Projects & Places
Places & Projects
The Restoration of Tahama Springs
In Monument Valley Park along the west banks of Monument Creek in downtown Colorado Springs, sheltered by a grove of towering old trees just past the pedestrian bridge, sits an octagonal concrete pad with a stone well in the middle.
This octagonal concrete pad and stone well in Monument Valley Park in downtown Colorado Springs once were part of Tahama (a/k/a Tahoma) Spring, an alluvial spring that flows about two gallons per minute according to recent testing on March 5, 2014.
But the well is abandoned, and there are only hints to what stood there decades ago. Ever since, various groups have tried to generate interest in rebuilding the spring. But none has gotten very far…UNTIL NOW!
NEWS! In October 2018 more than 150 people raised their glasses with a toast to Tahama Spring and tasted the spring’s delicious mineral water. This marked the first time in 53 years that anyone had done so. Collected and polished just days before, the spring water was enjoyed and celebrated by guests at the Historic Preservation Alliance of Colorado Springs (HPA) 17th Annual Awards Gala.
This HPA event formally kicked off the full restoration of Tahama Spring, its memorial pavilion and the surrounding grounds. The reconstructed pavilion will rest above the flood plain, but will otherwise follow the original design. Tahama Spring water will flow from a limestone font and through a handcrafted pump, both replicated to match the earliest components.
Announced in June 2019, the new nonprofit organization – Tahamaspring.org – officially launched when their 501(c)3 charitable status was confirmed with the IRS. Their mission is to preserve, restore, protect and promote historic Tahama Spring. Their first goal is to reconstruct the original Spanish-style pavilion that covered the springs. A fundraising campaign is gearing up!
For more information, contact Tahamaspring.org Board President, Jeffrey Long, at j_long79@outlook.com. Learn more about Tahama
