Pikeview Quarry plans to remain in current Colorado Springs location for 20 years

The president of a 115-year-old limestone quarry in Colorado Springs said Friday that mining will continue during the search for a new location.
Jerry Schnabel, president of the mine’s parent company, Transit Mix Concrete, said the state’s denial this spring of a request to move to a location along Highway 115 near Fort Carson won’t change his plan to continue mining limestone for the next 10 years.
“That’s about the amount of limestone we have left in the quarry,” he said. “Then we’ll take 10 years to reclaim the quarry and return it to a natural state.”

Strong public opposition led the state mining board to vote 3-2 against approving the new location. The company has faced similar opposition from current neighbors regarding noise and dust produced from dump trucks.

Schnabel said he’s aware that the quarry’s visible and recognizable mining scar, formed in the 1950’s during the removal of limestone for the construction of the Air Force Academy, is a target of criticism, especially from neighbors.

“If I was mining a quarry such as this one, I wouldn’t do it the way it was done here back then,” he said. “The challenge is how can you conceal a quarry to prevent it from turning out the way this one did?”

Schnabel said after the mining operation is finished, the company will start a 10-year reclamation project to return the quarry to a natural state.

“We’re trying to be responsible and be good neighbors by not stripping the quarry dry,” he said.

The company has narrowed a list of more than 100 possible locations down to 10, Schnabel said.A suggested use for the quarry when it closes is turning it into a world-class mountain bike park, but the idea has generated mixed opinions from neighbors and led officials to question whether such a park can be operated safely.

“I’d rather have a bike park than a mine,” said Bryan Cash, a spokesman for one of several area homeowners’ associations. “But we’ve heard stories before about how the company would improve the quarry, and we’re still waiting to see it. If they can prove the reclamation will work, maybe the neighbors will be more accepting of (the company’s) future plans.”

The mine opened in 1903 and has provided limestone for building parts of downtown and Interstate 25. Currently, the limestone is used in the local construction industry as gravel and concrete.

The quarry closed in 2006 after a large upper section of rock broke and slid down the mountain. It reopened in 2010 after numerous safety checks and the installation of equipment to monitor ground movement.

Schnabel said the quarry’s location protected the adjacent Oak Valley community from the 2012 Waldo Canyon Fire and also prevents flash flooding by slowing the flow of drainage through the quarry.

“We also treat the water that comes out of the quarry and release it as clear water,” he said.