Kayak Course Gets Bumpy Reception

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The Pueblo Chieftain Online Page 2 of 3 s Walker said he is getting tired of city excuses about why the park cannot be maintained. He said he has been told that parks workers are seasonal, then too busy in summer to attend to the kayak course. Holes remain along the side of the course where fill dirt - although course designers recommended concrete - washed out this spring. Signs have been vandalized, removed from posts and in some cases cut down and thrown in the river. Motorcycles frequently race along a dirt access road that's supposed to be part of the city's trail system. 'We've been down there with shovels and rakes, cut weeds, hauled out tires and shopping carts," Walker said. "But the parking lot above Fourth Street has broken glass, graffiti and weeds five feet tall." A couple of weeks ago, someone used a chain to rip open a gate that's supposed to keep motorized vehicles out of the park, and Walker replaced it with a cable, which remains on the entrance off Fourth Street. Walker and other Pueblo Paddlers club members used their own mowers and weed cutters just to keep up appearances for last weekend's events. "Until we can get the city to take this more seriously, so they realize it's not just 50 guys splashing around, but 30 people who come here to eat at local restaurants, stay at hotels and go home and talk about it. People from Salida and Colorado Springs are telling me, "If this was in our city there would at least be picnic tables,' " Walker said. ' "The federal money is going to waste if the city doesn't support it." The course is important to the city, said City Manager Dave Galli. "It's obviously on our maintenance schedule, along with a lot of other things," Galli said, pointing out the area is not alone in its problems with graffiti, weeds, trash and vandalism. "It would be nice if people in the community would respect not only the federal, state and local money in the project, but also the blood, sweat and tears put into the kayak course and city trails by volunteers." After hearing Walker's concerns, Galli said he planned to set up a meeting with several city officials and the Paddlers to discuss how the course could be better maintained. The kayak course, located between Fourth Street and Santa Fe Avenue in Downtown Pueblo, was funded through federal, state and local grants. It cost about $1.5 million to construct as part of a $7.5 million Arkansas River Legacy Project and opened in 2005. The city is still planning to spend $750,000 to improve the trail and build a plaza at the trailhead, but the project is tied to completion of the new Fourth Street Bridge in about three years. The access road needs to remain open until that time. http : / /www.chieftain.com /print.php ?article= /metro /1190700074/4 9/25/2007