By Blake Fontenay The Pueblo Chieftain

Restoring City Park’s eastern entrance to its former glory has turned out to be a monumental task.

The entrance was designed by Charles Dittmer about 115 years ago. It included wrought iron gates, stone pillars, decorative urns and a pair of sculptures of griffins.

Griffins are mythological creatures, half eagle and half lion, who were known in folklore for guarding treasures and other priceless possessions. So having them at the park’s entrance made sense for those who regarded the park as one of Pueblo’s finest amenities.

However, the entrance fell into disrepair through the years. Some parts were either destroyed or came up missing.

Then about six years ago, a couple of neighbors in Aberdeen started talking about how nice it would be to return the entrance to the way it had looked in its early days.

The city parks and recreation department did some landscaping work to beautify the area around the entrance. Welding students from Pueblo Community College fashioned a new set of iron gates. But replicating the decorative touches provided by the griffins and the urns wasn’t easy.

One of the griffins had been heavily damaged by vandals, while the other was missing. The neighborhood raised money from private sources to hire a sculptor to make suitable replacements.

“People just sent checks,” said Corinne Koehler, one of the neighbors who spearheaded the entrance revitalization project. “We didn’t even really have to ask for money.”

After an artist and sufficient funding had been found, it seemed like the project was well on its way toward completion. But not without some additional setbacks.

The sculptor, Huberto Maestas, had a fire at his studio that set the work back. Then his son passed away a couple of months ago.

In time, though, the griffins were ready to go.

“They are so beautiful,” Koehler said. “They are going to look so good.”

For the time being, they’ve been put into storage at City Park. Like the rest of us, they’ve essentially been confined indoors by stay-at-home orders.

That left the urns flanking the gates, which were expected to be one of the final elements to be finished before the restoration project could be considered complete.

The urns were taken to Krage Manufacturing to provide powder coating to protect them from the elements. Sam Krage, the company’s president and owner, said Friday that task was finished and the urns are ready for delivery.

Which, in ordinary times, would be cause for a celebration. Unfortunately, we’re not living in ordinary times. Plans for a grand re-opening ceremony for the park entrance have been placed on hold indefinitely by the coronavirus.

Which is frustrating to those who have been involved in the project through the years.

“People keep asking when the griffins are going to go up,” Koehler said.

Steven Meier, director of the city’s parks and recreation department, wishes he had an answer for that one.

“It is very frustrating,” Meier said of the delays that have plagued the project. “It has seemed like one thing after another.”

However, Meier said the new entrance will get its proper due after the danger posed by the coronavirus has lessened and it’s been deemed safe for people to gather in groups again.

Koehler is anxiously awaiting that day’s arrival.

“The last step is to put the griffins and the urns up,” she said.

One footnote: Although they’ve been part of City Park’s history for more than a century, apparently the griffins never have been officially named. Koehler indicated that some type of contest to come up with names might be appropriate.

Meanwhile, she and her neighbors in Aberdeen continue to wait for the project to be christened. They wait, like patience on a monument. So to speak.

bfontenay@chieftain.com