Originally Posted on ‘CS Indy’
The headline from last night’s meeting for City for Champions, which drew more than 200 people at the Library 21c on Chapel Hills Drive, is that the Jenkins family will donate land for the Olympic Museum and Hall of Fame project.
The museum is one of four projects in the combine into the $250-million tourism venture that also includes a sports medicine center at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, a new visitors center at the Air Force Academy and a $92-million sports and events stadium that will sit next to the Olympic museum downtown.
Dick Celeste, the former governor of Ohio and Colorado College president who’s heading up the Olympic project, told attendees, including this reporter, that the Jenkins family, owner of Nor’wood Development Group, the biggest developer in the Pikes Peak Region, will donate the land.
It’s long been speculated that the Jenkins’ land would figure prominently into C4C, which is being partially funded with tax increment financing obtained from state sales tax revenue. But Celeste’s comment last night confirmed it.
Here’s what the museum’s website says about the land question: “At this time we are not able to disclose the details as we do not yet have a donation of land. As soon as the land is secured we will issue a press release of the donation agreement and detail it on our website as well.”
Celeste said the land borders Sierra Madre Street and lies south of Vermijo Avenue. Here’s a parcel owned by CSJ No. 7 LLC, which is a Jenkins entity, as depicted on an El Paso County Assessor’s Office map here. The 3.55-acre parcel has a market value of $1.1 million, the Assessor’s Office says.
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Then, there’s this configuration of land that is owned by SRPC LLC, also an entity held by the Jenkins family, that also could be at play in the donation. This 4.77-acre tract is worth $517,000, according to the assessor.
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The Jenkins family also owns other parcels in the vicinity as well.
Celeste says a portion of Sierra Madre might have to be closed to enable the project. Asked when the donation will be announced, he wouldn’t say, noting that details are being worked, including “estate planning.”
We’ve put in a call to Nor’wood to find out more but haven’t heard back. We’ll update if and when we hear something.
Meantime, the city still hasn’t gotten a resolution or contract, approved by the state Economic Development Commission, but that could happen in September. The Colorado Springs Urban Renewal Authority could begin receiving state tax money as soon as next year if state sales tax revenue increases in a regional tourism zone that covers most of the city as compared to a baseline established in December 2013 when C4C was approved by the EDC.
As a footnote, Rebecca Tonn, a C4C advocate, wanted us to be aware that the logo for C4C has been changed. The old one is to the left, and the new one is on the right, below. Notice the difference: The black belt-like graphic element and the trophy are missing from the new one.