Colorado mining town in uproar over plan to focus on tourism

Robert Weller

Friday, Aug. 12, 2005 | 9:34 a.m.

CRIPPLE CREEK, Colo. -- Gambling has been good to this old mining town, with casinos like the Brass Ass and the Midnight Rose funneling millions of dollars in taxes into local coffers.

But a proposal to steer some of the wealth to tourism has created an uproar from the Bennett Avenue gambling halls to Silver Street: Mayor Ed Libby, who fears gambling may some day run dry in Cripple Creek, is facing a Nov. 1 recall vote after pushing a proposal to build a $1 million tourism center.

"We have seen 24 establishments go out of business over the last seven years that were not associated with gaming," said Libby, a local businessman who moved here from California in 1996.

Kip Petersen, administrator of the town of 1,000 people, situated at 9,500 feet, said the lost business puts Cripple Creek in a precarious position. He said competition for gambling dollars is growing as more states legalize it.

"We need to do something other than gaming," Petersen said. "Gaming will not sustain us in the long term."

In a way, gambling has always been the core of Cripple Creek. Bob Womack struck gold here in the early 1890s, prompting a rush of prospectors to the hills west of Pikes Peak. The town grew to more than 25,000 people, boasting trolley service and five daily newspapers. The streets of neighboring Victor were literally paved with gold (low-grade ore was used).

After the turn of the last century, mines opened and closed depending on the price of gold, but by the end of World War II all but a handful were shuttered. Only summer tourism kept Cripple Creek from becoming little more than a ghost town.

Colorado voters approved limited-stakes gambling in 1990 in Cripple Creek and two other old mining towns, Black Hawk and Central City, both west of Denver. It has meant tens of millions in taxes and this year, two-thirds of Cripple Creek's nearly $12 million budget came from gambling.

Libby and the town council want to build a Heritage Center to draw more tourists interested in historic places. Experts say these tourists tend to stay longer and spend more money than others.

Supporters point to a narrow gauge railway that takes tourists on a 45-minute ride, tours of the old Mollie Kathleen Mine, a museum dedicated to a former brothel, and melodramas at the Butte Theater. The center would be set up on the outskirts of town, with the goal of persuading visitors to spend several nights and visit Pikes Peak, the Royal Gorge, Breckenridge, Florissant Fossil Beds and other nearby attractions.

John Tulley, a local resident who helped organize the recall, said basic infrastructure needs should trump speculative plans for bringing in more tourists.

"The casinos have everything they need while some residents don't even have paved streets," Tulley said, who has worked in the casinos. "Our town is crumbling. They said that they would take the money from gambling and make it a showcase. I'm still waiting."

Petersen said the town is working on getting a grant to pay for sewer plant improvements and that other needed infrastructure improvements are not being ignored. Still, recall supporters were able to get enough valid signatures to force the vote.

Officials with the casinos don't mind the idea of promoting heritage tourism since it could boost business.

Sandy Hawkins, marketing director for Womacks Casino, said gambling revenue has been flat as the novelty has worn off. She said there should be mock gunfights in the middle of Bennett Avenue and people on horseback.

"Cripple Creek has a ton of history, and we are missing the boat by not touting it," she said.

The mayor would like to see the town made over into a replica of pre-1896 Cripple Creek, with wooden store fronts and a boardwalk. Some of the nongambling business owners are eager for change, too.

"People who had been coming to my shop said they wouldn't come back after gambling started," said Melody Crawford, owner of Melody's Mall gift shop. "If they think there is something to do other than gambling they will come. It needs the right marketing."

One tourist visiting town recently from Wetherby, England, agreed.

"My immediate impression is there is too much gambling," said Dave Howard, whose interest in Cripple Creek was piqued by the 1969 song of the same name by The Band. "I think it would be better if they had more things that had nothing to do with gambling."