Take a drive to the east of Glenwood Springs and look at the beautiful entrances to Avon, Edwards and Vail, to name a few. <\/p>\n
Beautiful flowers, shrubs, attractive welcome signage and sculptures greet visitors and residents to these towns. It is very inviting and evidence of the pride citizens have in their town.<\/p>\n
The first impression a visitor has to Glenwood Springs is a confusing set of right and left turns, guided by islands of bare dirt full of weeds, with not even a flower, shrub, tree, sculpture or welcome sign. (We had a lighted sign before the new bridge was built). <\/p>\n
The bridge has been \u201ccompleted\u201d for almost a year, and no visible attention has been given to this subject. It is a beautifully designed bridge consisting of thousands of yards of concrete, flanked by \u201cbanner-less\u201d banner holders that I assume were put in place for a reason. <\/p>\n
This is not only the gateway to our town but also to the entire Roaring Fork Valley.<\/p>\n
Years ago in the \u201980s, the dirt patch at Ninth and Grand Avenue had been an eyesore for several years waiting for redevelopment. A group of private citizens with the support of City Council successfully acquired the land, and Centennial Park was born. <\/p>\n
I remember helping rake rocks out of the site with other members of the community, with Mayor Carl Schiesser leading the charge on building the brick stem wall and planter surrounding the park. <\/p>\n
Maybe such an effort is required at our city\u2019s entrance? I am proud to live in Glenwood Springs, and hope that all guests in our town have a lasting memory of Glenwood Springs as one of the best small towns in America. <\/p>\n
The entrance to our town is our front yard. Grand Avenue south of the bridge touchdown is beautiful with landscaped planters and sidewalk lined with maintained flower pots. Why can\u2019t we do the same on the north side of the bridge? <\/p>\n
The first impression is a lasting impression. There are very talented landscape architects in our valley \u2014 how about giving them an opportunity to create a masterpiece?<\/p>\n