We have all heard it, the old saying about lemons and lemonade. Well, the city of Pueblo just made lemonade. And it was a stretch of the iconic Arkansas River, at least the part that bisects the city, that it metaphorically turned to this sweet summer drink.
For as long as Pueblo has been around, there has been a section of the Arkansas that has created a conundrum for the city. Locals always knew it had possibilities, but no one knew exactly how to thoughtfully exploit them. Until now.
The city, with a big helping hand from the Pueblo Water Works, finally tamed an often-dangerous part of the river, turning it into what may now be southern Colorado’s most inviting surfing, boogie boarding and watersports venue. But that’s just the bait. There’s a ton of more reasons to check things out.
The river’s redesign, said Pueblo Conservancy District’s Corinne Koehler, has now made it safe for Puebloans and anyone else to dip their toes into the water. For years, the spot where Pueblo’s new water park now sits was an invitation for disaster. “Several (drowning) deaths,” tragedies that are almost predictable, occur each year, said the past Conservancy president. That, along with a desire to turn a chronic life-threatening issue into something positive, she said, “necessitated the reconfiguration.”
Most rivers have spots like this where swimmers can often get trapped in churning waters, where a strong flow creates aerated circulating currents. So dangerous are these spots that even the strongest swimmers can’t escape. Boaters, kayakers, swimmers and anglers have all been casualties.
The river’s flow can be both placid and unpredictable, said Koehler. But thanks to an $11 million effort by the city’s water works, “they just did it,” transformed an often-unforgiving stretch of river into the proverbial ‘lemonade.’
Earlier this summer, the water park was christened and opened to the public. Success came almost immediately. “It’s eleven acres,” Koehler said, and “a whole new way to enjoy the river and areas for surfing, tubing, for little kids. It’s created a new amenity for the community to enjoy.”
The new venue, for which the water park is but a single element, complements the city’s Riverwalk that cuts a line across Union Avenue. Over the last few years, said the Wisconsin ex-pat, new hiking and biking trails and two pedestrian bridges have been added. “People can walk for miles.”
While the city’s ready to entertain locals and, ideally, lure out of town visitors to ‘dip their toes,’ Koehler said there remains one big challenge that, when complete, will make it perfect for a visit. “It’s still in the stage where the city is a little behind on getting decent parking…we’re working on a master plan.”
The location where the river’s evolution has taken place, said Koehler, has been nothing short of amazing. “Over the years, going back to the thirties, when you needed to dump something, you just dumped it on the banks of the river. It was not a ‘recreation thing.’ But today, “people are now realizing that it’s a gem.”
The new ‘gem,’ said Koehler, was on full display in mid-July with SCARF, the first-ever Steel City Arkansas River Festival. It included something for everyone. “It was just one day,” she recalled. “At least 1,500 people came.” She estimated that close to half of those taking part in the inaugural event were from outside Pueblo.
But the new water park is just one link in the city’s stretch of the river. “I think it would be 22-30 miles” of things to do along the river, Koehler estimated. “There are trails from Lake Pueblo where you can ride from there all the way to the University.”
There is also the lure of ‘catching the big one,’ for anglers curious about fishing this part of the Arkansas. The region is also a gold mine “for birding and enjoying nature.”
One extra bonus that will certainly entice just about everyone, said Koehler. Not only is everything free, but “it’s a whole new way of seeing the city of Pueblo.”
