For Mayor Annie Durham and the Cripple Creek City Council, the proposed donation of a 16-foot cedar totem pole for the heritage center posed a dilemma. After hearing a presentation on April 15 from Jon Zimmer, who recently completed the work, the council agreed to put the issue up for a vote at the May 6 meeting.

The donation would come with conditions, Zimmer said, with little or no cost to the city.  

“I ask that city employees come to my house (in Woodland Park) and pick up the totem on or before May 10, and take responsibility for installing the totem, with help from the fire department, or whatever,” Zimmer said. “I will be building a base for the work, which is approximately 30 inches tall, so the totem will be available by May 10.”

Joe O’Conor, chief of the Cripple Creek Fire Department, was on board and said his firefighters could help.

“This is an incredibly phenomenal and gracious donation, but I would like to hear from the staff on the practicality of making this happen,” Durham said.

Zimmer is in a time crunch as he plans to introduce the work June 19 during the Native American blessing that happens June 29 during the annual “Once Upon a Time in the West” art show.

In presenting the donation, along with a history and meaning of the ten individual totems, each with significance to Native American culture, Zimmer also thought the council would vote that evening.

However, Frank Salvato, the city administrator, said the issue of voting to approve, or not, had to be listed on the agenda. 

“It’s a state law,” he said to a visibly disappointed Zimmer.

Salvato added that the council must be able to go over the information, view the totem, and inform the public about the upcoming vote in May.

“I have questions about the weight; we don’t want people hurt trying to carry this thing,” he said. “We appreciate your donation; I think it’s a great thing for the city.”

Before the vote, Salvato agreed to confer with O’Conor and public works director Steve DiCamillo. “We’ll get a plan together, look at it, and see what they think about the weight,” Salvato said.

J.R. Gatlin was the only councilor who had seen the work.  Initially, Gatlin said, Zimmer was going to propose $17,000 for the totem but, instead, offered the piece as a donation.

“This is phenomenal,” Gatlin said, adding that he had measured the spot at the heritage center to test the transfer.  “It’s very simple. The only question is getting it from Woodland Park to Cripple Creek. I can take care of that.”

Before the vote in May, Salvato said the work must be included in the city’s insurance policy.

“Who knows what can happen?” he said.

Like Salvato, Durham wanted the details completed before the vote.

“I fully support it,” she said.