothing else near us.

• A remodeled golf course hosting local and statewide high school golf tournaments.

• A golf course that is one of the most beautiful courses in southern Colorado, revamped to include golf for the kids.

• Scenic wetlands for wildlife, wildflowers, hummingbirds, butterflies, etc.; to be enjoyed by everyone.

• An event center for numerous special events held year-round.

• A sports bar and grill the likes of which you can’t find anywhere locally with big screen TVs and crowds enjoying the latest sports events with fantastic winter and summer views from this inside area.

• Chef prepared meals year-round, to include a once a week special with reservations mandatory to find a seat as it was years ago.

• Cross country skiing and sledding hills for the kids in the winter.

As a former Woodland Park planning commissioner, my vision for this area never included the extreme housing density approved by the city leadership when the master plan was approved. That master plan squeezed the maximum number of dwelling units possible in an area of this open space, requiring a huge amount of water to support it. All water rights for this entire area will now become part of the city’s infrastructure. Water is such an expensive issue for our city, the future value of the water rights alone could exceed the purchase price.

Without this purchase, a future developer could come in and destroy this area by turning it into more apartments, condos, or even another tiny home village or two. If that happens, each one of us would lose this open space forever.

With this purchase, the city can protect this area for our enjoyment … forever.

We can’t let this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity slip through our hands. We could own one of the most spectacular open spaces that I’ve seen anywhere during my travels to all fifty of these beautiful United States. Travels that included working on master planning and construction projects in many foreign countries.

It will be exciting for all of us to see this area transform from a golfers-only area to one that can be enjoyed by every single one of us.