Citing insurmountable logistical issues, the Colorado Springs, Colo., hotel has abandoned plans to revamp its golf courses into a single venue to attract large tournaments. The plan would have required closing a 3,000-foot stretch of Cheyenne Mountain Boulevard, which neighbors feared would eliminate an evacuation route if a wildfire broke out in the foothills.

The Broadmoor hotel has scrapped a proposed golf course improvement project, which hundreds of nearby residents had opposed because it would have required the closure of a portion of Cheyenne Mountain Boulevard, the Colorado Springs (Colo.) Gazette reported.

The Colorado Springs, Colo., hotel issued a news release Monday evening announcing the decision, and also announced it at a public meeting, the Gazette reported.

C&RB reported on the hotel’s ongoing discussions about the project earlier this month (“Discussion of The Broadmoor’s Golf Course Makeover to Continue“).

In April, the internationally known, five-star resort said it wanted to revamp its east and west golf courses to create a single venue that could attract the sport’s most prestigious tournaments, such as the U.S. Open, PGA Championship and the Ryder Cup, the Gazette reported.

The proposed upgrades would have required closing a 3,000-foot stretch of the two-lane Cheyenne Mountain Boulevard, which cuts through the southern one-third of the east and west courses. Neighbors had said they feared closing the road would have eliminated an evacuation route if a wildfire broke out in the foothills and raced down nearby Cheyenne Mountain, the Gazette reported.

The evacuation issue proved insurmountable, The Broadmoor said. According to the news release, The Broadmoor said the resort and its project team analyzed options that included improvements to intersections around the resort, tunneling under the course and rerouting West Cheyenne Mountain Boulevard, the Gazette reported.

“We concluded that to adequately expand the golf course, which would give us the additional yardage required to host a major men’s championship, we would need to totally vacate the boulevard,” Broadmoor President and CEO Steve Bartolin said in the news release. “Recognizing the potential impact on some neighbors if the road bisecting the East and West golf courses were removed, we started by contacting our neighbors and listening to their concerns.”

About 500 people attended an April 30 meeting in which hotel officials had laid out the plan, and many voiced opposition at that time. An online petition opposing the golf course project was started; as of Monday, it had 434 signatures, the Gazette reported.

During its community meetings in the spring, Bartolin said The Broadmoor would not reduce evacuation capacity if the project were to go forward, the Gazette reported.

“In the end, we simply couldn’t find a way to vacate West Cheyenne Mountain Boulevard without reducing evacuation capacity,” he said.

Bartolin said the resort still wants to attract major golf tournaments, the Gazette reported.

“If we can find other ways to attract major events, we certainly plan to do that,” Bartolin said.