Answers: Bancroft cabin window, Hwy 24/Ridge work, old bowling alley

Answers: Bancroft cabin window, Hwy 24/Ridge work, old bowling alley

Sometime this winter, an unknown person broke out the window at the back of the Garvin Cabin. (Note the broken glass on the floor inside.) A metal grate prevents entry. The window was still unrepaired as of Jan. 25, but it's reportedly on the City Parks maintenance list.

Westside Pioneer photo

Jan. 25, 2018
       The following questions have presented themselves in recent weeks about three Westside subjects:
       - How long will the window at Bancroft Park's historic Garvin Cabin remain broken?
       - Why have there been massive piles of dirt, large pipes and other activity for over a year at three of the four corners of Highway 24 and Ridge Road?
       - Is anything happening with the former Bear Creek Lanes bowling alley site at 1232 S. 21st St.?
       The Westside Pioneer looked into these questions, and we now have answers!
       BANCROFT CABIN: The broken window in the back of the cabin was revealed in a citizen comment at the Jan. 11 Bancroft Park public meeting, hosted by Colorado Springs Parks staff. Noting in late January that repairs had not yet been made, the Pioneer followed up with Kurt Schroeder, City Parks' maintenance and operations manager.
       Schroeder said Jan. 25 that a replacement is in progress; however, glass will not be used this time. In what would certainly have been a marvel to Dr. James Garvin, who helped build the cabin in 1859 and practiced medicine there, the new window will be

With a Red Rock Canyon formation catching the morning sun in the background, a bulldozer shapes the dirt pile at the southeast corner of Highway 24 and Ridge Road.

Westside Pioneer photo

made of a “polycarbonate material (basically a heavy-duty Plexiglas) to greatly reduce the chances of it getting broken in the future,” Schroeder said.
HIGHWAY 24/RIDGE ROAD: Wildcat Construction, the Westside Avenue Action Plan (WAAP) contractor, has an agreement with the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) to use three corners that CDOT owns at that intersection. The northwest, southeast and southwest corners have been housing materials needed for the WAAP project, which is rebuilding Colorado/Manitou Avenue west of 31st Street, explained WAAP spokesperson Lisa Bachman.

A Westside bowling alley for more than 50 years, Bear Creek Lanes on South 21st Street closed in late 2014 (when this photo was taken, although the signage still remains). The property was recently purchased by the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo.

Westside Pioneer file photo

When WAAP is finished (the schedule calls for December 2018), the property will be restored and reseeded, she added.
BOWLING ALLEY PROPERTY: Originally started as Ute Lanes in 1958, the business had operated for many years as Bear Creek Lanes before the 24-lane establishment closed in late 2014. The building still sits vacant, but the two-acre site was purchased last fall by the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo.
One rumor suggested it would be used as a parking lot for a shuttle bus to the zoo; however, Jenny Koch, the zoo's marketing director, did not confirm that. “We do not currently have firm plans for the space,” she elaborated in an e-mail. “Until some decisions are made (timeline unknown), there's really nothing further I can share about the property.”

Westside Pioneer article
(Community: Ongoing Issues)

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