Bancroft fire claims 1st victim: 'Without a miracle,' summer blues shows gone
Dancers swing to the music of John Long July
28, 2016, during the final Paint the Town Blue concert of the season in the
previously annual summer series in Bancroft Park.
Westside Pioneer photo
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Paint the Town Blue, a live-music series in the Old Colorado City locale every summer for the past 11 years, will not return this summer, “unless we have a miracle,” Marty Gordon of the Pikes Peak Blues Community (PPBC) said in an e-mail March 1.
In the meantime, PPBC is looking for another venue for what is planned to be 10 summer shows. “We just haven't firmed up a location,” Gordon said. “It will happen! I should know the location very soon!”
He added, “We love Bancroft, but…”
The Jan. 27 fire charred the studs, walls and ceiling for the bandshell stage, causing an estimated $34,000 damage.
A short time afterward, City Parks officials started advising promoters whose annual events use the bandshell that they should look for “other arrangements.”
In late February, a Parks maintenance crew framed a full plywood wall at the front of the stage, preventing its use while Parks waits for detailed damage assessments, expected to come sometime between the end of March or mid-April.
Colorado Springs City Council has decided to consider giving the Bancroft bandshell repair a higher priority, but is not scheduled to discuss the matter until March 13.
The fire, which occurred late at night, was “purposely set,” the city fire investigator has reported. Police as yet have no suspects.
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Westside Pioneer article
(Posted 3/1/17;
Community:
Public Safety)
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