At the beginning of 2021, the top of the pandemic appeared inside our grasp. A yr later, that objective continues to be elusive because the virus continues to mutate. Breakthrough instances emerge among the many vaccinated whereas the political divide over measures comparable to masks and vaccine mandates persists.
At the beginning of 2021, Colorado Springs was awaiting a solution on whether or not whether or not the town would maintain U.S. Space Command and its 1,400 airmen. A yr later, the reply has lengthy been identified, with plans for the command to transfer to Huntsville, Ala., and metropolis and state leaders nonetheless hoping to get that call overturned by the Biden administration. The Pentagon’s Inspector General and the Government Accountability Office are anticipated to launch findings of their investigations this yr into how Huntsville was awarded the command.
Who is aware of what surprises await us in 2022? We haven’t got a crystal ball with the reply. But listed here are some issues we will anticipate this yr:
• Colorado Springs’ first Whataburger is anticipated to open in the primary quarter of the brand new yr in the InterQuest Marketplace procuring heart, east of Interstate 25 alongside InterQuest Parkway on the town’s far north facet. A Whataburger franchisee is bringing the Texas-based hamburger chain to the Springs; its cult-like following rivals that of California-based In-N-Out Burger. The Whataburger franchisee additionally has plans for three extra areas in the Springs.
• Denver-based Tattered Cover, the state’s largest unbiased bookstore and one of many bookselling business’s greatest identified names for simply over a half-century, will broaden to Colorado Springs when it opens in the spring at 112 N. Tejon St. in the center of downtown. Tattered Cover will transfer into a portion of a greater than century-old constructing that the majority lately housed the Zeezo’s costume and magic store.
• Here are two candy bits of reports for Colorado Springs’ northeast facet. In January, Amy’s Donuts plans to open its second Springs location, northeast of Powers Boulevard and North Carefree Circle. About a month later, Krispy Kreme Doughnuts will open northwest of Powers and South Carefree, returning to the Springs after an absence of 16 years.
• Vine and Wheel, 616 S. Tejon St,. is scheduled to open in February. It’s one other idea from Altitude Hospitality Group, owned by Mitch Yellen. It shall be in the identical constructing as AHG’s different eateries, Garden of the Gods Cafe and Market and Till Neighborhood Bistro. The wine bar will provide wines by the bottle and glass. There shall be a menu of small plates and charcuterie boards. It shall be a retail market for cheese and wine too. Yellen can even open Trainwreck Colorado, 812 S. Sierra Madre St., in March. The sports activities bar can have golf simulators, stadium-size TV, billiards, sand volleyball, bocce ball, shuffleboard, yard video games, stay music, bar and meals.
Online gross sales large Amazon is anticipated to open two extra supply stations this yr — one in a former Sam’s Club store now below renovation at 715 S. Academy Blvd. and the opposite in a new constructing on the location of the previous Western Forge hand software manufacturing plant at 4607 Forge Road. Delivery stations are warehouses the place Amazon drivers decide up merchandise and ship it to buyer houses.
• Southwest Airlines will examine passenger numbers on flights to Houston and San Antonio it operated on a check foundation in the course of the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays to decide whether or not to add the cities to its Colorado Springs schedule on both a season or year-around foundation. Airport officers additionally try to persuade Southwest or United to provide nonstop service from Colorado Springs to the Washington, D.C., space, the highest native vacation spot with out nonstop flights.
• Catalyst Campus is anticipated to start building early this yr on a sixth workplace constructing in the 12-acre enterprise park on the japanese fringe of downtown Colorado Springs to home its rising assortment of space-focused startups and protection contractors. That’s simply step one in an bold plan to broaden the campus in the course of the subsequent 10 years.
• The Space Foundation is scheduled to maintain its first full in-person Space Symposium since 2019 in April at The Broadmoor. Last yr’s symposium was postponed till late August, when it was held as a hybrid in-person and on-line occasion, and the occasion was canceled in 2020, each as a results of the COVID-19 pandemic. Before that, the symposium usually attracted about 15,000 individuals from throughout the globe.
• The Colorado Springs Airport is anticipated to start a main renovation of the 28-year-old passenger terminal, beginning with the restrooms. The challenge is anticipated to price $10 million to $20 million, take three to 5 years to full, and is designed to enhance capability; add meals and reward choices’ make the airport simpler to navigate for individuals with disabilities; and improve and exchange worn-out or growing old tools. The airport hopes to finance the challenge by utilizing income from its Peak Innovation enterprise park or funding from the Biden administrations $1.2 trillion infrastructure program.
• The Colorado Springs City Council could appoint Stephannie Fortune to exchange Councilman Richard Skorman and serve till 2023. Her anticipated appointment has already sparked some controversy as a result of she has solely lived in District 3, the southwest portion of city, since Nov. 15.
• Colorado Springs may develop by a number of thousand acres to the south as builders plan for Amara, a new subdivision of roughly 5,600 acres. A portion of Amara was annexed to the town of Fountain in 2008 and now builders have requested to go away Fountain doubtless in favor of Colorado Springs, over water considerations. Fountain can’t instantly present the water service builders want.
• Drivers alongside the 18-mile stretch of Interstate 25 between Monument and Castle Rock have been ready to attain their locations toll-free since all three lanes in every path, together with a pair of categorical lanes, opened in late 2021 as a part of the South Gap challenge, a yr forward of schedule. Tolls are being waived in the course of the testing section, throughout which state transportation officers are gauging how the lanes function. The testing section is anticipated to final by means of a lot of 2022. Tolls will go into impact as soon as the testing section is full this yr, and a state board will set the charges earlier than the brand new lanes open.
Voters in El Paso and Teller counties will elect a spate of latest officers throughout midterm elections in November. In El Paso County, residents will elect two county commissioners in Districts 1 and 5, in addition to a county treasurer, assessor, sheriff, coroner, clerk and recorder and surveyor. In Teller County, voters will elect a county commissioner in District 2, in addition to a county assessor, treasurer, sheriff, coroner, and clerk and recorder. Residents in a number of Pikes Peak space cities and cities will elect a mayor and council members, together with in Monument, Palmer Lake and Woodland Park. Gov. Jared Polis, in the meantime, is keeping track of as many as 14 Republicans who may take him on in 2022, because the Democratic tech millionaire seeks a second time period.
• Could 2022 be the yr electric-powered bikes have their authorized day in Colorado Springs parks and open areas? They have been to be allowed on a short-term foundation final yr whereas their long-term fates have been determined, however officers known as off the pilot program amid heated pushback. While different Front Range communities have formally accepted e-bikes on trails, they continue to be a heated subject in the Springs. One facet claims they permit entry like every other bike, whereas one other facet claims they threaten the recreation panorama and are usually not allowed below the town’s non-motorized restrictions.
• Residents of northern and southern El Paso County may go to long-anticipated open areas. In the woods of Palmer Lake, Santa Fe Open Space’s trails are doubtless to be unveiled first, earlier than Kane Ranch Open Space’s 4-mile loop on the prairie close to Fountain.
• In spring, a plan is anticipated to define and strategize the Pikes Peak area’s “biggest, most ambitious conservation and recreation goals.” That’s the outline of an initiative known as Elevate the Peak. As a main, deep-rooted funder, Palmer Land Conservancy convened land managers and advocates all through 2021 to talk about huge concepts.
• A community of nonprofit medical clinics for the indigent will open a $4.5 million well being care heart throughout the road from Colorado Springs’ largest homeless shelter. When it debuts on Feb. 14, Peak Vista Community Health Center Downtown will provide medical, dental, psychological well being and care coordination to the homeless inhabitants, individuals at threat of being homeless and different low-income residents.
• Starting in March, seniors who want seize bars, wheelchair ramps, railings, roof repairs and different residence enhancements to assist them stay unbiased can get them for free by means of the brand new Senior Home Modification program, a joint effort between Silver Key Senior Services and Pikes Peak Habitat for Humanity.
• Letecia Stauch’s trial is scheduled to start March 28, and is anticipated to final round six weeks. That timeline may see issues, nonetheless, as a result of Stauch’s protection requires her to once more bear a psychological analysis. 4th Judicial District Judge Gregory Werner ordered in December would happen at the Colorado Mental Health Institute in Pueblo. At that point, he mentioned his newest data was that the state psychological hospital had a 352-person backlog for individuals ready for competency or restoration companies. Stauch is accused of killing her 11-year-old stepson, Gannon, in early 2020.