. . . where southern Colorado holds court all year round. It’s ‘The Slab’
The line in the movie classic, “Sunset Boulevard,” and uttered by long forgotten ingenue and recluse, Norma Desmond, “Mr. DeMille, I’m ready for my close-up,” is timeless. It’s also a line that might be perfect for southern Colorado’s basketball Mecca, ‘The Slab.’ Like Miss Desmond, time has not been entirely kind to this place in Pueblo where you go to ‘get a game,’ or to hone your game. Indeed, ‘The Slab’ has seen better days. But the city’s promised it has a plan.
To non-Puebloans ‘The Slab’ is an iconic concrete strip on the city’s Elizabeth Street where anyone, whether you’ve ‘got game,’ or just want to shoot around, can play hoops. But the concrete surface has aged and, said Steven Meier, Pueblo’s Parks and Recreation Director, not in a good way.
The concrete is cracked, the backboards need repair and, basically, time has not been good to this Pueblo institution. Still, despite its bedraggled condition, its wrinkles and age spots, it still gets continued and regular use by thousands of hoopsters each year. It’s the same as it has been since the 1950’s, even earlier, said Meier. No matter its looks, hoopers remain true to ‘The Slab,’ the name it took on years before for its concrete courts.
Every Pueblo kid with any kind of court skill and thousands more with none, knows ‘The Slab.’ While Pueblo’s temperate weather allows games all year round, it’s the summer, both days and nights, when the place holds court. Has been that way for what seems like forever.
“We played 4 on 4, half-court games, one point per basket,” recalled Pueblo native Rick Meidell. Today, fifty-plus years later, Dr. Meidell, Medical Director of the Garfield Medical Center’s Neo-natal Intensive Care Unit, in Monterey Park, California, has fond memories of ‘The Slab,’ and the stakes on each game. If you had game or even could talk a good one, Meidell said, you played on the ‘premier court.’
Guys who played there were the Velasquez brothers, Eddie and George; Central’s Terry Snider and Eddie Smith, both later Division I players; South High’s England brothers and another South Colt, Pueblo two-sport legend and later Denver West coach, Dan ‘Kosho’ Trujillo. Now and then, even college players showed up at ‘The Slab.’ Meidell remembers knocking elbows with most. He keeps the outcome of these contests a secret.
Everyone knew the rules, ‘no autopsy, no foul.’ But while games could now and then be rough, most were played with skill and passion. Meidell went on to play four years of college basketball at a small Kansas school. But ‘The Slab,’ he said, is where the foundation of his game was formed.
“We’re looking at a little over a half a million,” for the project, said Meier. The renovation will include new court surfaces, new lights and goals. Instead of playing on the concrete surface that generations of players hooped on, Meier said, the new surface will be “rubberized,” and easier on the joints.
In addition to the ‘nuts-and-bolts’ for playing the game, ‘The Slab’ will also feature murals reflecting the city’s legacy, the state’s geography and whatever the city approves from the commissioned muralists. Part of the funds, he said, including the $2,500 for each mural, will come from the Colorado Lottery. The rest? “I had to build up the money over a couple of years,” from the Parks and Recreation budget.
The Slab has historically been the province of young boys and men. But over recent years, girls, who’ve also worked on elevating their game, are now court regulars, no matter the season. Iowa’s Caitlin Clark, no doubt, will inspire even more girls.
“Young girls,” said Meier, “I see ‘em out there playing all the time.” In addition to pick-up games, Meier said, his department also runs summer leagues for boy, girls and co-ed teams.
Summer temperatures in Pueblo are often hotter than its famous chile. But, said Meier, it’s the night’s when things are really cooking at ‘The Slab.’ All four courts are in use and there are people courtside waiting for the next game.
Restoring the courts to a 21st century level, he said, might seem expensive but restoring is not just about the money. “It’s culture and nostalgia,” said Meier. “We have people who come and talk to us about playing at ‘The Slab,’ from long ago.” It’s also, he said, for Pueblo kids who, long after they’ve left child- hood, remember the place.
The renovation, said Meier, should be complete in a matter of months, followed by an official ribbon cutting. The half-million-dollar project, Meier admits, might seem a bit rich. But, he said, it’s not a dollar-and-cent return on investment. Sometimes, he said, you can’t put a dollar value on what this basketball version of an Iowa cornfield means to the city.
