GENERAL55828 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

Two-sided mining legacy lays .bare cost of city growth By dtry Naaen/Garette Telegraph olorado Springs hu been called "Ne city wiN a scar." Thet'e a label many residents desper- ately wanted to avoitl. Bu[ Ne city hu prospered in Ne peat 90 years, having tratled slices of Iv beauty for progress. What began u one scaz became Nree - Ne Snyder, Queen a Canyon and Pikevlew quazries m the foothills west of Ne city. The removal of out amounb o[ limesmae literally paved the way for the city's growth since the late 19605. ' Cutle Concrete Co.'s most tmgibk contribu- tiore to Ne community - streets, eidewaBcs, foundation, curbs and gutters -ere law-level things Nat people take for granted. ' But no one can miss the seen on the foothBls. Even back N lgfi0, the scarB prompted Secre- taryo( [he Inurior S[ewazt Udall to call Colo- redo SDrutgs "[he city wM a xaz." The xan remain m enduring monument [o a cost-benefit ratio pitting ecorwmtca ageinsl the environment. Although the controversy over [he quarries hu cooled, theca still is disegceement ovtt which side of [he ratio wan ' The company estimates that 90 million ton of limestone hu been cemoved from the hells to Ne west -enough to build stout-lane road about 1,000 tmles long. But nearly all of the quarries yieltl hu been used locally for streets, sid¢walW and founda~ lion. "It's reel good foe the city, but people don't like to xe that pointed out," Qurenb Canyon Foreman Greg French said. The best rock ills for about 310 a [on, he said, watching a loaded [ruck leave [Ae quarry. "People don [realize the[ if fins quarry wun [ here, it would be S20 or 330 a [an." •Much of the cos[ in the bu+ineu u N trans- porting Ne product. So the rock's proajmity [o the city hu been atlvan[ag¢oua to N¢ company and couumen. Gordon Morgan, who supervLxs Castle's quar- rying operatimu, has devoted 27 years to mining the hills. "The Av Academy - that'e~why thu wu all started. To provitle aggregate for [he Air Farce Academy;' Morgan recalls. Mark Belfner, Cutleb reclamation expert, noted that slmdar limestone depoain ere right behind [he xademy. "But naturally, nobody wanted [he remahu of a limestone quarry be- hind the AU Fortt A<ademy." Instead, gouges w¢re made N hBLsldes closer [o the <I[y, over the objections of many. For Nem, the seen represent an important baNe Inst. Moe[ noticeable Is Ne Queen's Canyon quarry, tnN I V angular. naked edges above and vertical cliffs blow. AI[haugh [he reclatmtd vN is ter- raced, i[ appeam flat, much like a landing etrip- "I'm Bull heartsick about I[," sold PNI Arkow. See QW1PItlF3/F2