Judge puts hold on Over the River project

A federal judge has ruled that the artist Christo cannot begin construction of his Arkansas River project until a lawsuit seeking to block it is decided.

Our news partners at the Pueblo Chieftain report U.S. District Judge John Kane granted a request by Christo’s company to intervene in the lawsuit. Intervening allows Christo to protect his interests by joining the U.S. Bureau of Land Management as a defendant.

Rags Over the Arkansas River Inc., which opposes Christo’s Over the River project, sued the BLM in February to block it.

Christo wants to hang nearly six miles’ worth of luminous fabric for two weeks above parts of a 42-mile stretch of the Arkansas River between Canon City and Salida. He acknowledged in July that opponents’ legal challenges would delay the project.