Pikeview Quarry expects mountain scar to be ‘not identifiable’ by summer
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) - What many have called an eyesore for years is getting a new facelift. The mountain "scar" of the Pikeview Quarry is what's left after about 100 years of mining.
Castle Aggregate, the company that owns the Pikeview Quarry location, said it expects the grass to cover the scar by summer 2025 as it enters the final stage of its reclamation project.
"By next summer, this will become a nice green grass slope," Castle Aggregate consultant Jerry Schnabel said.
The first planted grass stems have already popped up along the quarry. Schnabel said its seeds will speed up the growing process exponentially.
"I think it will take off next summer, and this will be a green slope-- and probably from the interstate-- not even be identifiable as a quarry," Jerry said.
The Gidwitz's, a family from Chicago, owns Castle Aggregate. They bought the quarry in 1972 and are in the final step of its state-mandated reclamation project required at all quarry sites in Colorado after being exhausted or shut down. Schnabel said the family has paid for the entire reclamation.
Schnabel said the family plans to donate the Pikeview Quarry site to the City of Colorado Springs after being released from its reclamation bond and permits held by the Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety. He estimates the bond release to come in 2026.
"The city put up with a scar for years and generations, and he wanted to give it back to the city," Schnabel said.
Schnabel said the family wants the space to become a mountain bike park for residents of Colorado Springs.
The city said it would wait on an independent safety check before deciding whether or not to accept the donation. It said the community has expressed a desire for a mountain bike park in that part of the city, but the plan would have to go through the standard public process if the donation goes through.
