Penrose funeral home to be demolished in January, families hope for memorial in its place

PENROSE, Colo. (KRDO) - The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has determined the Return to Nature Funeral Home in Penrose is too severe of a health hazard to remain standing and has ordered it to be demolished in January 2024.

The EPA surveyed this property back on November 15th, inspecting the inside of the building to check for structural concerns, and to monitor the lingering biohazard threats that may have remained after the removal of nearly 200 bodies throughout October.

The agency determined that “…demolition of the building is necessary to safely remove biological and hazardous materials found in the building.” You can see that full release here.

Families whose loved ones were among the remains found decomposing within the funeral home walls say they cannot wait to see the nightmare of a building come down.

“I’m glad it's going to be torn down. It needs to go. You know, it's hard to look at. It's really hard," explained Mary Simons, whose husband Darrell was among those identified.

Another family, Jasmine Mastes, whose grandmother Lorraine was sent to Return to Nature in 2019 for cremation, explains that the demolition will help heal a spiritual wound.

“To me, it feels like their souls will finally be at peace. They weren't laid to rest how they were supposed to be," said Mastes.

Simons agrees, adding, “I think it'll be therapeutic for all the victims."

Once the building is destroyed, Simons and Mastes say they would love to see a memorial that honors all 190 victims, with their names placed at the property, and to turn the land into a park of sorts.

"Just a nice little park that the families can come visit and feel like people care about what happened to their loved ones," said Simons.

"To help all the families come together once again and help support each other even more. even though we might be strangers to each other, we're still some sort of family," explained Mastes.

A lifelong resident of Canon City, Brian Wood, said he fully supports the idea of a memorial, but added the owners of the Return to Nature Funeral Home, Jon and Carie Hallford should be the ones to pay for it.

The embattled couple has their first appearance in El Paso County court on Tuesday, December 5th at 1:30 p.m.