By Lyndsie Ferrell
CREEDE— Over the last several months Mineral County, the City of Creede, the Town of South Fork and Rio Grande County have been working together to try and purchase the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad from current owner Don Shank.
The rail was placed up for sale in the spring of 2016 and after some time, the above-mentioned entities have collected enough funding to finalize a land survey and look into future funding options in order to buy the line from Shank, but has reached a standstill for the time being.
Rio Grande County officials, including the Town of South Fork have been working with Mineral County Commissioners and the City of Creede to try to acquire the railroad in order to salvage the historical significance and integrity it has long brought to the area.
Through several due diligence activities, the four entities have furthered their inquiry into the acquisition but have made no attempt to actually purchase the line or stop owner Don Shank from selling to any other interested parties. According to the statement from Rio Grande County, officials have not, by any means, given money to Shank to “hold” the rail for purchase.
“There has been a lot of mis-communication pertaining to this particular project and it was decided in February to allow Mineral County to take the lead on the project. It made more since for them to have the lead due to the fact that most of the line is in Mineral County,” explained Rio Grande Commissioner Karla Shriver.
As far as what is happening with the project now, according to Mineral County Administrator Janelle Kukuk the project is at a standstill. With so many other projects happening in Mineral County at this time, the county has opted to focus on one thing at a time but will continue to look at funding options as time allows.