Central City mayor determined to balance gaming, history

By Penny Parker

Now that the “hard-scrabble” battle to win the election for Central City mayor is over (by a margin of seven votes, a virtual landslide by CC standards), Ron Engels is busy tackling the city’s business.

“There’s a whole lot of unsexy stuff the city needs to get taken care of,” said Engels, who was appointed temporary mayor in August after Ron Slinger stepped down from the job. “One of the things we decided when working on the budget this year is we didn’t have reserves we should have to be comfortable. I will work diligently toward getting a good cushion so when the inevitable happens, we aren’t standing around saying, ‘What do we do now?’”

A project more visible to visitors is the remodeling of Main Street, which is due to start a facelift as soon as weather permits. There are two phases to the plan: one that will be paid for through the sale of acreage in the James Peak Wilderness to the Forest Service, and an added reconstruction project if Central City lands a $150,000 community development block grant from the state’s Department of Local Affairs.

In the first scenario, Main Street in the lower block of downtown will be ripped out from store front to store front, and replaced with paver stones with different-color stones delineating sidewalks and parking lanes.

If the $150,000 grant comes through (which wasn’t decided at press time), the reconstruction project would extend to the sidewalks on Eureka and Lawrence streets.

“When the streets are torn up, we’re working with the sanitation district to replace sewer lines,” Engels said about another “unsexy” task.

Engels said he based his mayoral campaign on the promise to balance the city’s vital gaming industry with the desire to remain a historic town.

“Are we a historic town with gaming or a gaming town with history?” he said. “I answer both questions, ‘Yes.’ You can go to many places on the planet to gamble, but we’re the cradle of Colorado, the center of the Richest Square Mile on Earth. You can’t get that anywhere else.”

Casino kindness. Several gaming establishments in Black Hawk and Central City, including Ameristar and Riviera Black Hawk Casino, donated more than 300 cases of water to the firefighters who recently battled the Indian Gulch fire west of Golden.

On more than one occasion, the Colorado Department of Transportation closed U.S. 6 through Clear Creek Canyon between U.S. 93 and Colorado 119 due to the fire.

Sunny money. Gilpin County’s businesses and arts and cultural organizations pow-wowed recently to review their collective upcoming events during the summer peak gaming season.

Fortune Valley Casino boss Joe Behm reported that Black Hawk and Central City visitors should “look for a diverse selection of activities, including the unveiling of the fabled Nautilus, Gilpin County’s legendary 19th century submarine; Central City Opera’s summer festival, including the return of “Carmen”; buskers and music on Main Street; Gilpin art gallery opening; Hidee Mine tours; a new Colorado Day fest; and the traditional Lou Bunch Day, with bed races kicking off the summer on Father’s Day weekend.

- Penny Parker is a columnist for The Denver Post. She’s always on the prowl for tidbits and tips from Colorado’s gaming communities. Call her at 303-619-5209 or e-mail pparker@denverpost.com.