ASPEN – — Open space officials in Pitkin County are contemplating the purchase of a lot in Redstone for $225,000.
The Open Space and Trails board of trustees is slated to take up the acquisition when it meets at 9 a.m. Thursday in the county’s Plaza One meeting room in Aspen.
The 0.67-acre parcel is, during the summer, part of a grassy expanse behind the Redstone Country Store that slopes down to the Crystal River opposite Elk Park, another open space holding.
Its purchase will provide access to the Crystal River next to the southernmost entrance to Redstone, preserve views of the historic coke ovens along Highway 133 from the south end of Redstone Boulevard and preserve views of the historic Redstone Inn from Elk Park, noted Dale Will, Open Space and Trails director.
“Really, we’re just trying to kind of protect the entrance to Redstone,” he said.
The one-time coal-mining town south of Carbondale boasts an historic district along Redstone Boulevard, where a number of historic buildings now hold quaint shops.
The Open Space and Trails program is currently at work on plans for Elk Park, located between the river and the highway, where an information center is planned. Already, there is parking off the highway and a pedestrian bridge linking Elk Park to Redstone Boulevard.
Elk Park and the proposed open space would become a contiguous piece of property, though they’d be separated by the river.
Owner Bob McCormick, seeking to sell the lot behind the store, approached open space officials to see if there was interest in buying the parcel, according to Will.
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