COMMERCE CITY, Colo.—The Rocky Mountain Arsenal was once a Superfund site that was the U.S. military’s biggest chemical weapons factory. Now a wildlife refuge, it’s getting a “green” visitor’s center with help from $3.2 million in federal stimulus funds.
Powered by a wind turbine, solar panels and geothermal heat, the center will be the gateway to miles of prairie, woods and wetlands. The land—just 11 miles from downtown Denver—is home to deer, coyotes and hundreds of bird species.
The center will cost a total of $7.4 million. Some of the money will come from proceeds from selling 920 acres of land to suburban Commerce City.
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Nationwide, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service received $280 million in stimulus funds, and $30 million of that went to its eight-state Mountain-Prairie region.
In south-central Colorado, the Alamosa National Wildlife Refuge will spend about $1.5 million to build a dam to divert water from the Rio Grande for wetlands.
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On the Net:
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Mountain-Prairie Region:
Rocky Mountain Arsenal Wildlife Refuge:
