First of 3 meetings gathers opinion on Christo's river art

Mary Voelz Chandler, Rocky Mountain News

Published January 18, 2006 at midnight

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CAÑON CITY - Economic development, medical emergencies, stressed sheep and the power of art drew more than 300 people to the Events Center at Holy Cross Abbey Tuesday night to tell officials what they think of the proposed "Over the River" project.

And did they ever: From representatives of the Cotopaxi-based group Rags Over the River, or ROAR, to the Friends of Over the River, centered in Salida, those attending moved from table to table, where officials - and the artists - stood prepared to answer questions about various aspects of the installation. It gave the open-house style public meeting the aura of a job fair, with walls lined with conceptual images of the piece and plenty of maps.

The job here, though, was gathering opinion, the first of three "scoping" meetings sponsored by the Bureau of Land Management to hear concerns and opinions about a project that has divided the Arkansas River Valley for years.

"I asked them if they would donate all the money (they raise) to the state of Colorado and let the whole state benefit from it," said Joe Kendall of Cañon City.

Meanwhile, Howard resident Ellen Hopkins, who moved there from Denver about 18 months ago with her husband, was dropping off comment sheets that addressed numerous popular concerns, including the fear of medical emergencies caused by traffic tie-ups involving visitors.

"I support the project," said Hopkins, whose home is about halfway between Salida and Cotopaxi. "Whatever concerns people have can be dealt with. I live in an impacted area. I'm a wildlife supporter and I think the BLM is working on a careful plan."

Public meetings also are planned for 6 p.m. today in Cotopaxi - where emotions are expected to run higher - and at 6 p.m. Thursday in the Senior Citizens Center in Salida.

"Over the River" is not exactly new. First broached in the mid-1990s by artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude, the project, as described now, would cover about 7 miles, in eight separate sections, of a 40-mile stretch of the Arkansas River between Salida and Cañon City with a translucent and porous silvery material. The material is to be suspended 8 feet to 25 feet above the water, and not extend over the banks of the Arkansas.

Earlier Tuesday, representatives from more than a dozen agencies and departments, ranging from the Colorado State Patrol to the Division of Wildlife, met at the BLM office to hear the artists formally present their proposal.

In an interview afterward, the manager of the BLM's Royal Gorge Field Office said the process had begun years ago with a sense of the artists' intent. "Now we have things in writing," said Roy Masinton. He said the public meetings would allow the artists "to answer the specifics of the project itself."

The BLM requires the environmental assessment, and a draft could be finished by this summer, prompting another round of meetings to gather more comment. For the project to become real, the BLM must give it a "finding of no significant impact." The Colorado State Parks also must issue a permit.

But the artists are used to waits, to process and to answering a lot of questions, often many times, as became clear in an interview Tuesday.

"This is not our first project," said Christo. "We are 70 years old."

"We never do twice the same work of art," said Jeanne-Claude, "so the concerns of the local people cannot be the same."

"This is a very simple project," said Christo. "Concerns can be mitigated. It is not like building an atomic bomb."

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