Slate writes: “….There's
a new town in Colorado. It has about 50 buildings, including a saloon, a
church, a jail, a firehouse, a livery and a train station. Soon, it will have a
mansion on a hill so the town's founder can look down on his creation. But
don't expect to move here — or even to visit.
“This town is billionaire Bill Koch's fascination with the
Old West rendered in bricks and mortar. It sits on a 420-acre meadow on his
Bear Ranch below the Raggeds Wilderness Area in Gunnison County. It's an
unpopulated, faux Western town that might boggle the mind of anyone who ever
had a playhouse. Its full-size buildings come with polished brass and
carved-mahogany details and are fronted with board sidewalks and underpinned by
a water-treatment system. A locked gate with guards screens who comes and goes.
“Koch's project manager has told county officials that the
enclave in the middle of the 6,400-acre Bear Ranch won't ever be open to the
public. It is simply for Koch's amusement and for that of his family and
friends — and historians. It is the ultimate repository for his huge collection
of Western memorabilia…..”
No comments:
Post a Comment