EDITOR’S DESK: Thank you, Terry Putman
As the article on Page 1 indicates, Terry Putman has played a leading part in most of the important Colorado Springs
Parks actions over the past 21 years.
![]() For my part, I didn't know him all that well, although the public planning process he led in creating the Red Rock Canyon Open Space master plan last year seemed to be a testimony to his style. There was a cool, quiet efficiency about the way it worked. His experience showed. Why he stepped down with such apparent abruptness is a mystery at the moment, and may remain so. There had been rumors in recent months that he was thinking about retiring. It was obvious, in my occasional interviews with him, that he was quite unhappy with Douglas Bruce's lawsuit that has (for now, at least) stymied the extension of the Trails, Open Space and Parks (TOPS) sales tax. But getting back to accomplishments, the thing that sticks out in my mind when I think of Terry Putman is, by comparison, a very small item. Last summer, I learned that Parks was upgrading the equipment at Thorndale Park. That was hardly a matter for a high administrator, so I phoned someone in the maintenance area to get the lowdown (and of course to make sure the old stagecoach wasn't being removed). What to my amazement when Terry himself called back, intimately knowledgeable about all aspects of the upgrade, not to mention the coach. So I'm sorry you're leaving, Terry. Thanks for big old Red Rock Canyon... and for little Thorndale Park. - K.J. |