Great Outdoors Colorado board members are moving to establish a new state park southwest of Denver — one of 23 projects covering 73,000 acres statewide, funded by $24 million grants to be announced this afternoon.
The Staunton State Park, located off Highway 285 near Pine, is envisioned as a 3,700-acre oasis amid rock outcroppings, meadows and hills. A $5 million GOCO grant will allow Colorado State Parks officials to move toward opening the park in 2012 — with facilities for day-use visitors — without tapping tax dollars, GOCO spokeswoman Chris Leding said.
This morning, GOCO’s board voted on projects in 16 counties, including the preservation of 66,000 of short-grass prairie in Cheyenne, Lincoln and Elbert counties. Denver was awarded $1 million to help purchase a 2-acre property along the South Platte River — to be combined with adjacent parcels to create a new 8-acre park.
Gov. Bill Ritter and Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper were expected to attend an announcement ceremony today along the South Platte.
The GOCO program uses state lottery proceeds to preserve open spaces. The projects announced today bring the total acres preserved statewide since 1994 to 643,673 acres.
