Road of Remembrance Pillars - land selected for relocation no longer an option

Plus an update on work conducted by CDOT

If you’ve been following my posts about the Road of Remembrance pillars at 287 and Arapahoe you know the history and all the work that’s been done to try and save these stone monuments. The folks working on this project thought they had the right spot for relocation, just to the north of their current location and CDOT was on board.

I am on the mailing list for updates and received the following email from Bill Meyer who is heading this project for the Rotary Club.

All,

Hope everyone had a good Labor Day holiday!

Some disappointing news on the pillars.  We received a message from the landowners on the NW corner that they decided that they do not want to participate in the relocation project.  They indicated that, in their view, the pillars should be relocated to a large area with lots of parking, additional other amenities, and places to shop and wander around.  They feel that their property has little area for access or parking and would not be viable.  Obviously, this is a major disappointment, and we’ll need to look again at other alternatives. 

On the positive side, CDOT finally was able to erect the long-discussed sign on the shoulder to the westbound lane, just east of the north pillar (see attached).  It’s the first tangible product of this process, and hopefully will provide impetus for more folks to learn about the history of the Monument.  

CDOT also is in the process of retaining a firm to do some landscaping work on the pork chop island containing the south pillar, and remove selected trees and an abandoned power pole from the vicinity of the north pillar (see attached).  When this work is finished, I think that we will have made significant progress in rehabilitating the visual setting for the Monument, at least in the near term.  

In a Zoom meeting at 6:00 pm on this Thursday (Sept. 7), I will be briefing the Boulder County Historic Preservation Advisory Board on the current situation.  It’s a public meeting if any of you want to participate.

We'll keep everyone posted,

Bill