IN PROGRESS: Southwest Downtown Urban Renewal

[Front_Range_Guy]

Progress on Southwest Downtown has been moving at a snails pace. America the Beautiful Park, Originally called Confluence Park, was completed a couple of years ago. Last summer the Julie Penrose Continuum Fountain was dedicated in the park. In the last month, the city gave the building labeled "remodeled gas building" on the rendering below, to the USOC. It will house some governing bodies. The remodel will include a giant screen overlooking the park, it will broadcast olympic events into the park. The 10 to 15 story Embassy Suites Hotel has not been scrapped, but the soil is contaminated, and has to be cleaned up. The city is having a hard time making that happen, and I think the developer, John Q. Hammons, is losing his patience.

Rendering from gazette.com

Below are photos of the Continuum Fountain in America the Beautiful Park. These photo's are from The City of Colorado Springs website at springsgov.com.

The developer of the proposed Pikes Peak Place also has a stake in Southwest Downtown. Nor'wood is planning a development called "Palmer Village" for the area. There is a rendering of their rather ambitious plans of the area on their website. It should be noted this rendering is close to a decade old now, and should be viewed as entertainment more than anything else.