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More than 100 christen county park near Deckers
Years ago, western Douglas County residents asked county commissioners for a park in their neck of the woods.
Saturday, they got one.
By By: Christine McManus
Years ago, western Douglas County residents asked county commissioners for a park in their neck of the woods.
Saturday, they got one.
It was difficult to find a contractor who would venture out past Sedalia into Pike National Forest to build the county park, said Douglas County Parks and Recreation board minutes from a meeting last year.
So Douglas County Parks and Trails planner Randy Burkhardt acted as construction manager during the past year. The county typically contracts construction jobs.
About 1.5 acres of the 7.5-acre park is developed. There is a parking lot, restrooms, sheltered picnic tables, a swing set, a large playset with slides and other playground equipment. Improvements cost county taxpayers about $142,000, the county said.
More than 100 people showed up for the ribbon-cutting ceremony and barbecue lunch. The turnout in the mountain community was larger than previous park openings in urban communities in central Douglas County, county officials said.
The park is called DOTTS Park. It is named for five community businesses that closed years ago but used to be the lifeblood of the mountain region. DOTTS stands for the Deckers restaurant, the Oxyoke bar, the Trumbull bar, Twin Cedars cafe, and the Snow Water lodge, which had a dance hall, said Ella Oatman, a longtime community resident.
A memorial bench was installed by the relatives of Dorothy Roerig Macdonald, now deceased. Macdonald arrived in the Deckers area in 1905 and documented the development of the community.
She advocated for a county park, and her ashes were spread on the hillside, said Macdonald's oldest living niece, Mary Macdonald.
A colony of Gunnison prairie dogs live on the northern edge of the park. The Deckers area is in the northeastern edge of their habitat. A Colorado butterfly, the Pawnee Montane Skipper, lives in the area. The butterfly is listed as threatened on the Endangered Species List under the Environmental Protection Act.
The park site would have been under water if the Two Forks Dam had been approved by voters in the 1980s. Denver Water leased the site to the county on a long-term renewable lease.
DOTTS Park is open to the public from dawn to dusk. To get to the park, take U.S. 85 to Sedalia. Turn west onto Colorado 67 and head toward Deckers. At the town of Sprucewood, take the right fork in the road of Colorado 67 along Sugar Creek. The park is about 20 miles of winding roads into Pike National Forest.
By By: Christine McManus
Years ago, western Douglas County residents asked county commissioners for a park in their neck of the woods.
Saturday, they got one.
It was difficult to find a contractor who would venture out past Sedalia into Pike National Forest to build the county park, said Douglas County Parks and Recreation board minutes from a meeting last year.
So Douglas County Parks and Trails planner Randy Burkhardt acted as construction manager during the past year. The county typically contracts construction jobs.
About 1.5 acres of the 7.5-acre park is developed. There is a parking lot, restrooms, sheltered picnic tables, a swing set, a large playset with slides and other playground equipment. Improvements cost county taxpayers about $142,000, the county said.
More than 100 people showed up for the ribbon-cutting ceremony and barbecue lunch. The turnout in the mountain community was larger than previous park openings in urban communities in central Douglas County, county officials said.
The park is called DOTTS Park. It is named for five community businesses that closed years ago but used to be the lifeblood of the mountain region. DOTTS stands for the Deckers restaurant, the Oxyoke bar, the Trumbull bar, Twin Cedars cafe, and the Snow Water lodge, which had a dance hall, said Ella Oatman, a longtime community resident.
A memorial bench was installed by the relatives of Dorothy Roerig Macdonald, now deceased. Macdonald arrived in the Deckers area in 1905 and documented the development of the community.
She advocated for a county park, and her ashes were spread on the hillside, said Macdonald's oldest living niece, Mary Macdonald.
A colony of Gunnison prairie dogs live on the northern edge of the park. The Deckers area is in the northeastern edge of their habitat. A Colorado butterfly, the Pawnee Montane Skipper, lives in the area. The butterfly is listed as threatened on the Endangered Species List under the Environmental Protection Act.
The park site would have been under water if the Two Forks Dam had been approved by voters in the 1980s. Denver Water leased the site to the county on a long-term renewable lease.
DOTTS Park is open to the public from dawn to dusk. To get to the park, take U.S. 85 to Sedalia. Turn west onto Colorado 67 and head toward Deckers. At the town of Sprucewood, take the right fork in the road of Colorado 67 along Sugar Creek. The park is about 20 miles of winding roads into Pike National Forest.
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