Turning back the pages

30 years ago – April 25, 1986

The new interior of the rec-center in Central City is a work of art. The drab brown paint on the walls has totally disappeared and has been replaced with a background of bright yellow paint and designs in colors of vibrant red, blue, green, and pink. The Museum of Modern Art has made an appearance in Central City through the expert guidance of artist and local resident Angelo diBenedetto. Starting on March 15, the walls were scrubbed down by hand in preparation for the paint job. The entire painting project took almost four weekends or eight days to complete. It was finished, except for some touch up work, on April 20. The work was completed by 50 residents in Gilpin County, plus 12 people from the Denver, Boulder, Golden, and Littleton areas. Some of the project was done by former students of diBenedetto’s. All of the work was done by volunteers. On Wednesday, diBenedetto said that he wants to see the windows on the south side of the building replaced. Apparently several of the windows are cracked and have been painted and the paint is peeling. The entire project has attracted attention from several other communities that are interested in doing similar volunteer projects. After seeing the inside of the building it is no wonder that other communities are anxious to start a project in their area.

Black Hawk to get a Park: The park lease agreement became final with the signature of Black Hawk Mayor Bill Lorenz who signed the agreement on Tuesday, at the city council’s work session. The lease agreement is between the city of Black Hawk and Gilpin County. The parcel of land is owned by the county which the city intends to use as a park. The lease is for $1 a year for 25 years. Council Member Joanne Lah, who is the park commissioner, stated this week that she had “no idea” as to when work on the park would begin, but in the meantime, the city will be asking for donations and volunteers from local organizations and local residents to help keep the costs to a minimum. The city has approximately $14,000 to use for the park, Lah said. The city intends to use as much as possible of the original plans that were drawn up by students from the University of Colorado in Denver over a year ago. The plans include benches, a barbecue area, a horseshoe pit, flowers, trees, playground equipment, restrooms, picnic tables, and redesigning the shape of the pond. Additionally, the plans include a safe entrance to the park, rock retaining walls, and mining objects with information pertaining to the objects. The city must have the park upgraded within five years or the land reverts back to the county.