CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Cheyenne councilmembers have a firm grasp on next steps for several years-long projects. However, plans for other initiatives are still up in the air.
On Wednesday, the Cheyenne City Council reviewed progress on its 2024 project priorities. Councilmembers discussed progress on restoring the Historic Pumphouse, revitalization of steam engines for the 15th Street Railroad Experience, development of trails on the Belvoir Ranch and design work on the Reed Avenue Corridor.
The city initially held its annual goal-setting session in January. Mayor Patrick Collins said the city will hold its next session in early 2025 once new councilmembers are sworn in.
A recording of the full goal-setting review can be viewed below.
Historic Pumphouse
The first goal city staff discussed Wednesday was preservation of the Historic Pumphouse on the city’s West Edge. On Aug. 16, the city held a work session to provide updates on the pumphouse project.
The Historic Pumphouse, just off Ames Avenue, first entered operation in the late 19th century and at one point processed 2 million gallons of water, according to the city’s website. The property was vacated several years ago, and the city has considered preserving the building a priority for this year.
Councilmember Pete Laybourn has championed the goal to save the pumphouse. Right now, councilmembers are considering two main avenues to handle the pumphouse: restoring the building or following through with “mothballing,” which is the process of deactivating equipment or a facility and setting it aside for the time being.
Several councilmembers — including Tom Segrave and Michelle Aldrich — were in favor of restoring the property, which the city estimates would cost around $4 million. The cost to mothball is around $1 million. If the city were to restore the property, then they would seek out a tenant to occupy the pumphouse.
City councilmembers officially passed the pumphouse project off to Mayor Collins, who said Wednesday night that he has already made a decision to work toward designing a plan to restore the building. The Greater Cheyenne Chamber of Commerce may be interested in moving its offices to the revitalized facility, the mayor said.
“Their executive board has met, they’re excited about the idea of the project,” Collins said about the chamber’s staff. “There’s just some unknowns yet, but once we get some of those unknowns answered, we’ve agreed to work towards a solution to save this building. I’m very excited about it.”
Councilmembers then discussed how they would fund the restoration process. Collins said if the city is committed to save the building, then it will have to invest something into the building. He said the city should work with the chamber to mutually finance the restoration costs.
15th Street Railroad Experience Project
Councilmember Jeff White is leading the charge on the city’s multi-year 15th Street Railroad Experience Project, which aims to relocate and revitalize historic train cars in the city to the Cheyenne Depot Museum. The city is aiming to complete rail car renovations by fall 2025 and transportation by spring 2026.
The city received a $618,400 EDA grant in 2022 to revitalize three rail cars. The city also accepted a $480,000 donation in November to restore Ol’ Sadie, Wyoming’s oldest steam engine, which is currently stationed at the Cheyenne Botanic Gardens. The city, however, needs to locate an additional $850,000 to $1 million to complete remaining work on site implementation, according to Wednesday’s presentation. Councilmember Aldrich said voters should decide whether to support the project via an optional sixth-penny sales tax.
“I don’t feel comfortable taking a million dollars out of our reserves to do this project that, quite honestly, I don’t have very many constituents who are in favor of this project at all,” Aldrich said.
White said the city doesn’t currently have a revised plan to move forward with the project. On June 21, the city held a work session with urban design company DHM Design to discuss an updated master plan for the project. The city has to consider a myriad of factors for the rail car project, including impacts to resident parking and a strategy to maximize public engagement.
Segrave said that discussions on alternative plans have delayed any action on the initiative.
“It’s just gotten so complicated and convoluted and delayed that it’s really hard for us to keep track of it,” Segrave said.
The city is currently awaiting revised site plan documents for the 15th Street Railroad Experience Project. Councilmembers will revisit the project in the 2025 goal-setting session.
Belvoir Ranch
For over 20 years, the City of Cheyenne has owned the 18,800-acre Belvoir Ranch in south Laramie County, on the border of Colorado. It’s only been in the last few years that the city has moved forward to establish a trailhead and trails for the public to enjoy.
The Belvoir Ranch project, which has been spearheaded by Councilmember Scott Roybal, was the subject of discussion at a work session in June. Since spring, the city has been creating over 6 miles of non-motorized trails and a trailhead. The trails are being constructed about 3 miles south of Interstate 80 off Harriman Road and just north of the Union Pacific Railroad. The trails will be completed by the end of 2024, and they will be accessible to the public in summer 2025.
In addition to recreation use, the city is mulling over whether it will utilize the ranch as a source for solar power. Councilmember Segrave has led the effort for a solar energy plan and said he sees the Belvoir Ranch initiative as “one of those projects that continues to evolve.” He said Wednesday he has had conversations with NextEra Energy. The company told Segrave that solar panels could be installed on around 700–1,000 acres of the ranch. He also said the city could lease the property.
“There’s always going to be some additional details that come up on this project, but it seems to me that we accomplished the basics of the goal we wanted to accomplish,” Councilmember White said.
Looking forward, the city is considering next steps as the ranch trails are under construction. The city will have to determine which city department and division will manage ranch maintenance. Councilmembers will also have to think about future funding sources for maintaining the trails. Staff are also brainstorming additional uses for the ranch and working on updating the project master plan, which councilmembers discussed at their June work session. Past ideas have included campgrounds, a museum, a university research center and picnic shelters.
In January, the city received around $500,000 in ARPA funds to use toward constructing the trailhead. The city is also on track to receive $216,000 for design-build services and ongoing trail maintenance at its Monday night council meeting.
Reed Avenue Corridor
Ken Esquibel is championing the Reed Avenue Corridor Project, which strives to convert the street’s right of way into a public space for pedestrian and bicycle access, event spaces and economic development, according to the city’s website. For 2024, the city’s main priorities were to locate underground utilities and determine a suitable crossing closure. The city also wants to make plans for an underpass on Lincolnway.
A contractor was hired in January to handle the utilities. Currently, the city wants to close the crossings at 17th and 21st streets, but Esquibel recommended closing the 18th Street crossing as well.
The project is currently being funded through sixth-penny ballot funds approved by voters in 2021. The project currently has $2,318,252, but the total price tag is estimated to be around $14 million. Esquibel said the project would require additional sixth-penny funding in order to continue. The city will also finalize an application in September for the Rail Crossing Elimination Grant to fund the crossing closures, Esquibel said.
The city is anticipating having a final design for the corridor project in late 2024 or early 2025.
