Weidner Field opened earlier this year in lower Downtown Colorado Springs, part of City for Champions. United Soccer League/Sandy Evans
Money from the state to fund the City for Champions tourism ventures dropped by 13 percent in 2020, compared to 2019, or about $650,000.
But the city is still on track to collect $120.5 million in sales tax rebates to help pay for the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Museum and Hall of Fame, Weidner Field, the Bill Hybl Sports Medicine and Performance Center at UCCS, Robson Arena at Colorado College and the Air Force Academy Visitors Center.
So says Jariah Walker, executive director of the Colorado Springs Urban Renewal Authority, which oversees the City for Champions program and its financing.
Numerous local agencies and citizens have made pitches for money coming to Colorado Springs and El Paso County from the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act, designed to help cities, counties and states recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to information obtained via a records request, one citizen called for the city to set aside money to offset rises in utility bills. Another suggested expanding broadband access. The National Museum of World War II Aviation, which âtook a huge hitâ from the COVID lockdown, needs a boost. And a newly formed consortium of nonprofits submitted a four-page outline of how to pump $40 million into various community needs.
Colorado Springs 150th anniversary bash may require umbrellas gazette.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from gazette.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Frank Macon’s Tuskegee Airman jacket and wings is included in the “COS@150” exhibit at Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum. Macon was part of the group of Black military pilots and airmen who fought in World War II. He died in November. Courtesy Pioneers Museum
Courtesy of Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum
Something else, Thursday - Sunday: The Tokyo Fan Fest is happening 10 a.m. - 10 p.m. Thursday through Sunday at the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Museum. For more info, visit
Dubbed “The Downtown Celebration Tokyo,” the free event will include a live broadcast of the Olympic Games on a big screen, near Costilla and Sierra Madre streets. In conjunction, the museum is hosting the Tokyo Games Fan Fest Thursday through Sunday from 10 a.m. - 10 p.m.
The Summer Games, initially scheduled for last summer, were postponed a year because of the coronavirus pandemic. The Games are scheduled to proceed through Aug. 8.