Veterans Groups Join the Fight Against the Colorado 150 Pedestrian Walkway

Governor Jared Polis continues to bring people together — in their disdain for the proposed Colorado 150 Pedestrian Walkway. In response to the many objections to the proposal, the governor launched a poll last week to collect feedback on the bridge, as well as how the state should celebrate its 150th birthday in general. The deadline is midnight tonight, July 21.

And if you think the vote will be favorable to the project, we've got a bridge in Brooklyn — or anywhere else, really — to sell you.

Even before Polis launched his poll, we'd heard from historians who hate what the walkway would do to the Civic Center Complex, a National Historic Landmark. We'd heard from taxpayers who hate the idea of a penny going to this project when the state is facing budget shortfalls (Colorado's share is $8.5 million, with donors expected to come up with another $10 million...or more, depending on who's offering the estimate). But we hadn't heard from the veterans groups who have a particular interest in where the CO150 Walkway would land after it meandered down from the west steps of the Capitol: Lincoln Veterans Park, the state parcel between Lincoln Street and Broadway.

They waited to go public until after they met with the governor's office on July 16, and they were not swayed by what they heard there. Instead, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the American Legion, Disabled American Veterans, Paralyzed Veterans of America and Gold Star Wives of America released a joint statement "to express our unequivocal
opposition to Governor Polis’s proposed project to construct a bridge over the Lincoln Veterans Memorial Park at the Colorado State Capitol," calling it an "affront to the sacred trust this state holds with its veterans and their families."

According to the group, state records and statutes affirm the park’s role as a permanent memorial, and "any plan to alter or intrude upon this space violates both the spirit of that commitment and the trust of every veteran and family who believed this ground would remain a place of undisturbed remembrance."

On April 26, 2007, then-Governor Bill Ritter signed into law a bill endorsing a memorial to be erected to honor Coloradans killed during these 20th and 21st century military conflicts: World War I, World War II, Korean War, Vietnam War, Persian Gulf War, Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. That law created the Colorado Fallen Heroes Memorial Commission, which worked with the original architects of the Colorado Veterans Monument to come up with a design paying tribute to Colorado’s fallen by "seamlessly integrating the classic, historic design of the Capitol and the iconic design of the Veterans Monument."

That memorial was finally finished and dedicated in 2021, and the Fallen Heroes Fund continues to scramble to raise funds to keep it in repair. "Now the state suddenly has $8 million for a bridge," says Rebecca Kim, chair of the Colorado Fallen Heroes Memorial. "Where was that money when we tried to get things fixed?"

The statement from the veterans' groups concludes with this: "We call on Governor Polis and all state leaders to abandon this ill-conceived project and honor the solemn commitment this state has made to its veterans. There are alternative paths to progress. None should cross the line of memory and sacrifice. Our sacred spaces are not for sale, not for political show, and not to be paved over. They are to be protected as the living legacy of those who served and sacrificed for the freedoms we all enjoy."

While there are a few other veteran-related monuments on the Capitol grounds, here are the ones currently in Lincoln Park (the descriptions come from a Colorado State Capitol web page that is now offline):

Volunteers of the Spanish-American War Flagpole
This flagpole is dedicated to the Colorado volunteers of the Spanish-American War of 1898. The flagpole has a red sandstone base, and it flies the American and POW-MIA flags.

Liberty Bell
This full-sized replica of the Liberty Bell was one of the 53 replicas cast in France in 1950 and donated to the U.S. government by “American industry and free enterprise.” One went to each state, plus the District of Columbia.

Colorado Tribute to Veterans Monument
Dedicated on November 10, 1990, the Colorado Tribute to Veterans Monument is both a memorial to the dead and a tribute to veterans of the past, present and future: World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Persian Gulf and peace-time.

Joseph P. Martinez Statue
This twenty-foot-tall bronze statue honors Joseph P. Martinez, who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor in 1943 for acts of conspicuous bravery in the Aleutian Islands; he was the first hispanic Coloradan to receive the Medal of Honor.

Sadie M. Likens Drinking Fountain
Unveiled on July 7, 1923, this bronze drinking fountain with plaque commemorates Sadie M. Likens for her constant care and treatment of war veterans. Upon her death on July 20, 1920, a group of veterans from the Grand Army of the Republic began raising funds for a monument to Likens. The fountain was completed and dedicated on July 7, 1923.

After this list was compiled, The General Rose Monument, dedicated to Maurice Rose, a Denver resident who became the highest-ranking Jewish soldier in World War II and was killed in action, was added to Lincoln Veterans Park and dedicated in 2022.

And yes, for the record, the park also has a memorial to the Ten Commandments:

“The origin, dedication, and permission for placing this four-foot granite tablet inscribed with the Ten Commandments are somewhat unclear,” the Capitol’s website noted. “Written records regarding the tablet seem to have been lost.” Recent research, however, suggests that the tablet was not put there by a religious group, but by promoters of the 1956 film The Ten Commandments, starring Charlton Heston.

Thou can still vote on the Colorado 150 Walkway here.