Commentary: Time for city to make a commitment to Colorado Avenue

We applaud Mark Cunningham (not to mention his indomitable mom, Lucille) for the successful remodeling and re-use of the former Hide- N-Seek complex at 502 W. Colorado Ave.

As Becky Hurley reports in today's real estate column, the Cunninghams have invested $1.5 million to transform a derelict piece of near-downtown real estate into a lively new comedy club, expected to welcome more than 2,000 customers each week. It's an impressive turnaround.

We share Cunningham's hope that his investment will, as he put it, bring light and life to a formerly dark corner of downtown.

From the center of downtown to the western boundary of Manitou Springs, Colorado Avenue extends nearly seven miles. Formerly called Huerfano, it's one of the oldest, if not the oldest, road in the Pikes Peak region. In that seven miles, it links downtown high rises, once-splendid Victorian residences, modern shopping centers, 19th century commercial districts, fading 1950s-era motels, and hundreds of vibrant (and not-so-vibrant) small businesses.

It's a microcosm of the city -- as it once was, and as it is now. It's also a model for the future, given its diversity, comfortably mixed uses and pedestrian-friendly character.

Through the years, the city has encouraged redevelopment along small segments of Colorado Avenue.

During the 1970s, Old Colorado City, then a few blocks of crumbling, mostly vacant buildings, was reborn thanks to a series of private/public partnerships largely created by Dave Hughes.

A few years ago, city funding helped upgrade sidewalks, lighting, and landscaping between the Interstate 25 overpass and 8th Street.

And during the last two years, Manitou Springs has paid for major streetscape improvements where Colorado Avenue (there called Manitou Avenue) passes through downtown.

But much of Colorado Avenue has been neglected by the powers that be.

Between 30th Street and Manitou Springs, or between 8th and 21st streets, sidewalks are in disrepair or non-existent, many buildings are rundown, and businesses struggle with blight. Individual business and property owners do their best, but the city has done little.

Perhaps the city should, in partnership with Manitou Springs, and avenue residents, property owners and businesses, forge a new vision for all of Colorado Avenue. Such a vision would be aimed at making Colorado Avenue what it once was -- the main street of the Pikes Peak region, linking cities, businesses, parks, and neighborhoods.

It could include improved infrastructure, better signage, a revived streetscape, and, in the best of possible worlds, a revived streetcar system.

And the latter is not as farfetched as one might think, since, according to Dave Lippincott of the Pikes Peak Historical Street Railway Foundation, the original tracks from a century ago are still there, and still usable, protected for decades by layers of asphalt.

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