Author: Daniel Chacon
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City Council agrees to spend $21,500 for temporary USOC mural
In an effort to make its sponsorship of the U.S. Olympic Committee pay off, Colorado Springs is spending more than $21,500 on a temporary mural to promote the city as the home of champions. The city earned the right to brand itself as the “official hometown” of the USOC and use its world-renowned 5-ring logo…
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Memorial consultant costing additional $250,000
Memorial Health System is paying Chicago consultant Larry Singer an additional $250,000 for his work with the commission and task forces that have been studying the hospital’s future. Singer was initially hired by the Memorial citizens’ commission last year on a $285,000 contract to provide guidance as it weighed possible options for the hospital. That…
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Sell, lease or do nothing? Memorial has some options
What to do with Memorial? For months now, the future of the city-owned hospital system has been the subject of debate, both on the Citizens’ Commission on Ownership and Governance of Memorial Health System and in the community at large. Often the debate is phrased as “selling off Memorial,” but selling the hospital is not…
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Liquor board revokes Syn Nightclub’s license
The downtown hotspot that began life as Club Eden will end it as Syn Nightclub. Judgment Day came in the form of a unanimous vote by the city liquor board Friday evening to revoke Syn Nightclub’s license to sell alcohol, all but ensuring the club’s patrons — and their problems — will move elsewhere. “They’re…
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What to do with Memorial Hospital? Community panel will weigh options
More than a century ago, a hospital with eight beds and two nurses opened in a wooden house on Institute Street east of downtown Colorado Springs. Since then, that hospital has evolved into Memorial Health System, a half-billion-dollar-a-year-business with two sprawling campuses, 4,122 employees, nearly 30,000 annual admissions and the busiest emergency room in Colorado.…
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El Pomar chief says foundation stepped in to save USOC deal
Two weeks before a critical fundraising deadline last year in the city’s deal with the U.S. Olympic Committee, Mayor Lionel Rivera had raised just a fraction of the $3 million needed. So he, again, turned to the El Pomar Foundation. And it agreed to ante up the full $3 million to meet a Nov. 18…
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CITY BUDGET: Salaries chew up millions for Colorado Springs
CITY FINANCES: This is the first story in The Gazette’s six-day examination of Colorado Springs finances. Stories through Friday this week will examine spending on public safety, parks, road paving, transit and the government’s main sources of revenue. UPDATE: See a database that allows you to search for the names, titles and salaries of city…
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36 cops, 22 firefighters told jobs in jeopardy
Three dozen police officers and 22 firefighters have been told they will lose their jobs if Colorado Springs officials hold firm on plans to cut department budgets next year to cover a projected $23 million shortfall. Julie Stone, spokeswoman for the Fire Department, said in a message that Fire Chief Steven W. Cox met with…
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City to pay millions more to keep USOC headquarters in town
In their latest attempt to keep the U.S. Olympic Committee from moving its headquarters out of Colorado Springs, city officials Thursday unveiled a revamped, $53 million incentives package to provide the sports organization with new downtown offices and upgrades to its local Olympic Training Center. The agreement is expected to require taxpayers to ante up…
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Rivera known for caution before ethics flap
Colorado Springs Mayor Lionel Rivera is smart, his colleagues say. He’s got a master’s degree in business administration, but it’s his dozen years on the City Council that colleagues say give him perspective and an understanding of city issues.He’s dedicated to the point he’s been seen walking to City Hall at 6 a.m., briefcase in…