Midweek in Colorado Springs

[Front_Range_Guy 0]

2007 is turning out to be a pretty exciting year in Colorado Springs. Years of planning and discussion are finally turning in to action.

Two exciting projects currently underway on the northern fringes of downtown at the southern edge of the Colorado College campus are the Fine Arts Center expansion and the construction of CC's new Cornerstone Arts Center.

The Fine Arts Center is one of Colorado Springs best known and succesful cultural institutions.

The Cornerstone Arts Center is going up across the street. It is going to be a very unique addition to the city.

I think both of these projects, upon completion, are going to be very good for Colorado Springs.

Further south in the core of downtown, demolition of the old Trailways Terminal building is nearly complete. 20-Stories worth of mixed use are supposedly going to be built at this site in a project dubbed "Pikes Peak Place."

New office condos are going up at Pikes Peak and Wahsatch.

This recently renovated building is getting a new paint job.

You can add "Blondies" to the list of nightclubs on Tejon Street. They are putting on the finishing touches.

Mmm... hamburgers made in a purple castle.

The Fine Arts Center has a second location in the heart of downtown, on the ground floor of a 13-Story office building. They call it "Fine Arts Center Modern." Most people call it "FAC Modern."

This guy never looks like he's having any fun. The Pioneers Museum is in the background.

People milling about in front of Starbucks.

This lady was singing her heart out. The kids across the street were mocking her. It was kinda sad.

Finally, the homeless congregating in Acacia Park.

Not pictured is a massive demolition project currently underway on the southwest side of downtown. The Historic Metso Minerals warehouses are coming down for a new 12-block renovation project dubbed "Citygate." South of citygate, a mid-rise hotel and several multi-level residential structures are expected to break ground around America The Beautiful Park this year. No groundbreaking date has been set for Pikes Peak Place, but the adjacent "Cooper Tower" also expected to be around 20-Stories, is expected to break ground towards the end of 2007.

[timbucktuna 0]

great photos! i cant wait till things start taking shape. i'll definately be there with my camera to document the progress!

[MJLO 612]

Wow FRG, I had no idea how cool Colorado Springs is downtown. Thanks for the pics

[Front_Range_Guy 0]

Yeah... well... as long as Focus on the Family keeps their headquarters 15-miles north of downtown in a suburban office park, Colorado Springs will never be anything but a lifeless, hate filled suburb in the rest of the worlds eyes. It's amazing how much damage a single organization can do. No matter. I'll just keep posting pics and articles and let the reality of downtown and the west side speak for themselves. As for the suburban area's? Not my thing. I'm not going to bother with them. I'm more interested in building up and protecting downtown than I am with b*tching about the suburbs.

You don't really realize how much ground downtown covers until you try to photograph it all. I still want to cover the Citygate demolition site, I'd like to get down into The Mill Street Neighborhood, over by Boulder Crescent Park and Monument Valley Park, plus the Knob Hill Neighborhood in east central Colorado Springs... Colorado Springs music scene struggles, most talent that comes out of the springs ends up in Fort Collins or Denver, but a place called "The Black Sheep" in Knob Hill is emerging as a kind of a new epicenter for the music scene here. Tons of local performances each week and the place is even landing some bigger names, Daughtry is performing there this week.

[dgreco 1]

demo pictures are always fun thanks for posting.