Turning Back the Pages

30 years ago – January 16, 1987

The women’s prison that was schedule to be placed in Gilpin County has been cancelled. The information was verified with Tom Powell, administrative assistant to the executive director of the Colorado Department of Corrections, on Wednesday. On July 28, the residents of Gilpin County were told that a women’s facility would be placed in the county. The decision was resented by many of the concerned county residents. The Gilpin County Commissioners were not informed of the decision in advance. The property where the prison was to be located is owned by the state. It is located in mid-county off Highway 46 in Golden Gate Canyon. It was formally the Golden Gate Youth Camp, a juvenile detention center. Powell said, “The cancellation was due to the excessive cost to bring the camp up to standards.” In May of 1986, the State Legislature allocated $500,000 for renovation and $200,000 for the staff and operation expenses. The latest estimate, according to Powell, was around $1.5 million. It did not include additional work on the sewage system or utilities to meet standards. The Colorado Department of Corrections made the decision to scrap the original plans in December of 1986, Powell said. The cost of the project was the main reason given. The women will remain in the Columbine Center located in Denver.

The evening closures of Tunnel #1 officially began on January 11. The tunnel is located one and a half miles west of Golden on U.S. Hwy 6 and is the first tunnel en route to Black Hawk, Central City, and Idaho Springs. New lighting and guardrails are expected to be installed within the tunnel. The project will also approximately five weeks, or until the second week of February. According to the spokesman for Stephen Flowers, project supervisor, the nighttime closure times for the west end of the tunnel, proceeding toward Gilpin County, are from 9:40 p.m. until 5:45 a.m. The east end of the tunnel, toward the junction of U.S. Hwy 6 and Highway 58, will be closed from 10:00 p.m. until 6:00 a.m. Motorists traveling at night can use either Golden Gate Canyon or proceed on U.S. Hwy 6 from the junction of I-70 at Floyd Hill to the junction with Highway 119 south of Black Hawk. The tunnel will be closed to traffic, except emergency vehicles, Sunday through Thursday nights.