Issuu

WEEK OF MAY 15, 2025

VOLUME 53 | ISSUE 49

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

UPDATE ON ECHO LAKE LODGE

$2 THE SPOTLIGHT IS ON ‘CREEK CRAFT’

SKI LEGEND HEADS INTO P5 SOCCER BIZ

P15

Public works director placed on leave Action happened after complaints to city leaders BY CHRIS KOEBERL CKOEBERL@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

support of a skate park. Idaho Springs Mayor Chuck Harmon said he’d never seen anything like it. “I was floored that the young people were that passionate,” Harmon said. “They had big dreams not even knowing where the money would come from. It’s just shocking, and they ended up being

Idaho Springs Public Works Director Paul Crain was placed on paid administrative leave in late April by City Administrator Andrew Marsh and an investigation has been launched into what Marsh said were “multiple concerns with Paul and his behavior.” The precipitating incident occurred April 29 when heavy equipment contractors/ operators started to scrape the top asphalt away on Idaho Street in preparation of replacing a main sewer line. The new line is going in as part of the Field House apartment complex construction on the former GoldDigger Stadium. There are several homes that either face or back up to the 1000 block of Idaho Street in the area where the asphalt was removed and hauled away. One of those homes is owned by Amy Ward, a local artist and teacher who has meticulously kept the property planted and surrounded with a variety of colorful flowers for the six years she’s lived there. On April 29, the heavy equipment working in the area drove over at least a 20-foot section of the flowers Ward tended to for years on the outside of her fence. The Courant confirmed, through multiple sources, Crain was on-site at the time and gave contractors the OK to drive over the plants as part of their work. For Ward, the repercussions of that snap approval came with emotional consequences. “It feels like a loss. It’s a loss that can’t be replaced,” Ward said. “It feels like one of those things that other people can’t see. It might not look like much, but it’s really important to me.” Ward and adjacent property owner Kim

SEE SKATE PARK, P14

SEE LEAVE, P7

Clear Creek Metropolitan Recreation District General Manager Cameron Marlin’s reaction to breaking ground on new skate park in Idaho Springs PHOTO BY CHRIS KOEBERL May 2.

Years of work pay off for skate park in Idaho Springs Group of Idaho Springs kids, rec center break ground on a $2 million skate park BY CHRIS KOEBERL CKOEBERL@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Construction on a multimillion-dollar, state-of-theart skateboard park in Idaho Springs is underway — and a bunch of kids made it hap-

pen. It’s been more than four years since a group of young boarders in Idaho Springs, tired of being chased off of private property or riding poorly constructed ramps and rails, had an idea: “Why

don’t we build our own skate park here in town?” They were serious, and a short time later they formed what would become the “Skate Board” of Idaho Springs. The group lobbied city council members and would often show up in numbers to speak or support initiatives before council regarding the idea or potential grants in

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