Imagine a clean, green Cache la Poudre corridor

FORT COLLINS – Western rivers have long provided humans with food, drink and transport routes. In Northern Colorado, they have make farming possible on what amounts to high desert. And since the first tourists arrived to ogle the Rockies, rivers have provided visitors with abundant recreational opportunities. What rivers have not done until recently is serve as prized urban amenities.

Throughout Colorado, river revitalization projects have ranged in scale from the small in communities including Estes Park, Golden and Steamboat Springs to the grand Historic Arkansas Riverwalk in Pueblo. When people linger longer on the banks of urban waterways, everybody benefits.

In its own way, the reinvention of the Cache la Poudre River corridor is as major an undertaking as projects by bigger cities with bigger rivers. The engineering requirements, the building of infrastructure, the reclaiming of park space and negotiating with stakeholders are always complicated. Above all, it takes time to reverse the decades of neglect that turn rivers into sorry habitats for anything with fins or feet.

To grasp the magnitude of the Poudre project and appreciate the commitment of developers who first test the waters, all just take a stroll north on Linden Street down to the river. From Old Town, cross Jefferson Street and the railroad tracks. To the right are the Open Door Mission, Mawson Lumber and El Burrito. To the left is the Jefferson Street Park, the former Sears Trostel building and the Northern Colorado Feeder’s Supply. The scene has a monochrome quality about it.

The job of the River Team has been to imagine what would happen if the corridor went green.

The River Team is on the case

Recognizing that the Poudre (Colorado’s only National Wild and Scenic River in its canyon course) was a natural extension of the Old Town experience, the Fort Collins City Council initiated a program to develop the Downtown River Corridor Implementation Program in 1998. The thinking was that while everybody wanted to rescue the Poudre and develop its environs, nothing got done because nothing was coordinated.

“For one thing, we were unable to tell developers what they would need to do in terms of infrastructure,´ said Timothy Wilder, city planner and member of the River Team. “We had no design for the streets, and there was a negative perception about what contamination risks there might be. By next year, we will be able to give developers the information they need.”

Wilder acknowledged that a measured planning process has been difficult for people who, like Bill Sears, are eager to move along with development. However, some big pieces of the corridor plan are now in place, including the Oxbow Levee, which alone adds significant development potential to the area.

“The Oxbow Levee was the big project on the river corridor designed and built to protect people in the Buckingham neighborhood from a hundred-year flood,´ said Jim Hibbard, water operations and engineering manager for Fort Collins Utilities. “FEMA (the Federal Emergency Management Agency) still has to approve the new maps that change the floodplain designation.”

Hibbard added that in addition to the purely practical application of flood protection, the levee was designed with a second purpose: to allow for restoration of the river.

“We set the levee back from the river a little so that there would be room to reestablish habitat,” he said. “It’s possible to put the bike path up on the levee, and we have enough room to develop a wetlands area.”

The dual purpose of the levee is likely to suit both those who have an interest in preserving the natural habitat and those who are creating plans for development along the Oxbow.

“A nice walk to the river down Linden Street from Old Town could boost the city’s revenues in a sustainable way,´ said Phil Cafaro, professor of philosophy at CSU and author of “Thoreau’s Living Ethics: Walden and the Pursuit of Virtue.” “The Poudre is an important recreational asset for Fort Collins; we can do right by ourselves and by nature.”

Cafaro added that capitalizing on the river in ways that diminish it makes a poor investment.

“If we use the river in ways that enhance it, it will just keep on giving,” he said.

Good stewards

Fortunately, two of the major property owners along the Oxbow – New Belgium Brewery and philanthropist Pat Stryker – have a long history of good stewardship.

“We own six acres along the Oxbow,´ said Bryan Simpson, in charge of public relations for New Belgium Brewery. “We are considering putting a structure on that land, but we will maintain the integrity of the landscape, even the big cottonwood trees. We like the trees, even though in June we look at them as a mixed blessing.”

He noted that there were no plans to take New Belgium’s beer garden atmosphere al fresco.

With more than twice the acreage of New Belgium, plus the old Matrixx building and its ample off-street parking, the Stryker Cos. have over the past months floated the idea of creating a music venue along the Poudre. Everyone seems to have an opinion on what kind of venue it should be, but Pat Stryker and her advisors have given few clues beyond a Spock-like description of the venue creating “an environment in which the regional arts community will arise and prosper.”

“There is no firm schedule for development, there is no design team on board, and there have been no permits pulled,´ said Susanne Durkin-Shindler, who consults with the Stryker Cos. “In this case, Pat wants to leave room for input from the primary stakeholders. It’s what the city calls ‘systematic development of informed consent.'”

What eventually develops on Stryker’s Oxbow property will most certainly work in concert with plans on the city’s agenda, some of which are already complete, including the levee, a contamination assessment and the Udall Nature Area restoration. The proposed kayak course is on hold, but has city support.

Clean, green and redeveloped

Then there is the concept plan that offers a clear picture of how the segue from Old Town to the river via Linden Street might look: clean, green and redeveloped, but not prescriptive. “The city is in response mode,´ said Wilder.

“We don’t want to require anything; we want projects to be supportable by the marketplace. Maybe housing, or a live/work situation like the area around the new Bas Bleu (theater).”

Wilder is also clear about the money necessary to move the plan along.

“It will cost $4 million to do the cleanup on the river,” he said. “We’re looking for funding.”

Other major expenses outlined in the 2000 Downtown River Corridor Implementation Program include about $10 million for Linden, Willow and Lincoln streetscape improvements.

Meanwhile, the Buckingham neighborhood is safe. Bas Bleu is presenting plays in what used to be a machine shop between Linden Street and Vine Drive. Lofts are on the way. There is music in the air. And sometime in the near future it will be possible to take a nice walk with the kids down to the river to listen to the birds that think the Poudre is just a grand place to nest.

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