In southern Colorado, a hub of historic industry could be transformed into a major hub of river recreation. 

This is the possibility of Cañon City’s Riverfront Initiative centered on 22 acres being called Western Gateway Park, the former site of a coal-fired power plant built in 1897 on the western edge of town off U.S. 50. 

Black Hills Energy demolished the plant in 2014. Years of cleanup, analysis and talks with local officials resulted in the city pursuing the property in a deal that was finalized this summer. That was while City Planner Patrick Mulready worked to hire a consultant specializing in waterfront redevelopment.

And now the city is taking public feedback on the future of the property, following a recent open house that formally kicked off a master plan. 

The future will indeed be up to the public, Mulready emphasized. As for what he foresees? 

For one, “a launchpoint” for a previously dreamed riverwalk connecting to nearby Centennial Park and downtown. 

“And No. 2, I see this being key to this whole western entrance into the city,” Mulready continued. “Whether you’re coming off the river or coming along Highway 50 after visiting the Royal Gorge, it’s gonna be something visually identifiable that says, ‘You are here. You’ve entered Cañon City, and this is a place that’s not like anywhere else.'” 

It’s a place that has been steadily reimagining itself. 

“It’s taken a very long time,” said Bob Hamel, executive director of the Arkansas River Outfitters Association, which has represented shops guiding trips through the rapids of the Royal Gorge.

Hamel noted Western Gateway Park’s proximity to the Colorado Territorial Correctional Facility, one area prison lending to the city’s reputation. “It kinda fits Cañon,” Hamel said of the location. “Definitely embrace being the prison capital, but there’s been a big switch in town.”

There have been proclamations by land over the years ー expanding trail systems that have put Cañon City on the mountain biking map.

Western Gateway could be a proclamation by water. 

Said Andy Neinas, the owner of Echo Canyon River Expeditions who has been around the Arkansas for nearly 40 years: “You know when you’re building a puzzle and you can’t find that damn piece in the middle? It’s like this is that really big piece to a larger picture.” 

A larger picture was painted in the 2017 Arkansas River Corridor Master Plan. 

That plan identified the old power plant grounds across from the former site of Skyline Steel, and it identified other old industrial sites spotting shores beyond. The plan called for new riverfront zoning. 

“Restaurants and retail shops and upper-story offices, hotels and condominium units ー all that would be facing the river,” Mulready said. “And we in fact adopted riverfront zoning in 2019. We just haven’t applied it anywhere yet.” 

One “lynchpin,” he said, is Acorn Petroleum, which owns property eyed for such redevelopment. A local businessman owns another property that was once home to an ice plant. 

And then there’s the property once home to a power plant.

“I see this particular property potentially being a catalyst,” Mulready said. 

Heading nonprofit river steward Royal Gorge RIO, Chris Moffett sees another possibility: “validation for commercial outfitters who have been operating in the area since the ’80s, and they have not had great access.”

He was referring to a proper takeout for rafts. Outfitters have long bussed customers from a site under a private lease. This is partly why Neinas has eyed the old power plant grounds “for a very, very long time,” he said. 

Yes, up and down the 22 acres, he has foreseen a place where both commercial buses and private boaters converge. As has Moffett, who has looked to another southern Colorado venue that this summer turned the heads of river enthusiasts from afar: “The new whitewater park in Pueblo is a great example of what this could become.” 

It could be a place for fishing, he added. A place for a river introduction and for cycling youth. Others have thought about “a junction of a major trail system,” Mulready said. 

First and foremost, Neinas said: “It’s a riparian corridor. … Habitat, wildlife, recreation and in that order.” 

But conservation and recreation will be costly and logistically challenging, he recognized. 

“You’ve still got an electrical substation that Black Hills Energy owns,” Mulready said. “You’ve still got a railroad that runs along the north side of the property. And you’ve got a hydrologic ditch that goes through there.” 

The Oil Creek Ditch Co.’s historic water right will be “a big factor in terms of constraints and what you can and can’t do,” he said. “We want to make sure their interests are heard and understood, and that the plan doesn’t interfere with their historic right and, for that matter, the demand their customers have for agricultural purposes.” 

As for funding, Mulready said grants have covered the project to date and more would be sought going forward. 

“Not a lot of Colorado communities have this kind of opportunity,” he said. “We’re hoping grant sources are looking at the fact that the river is a unique asset.” 

A plan is anticipated next summer, following more public input and decisions by the Planning Commission and City Council. Mulready said early concepts will be presented at an open house eyed for Feb. 19, with time and place still to be determined and posted later.