City of Colorado Springs Parks, Recreation & Cultural Services

Like to take your money for spring football league but can’t even let two teams from the same city play together due to kids either getting injured or quitting. Let the boys play, paid $200 for a jersey and signups. Not to mention all the other money spent on gear and traveling to springs every Saturday. I’m about to just get a lawyer involved because this is ridiculous!

I don’t know exactly who’s in charge of maintaining the dirt roads into Palmer Park. But I just want to say thank you. It was super pot-holey after all the snow. And now they are nice and smooth. Thanks for whoever is responsible for that. It’s pretty unbelievable that I live in a place where I don’t need to ask anyone to do this. You guys rock. Thank you for that service!

So I called and asked why the park bathrooms are often locked in the middle of the day. I'm paraphrasing here, but the bathrooms are locked to prevent vandalism. What? The parks dept provides bathrooms for people to use, but in order to have working bathrooms no one can use them. God bless low-level, local government employees. Just bless them.

BAD SITUATION!! No place on website to report a fire hazard in a park. Jenkins Park on the westside, faces Skyway Blvd. Homeless camp in the making; patio cooker, Pails, paper box pieces, etc. Neighbors report smoke and fire in the park!!! where are your mower reports? Where is an inspector? Why has no one noticed? Cooking on the southeast side, closest to the treees and overgrowth!!!

In April and May of 2017 CS Parks Department destroyed the 800 year old UTE INDIAN TRAIL along the edge of Red Rock Canyon Open Space known as "INTEMANN TRAIL." In its place, cutting across several steep drainages, they bulldozed a level BICYCLE SPEED-WAY. That work lacked REQUIRED PERMITS from Army Corps of Engineers, Office of State Archaeologist, Regional Building Authority, and other required entities. It was built ILLEGALLY. On July 23rd, 2018 their work was irreparably damaged by rain due to poor design and execution; it lasted BARELY A YEAR! It will not be repaired because construction permits cannot be issued; THE STEEP TERRAIN CANNOT SUPPORT A TRAIL CUTTING THROUGH IT! US Army Corps of Engineers had already ordered that the tons of trees dumped over the side of the new trail be removed to prevent more damage downstream. The upland valleys the trail crosses have been permanently damaged and are now susceptible to severe flooding (they all feed down to Sand Canyon, through Red Rock Canyon Open Space, and into Fountain Creek.) As a result of their incompetence, Parks Dept. no longer undertakes any independant trail building or repair IN ANY OPEN SPACES. Its maintenance/construction duties are being overseen by Rocky Mountain Field Institute, which will spend many years correcting and mitigating FIFTEEN YEARS OF NEGLECT AND MISMANAGEMENT. C.S. Parks, City Council, Mayor Suthers, and Palmer Land Trust were notified even as the trenching was still occurring; THEY EACH JUSTIFIED THE WORK! The Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation (OAHP) ordered the city to cease work as soon as they were notified. (The "Master Plan" was to rip away many more miles more forest and landscape, including sections of historic Palmer Loop Trail.) Who were the beneficiaries? The Bicycle Lobby! They are also behind the city's penchant for turning busy streets into bicycle paths for non-existent riders. Who-all is in their pockets? Watch the YouTube Video entitled "Intemann Trail Archaeology." See for yourself the attitude Parks Dept has towards both our heritage and our Open Spaces. And the taxpayer.