The house-sized boulder that has been blocking a Colorado highway for two weeks will not be exploded after all.

The governor says it will be given a name and the road will be rerouted around it.

Jared Polis announced Tuesday that his administration has opted not to destroy the 8.5-million-pound rock on Highway 145 between Cortez and Telluride.

“We expect that for generations to come, people will have the opportunity to observe this geological masterpiece that we’re calling Memorial Rock,” Polis said at a news conference.

Presumably, the name was chosen because the rock fell on the road at the start of Memorial Day weekend.

Polis said the decision will save taxpayers about $200,000.

Even without the demolition, repairs are expected to run about $1.3 million, some of which will come from federal emergency dollars, he said.

Rocks, dirt and two giant boulders destroyed the full width of the road in a rockfall on May 24, leaving an 8-foot trench across both lanes and making the section impassable. Nobody was injured.

The smaller of the two boulders, weighing 2.3 million pounds, was blown up May 27. That allowed one lane of the highway to be reopened, with portable traffic lights to allow alternating use.

Highway 145 is on the western slope of the Rockies, in the state’s southwest corner.