Colorado Springs native Jan Martin grew up in the Old North End, with Monument Valley Park as one of her favorite playgrounds. But one thing bugged her even then.
“I always wondered why we couldn’t go down to the water.”
Decades later, Martin is part of the charge to answer that question. She is now the board president of Pikes Peak Waterways, the 501(c)3 nonprofit that, along with the City of Colorado Springs and Colorado Springs Utilities, will be tasked with taking the COS Creek Plan from vision to implementation.
The plan, released in spring 2022, establishes a comprehensive decades-long vision for the future investments and stewardship of the Fountain Creek Watershed with a specific focus on segments of the Monument and Fountain creeks adjacent to downtown Colorado Springs. Along with addressing questions of what’s necessary for water and watershed quality, the plan also provides a framework for asking what’s possible. Will we be able to splash, tube or stand-up paddleboard in Fountain and Monument creeks? Will the Springs have a placemaking urban water park like Denver’s Confluence Park, Pueblo’s Riverwalk or other transformative water projects in U.S. cities?
Forming a Comprehensive Plan
In total, the COS Creek Plan consolidates dozens of projects across a 10-mile stretch through the heart of the city from Garden of the Gods Road-Austin Bluffs Parkway to the intersection of Shooks Run and Fountain Creek east of I-25 and South Nevada Avenue.
Fountain and Monument creeks, along with the broader watershed, have been the subject of dozens of smaller revitalization plans and studies through the decades, says Martin, who served on Colorado Springs City Council from 2007 to 2015. As part of the COS Creek Plan, 42 separate existing plans of various scopes and sizes were mined for valuable nuggets of information.
None of them were to the scale of the COS Creek Plan, which was born from Martin’s work with Lyda Hill Philanthropies. She, alongside Pam Shockley-Zalabak and Dolly Kast, received a grant from Lyda Hill Philanthropies to develop the COS Creek Plan along Fountain Creek.
“We thought, instead of a project here and there, could we take a step back to pool resources and craft a bigger vision? A vision that also allows you to pull new things in as you go?” Martin says.
A subsequent grant from the foundation put the COS Creek plan in motion, allowing the team to hire waterway experts from around the country — something else that sets this plan apart, Martin says. A consultant team, which included longtime local planning and landscape architecture firm N.E.S. Inc., crafted the plan.
What Do We Think About the Creek?
Chris Lieber, principal at N.E.S, is the project manager for the COS Creek Plan. For him, some of the long-term goals of the project include restoring the natural function of the creek, offering recreation opportunities, turning the creek into an economic catalyst, and placemaking.
“It’s about asking ourselves individually, what do we think about the creek? And what is it as a place of value and potential?” he says. “It can become a place that we take care of and value as a community — a place of hopefulness, where we value nature on par with the other special places in our region.”
Technical plan goals such as stormwater efficiency, groundwater rejuvenation and parts per million in water quality are paired alongside what Lieber calls fish, birds and kids.
- Fish: “Fish and the potential for fishing says a lot about water quality, health and how we take care of the watershed.”
- Birds: “The watershed is part of a riparian corridor. If the technical things are done well, that leads to a healthy bird habitat.”
- Kids: “If parents or caregivers are comfortable with bringing their child down to the creek to explore, that says a lot.”
Questions remain on multiple fronts. Lieber calls them the “elephants in the creek,” which include topics such as water quality, flash flooding, trash and debris, urban camping and funding.
“Those answers come systematically over time, but you have to start somewhere,” he says. “We’ve asked a lot of people if the status quo is acceptable. No one has said yes.”
Other communities have faced similar challenges with their waterways. Lieber and his team consulted with Denver (the South Platte River and Confluence Park), Pueblo (the Arkansas River and riverwalk), Breckenridge (the Blue River) and more to see how they answered questions surrounding implementation, generating funding and partnerships, and keeping a unique community identity throughout the work.
Most of the creek is owned by the City of Colorado Springs or Colorado Springs Utilities, making those partnerships — and the agreement to compete the plan — particularly valuable for Pikes Peak Waterways. But state and federal partnerships, such as with the Army Corps of Engineers, will also play critical roles.
It will be up to Pikes Peak Waterways to create and maintain those public and private partnerships on which the plan depends. The organization’s mission is the COS Creek Plan, and their job will include providing long-term stability, attaining sustainable funding sources from public, private and philanthropic sources, and serving as lead project communicator. The Greenway Foundation serves a similar purpose in Denver.
What and When Is Possible?
The primary COS Creek Plan focuses on eight new and revitalized parks. From north to south, they are:
- North Nevada Promenade and Pikeview Reservoir Park
- Gossage Park Adventure Playground
- Roswell Place
- Monument Valley Park and Centennial Neighborhood
- College Landing at Uintah
- America the Beautiful Park
- Drake Waterfront Reimagined
- Gateway Park South
America the Beautiful Park in downtown will be the first project on deck. It’s a logical starting point, Lieber says, because the confluence of Monument and Fountain Creeks is the heart of the watershed and just south of the existing park. The park’s original masterplan even identified connecting to the creek as a goal, which never happened. This would finish that task. One of the creek’s greatest drops in elevation occurs at America the Beautiful, so it would be an ideal spot for recreation such as fishing, tubing and stand-up paddleboarding.
“There’s a detailed design and public process still ahead, all representing their own significant amount of work and coordination,” says Lieber.
Full design for this phase of the project, including community engagement and securing funding, is set to be completed by the end of next year, with construction occurring in the following two years: 2026-27. The cost will be in the millions, says Martin.
But both Lieber and Martin hope the America the Beautiful project will serve as a very visible proof of concept, allowing the whole plan to gather momentum, partnerships and more funding.
“This is about getting partners on board, planting the seeds for funding, picking where to focus to get things going and showcase what’s possible throughout the watershed,” Lieber says. “Seeing the ATB project come to fruition will be one of the first key milestones.”
Beyond America the Beautiful, the order of completion for the other plan projects will be driven in large part by economics. That will be true not only by which projects receive funding, but also by the development that will occur in various economic zones once the creek work is complete, potentially helping to pay for creek projects.
“We want buildings and businesses facing the creek and embracing it,” Martin says. “Right now, if you look at the buildings, it’s the backs of the buildings facing the creek.”
The COS Creek Plan has good timing, according to Lieber. As downtown housing opportunities expand, more and more people are living or about to live in close proximity to the creek. Pair that with increased appreciation for water as a resource and valuable necessity for living in Colorado Springs, and you have people who are “ready for change and want to see the creek become a place that we care about.”
Learn more and download the plan at coscreekplan.org.
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