COLORADO SPRINGS – City Council will hear from the parks department and members of USA Cycling at Monday’s work session about plans to make the inflatable dome over the Velodrome a permanent feature. Currently, the dome only covers the cycling venue at Memorial Park during the cold months of the year.
Since it was first put up in 2014, the Velodrome has seen a 55 percent increase in unique visitors. More than 600 of the top cyclists in the country have visited the city to train under the dome including multiple Olympic and Paralympic athletes.
Council is also preparing to buy and demolish three houses that were damaged by landslides back in the summer of 2015. The homes are all located in the Skyway neighborhood in the Southwest part of the city.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) awards grant money to the state, who then passes it onto the City to make these buyouts. The FEMA grants will only cover 75 percent of total buyout costs, including the cost of demolition. The homeowner must cover the remaining 25 percent.
As a consequence of the buyouts, no future development will be permitted on the land once the houses are demolished.
