By Steve Plutt

Most of us are familiar with Woodland Park’s moniker as “the city above the clouds,” but at what point did it transform from the town of Woodland Park to the City of Woodland Park?

It all started in the early 1970s, when its population began to surge significantly. As that growth continued, it became clear that a careful evaluation of the government’s functions were required. This ultimately gave rise to the idea of “home rule” and the desire to become an actual “city.”

Prior to home rule, Woodland Park was a statutory town, which meant they were limited in planning their own destiny and had to operate under general state laws.

But a home rule charter city is a self-rule form of government that is grounded in the idea that its citizens should have the authority to determine how their local government is structured and how their local issues are addressed. In other words, Woodland Park would have their own “mini-constitution” with a lot of flexibility.

So it was in the very early 1970s that a home rule charter was proposed in Woodland Park, even going so far as setting up a Home Rule Study Committee” in 1972. That committee consisted of Mayor C. Kenny, and Councilmen Al Born and Jim Wolff, who were tasked with compiling information and sample charters to present to the full council.

The committee did present their findings to the full council, and their consensus was to continue looking into a home rule charter and to establish an official charter commission, which would be composed of nine community members who would then draft a proposed charter for submission to the electorate.

So the wheels were now in motion for Woodland Park to change from the title of “town” to become an official “city.” The local newspaper supported this effort and editorialized that they hoped voters will approve the charter for what they called a future of “control from within” for Woodland Park.

But naturally, there was opposition to this effort. Naysayers claimed that under home rule, the charter would introduce unnecessary complexity and bureaucracy. Letters to the editor claimed home rule would allow Council to arbitrarily raise taxes, bond the city without a vote, and deny the voters the right to initiatives and referendums. The list went on and on.

After almost two years since the first charter commission was established, a second — and later even a third — charter commission was established. The third commission, with a total of nine members, were advised that “this will be the biggest singular task in the history of Woodland Park, and certainly one of the most important.”

Finally, in the summer of 1975, the voters revealed their position on home rule at the ballot box. Out of at total of 206 registered voters, the tally was 114 FOR votes verses 92 NO votes.

Six days after the election, Mayor Carol M. Kenney took the election results to the secretary of state’s office in Denver for filing.

At that point, after 84 years as a statutory town, and by a narrow margin of 22 votes, Woodland Park officially became the newest city in the state of Colorado on June 9, 1975.

Six months prior to becoming a city, Woodland Park earned the designation as an official bicentennial community. The combination of those two things really made the upcoming 100^th anniversary of Colorado gaining statehood and America’s 200^th anniversary, a really big deal that the city wanted to celebrate in a grand way.

The Woodland Park Centennial-Bicentennial Festival Committee was formed and the city of Woodland Park held special events throughout the summer of 1976. Events such as the dedication of the new Centennial Community Center, the new gazebo erected in Memorial Park and the raising of the new city and centennial flags. There was a large parade down main street with a U.S. Air Force fly by.

Fishing contests were held, and dedication of the old Calaboose jail as it was officially declared a  Woodland Park landmark. Street dances were held right out on Midland Avenue. A Centennial-Bicentennial time capsule was buried at City Hall to be opened on the city’s 100^th birthday.

The celebration of our state and country’s birthday events that summer were unsurpassed and patriotism was everywhere in town that year. It will be interesting to see what the summer of 2026 brings as Woodland Park celebrates America and Colorado’s 250^th and 150^th birthdays!