New mural celebrates history of growing Colorado town in Douglas County

Work will be completed on Wednesday on a new mural in downtown Castle Rock. It's a celebration of the town's history.

The Douglas County Housing Partnership received a grant from the Town of Castle Rock for the project. The grant program is designed to encourage unique and creative ways to celebrate America's 250th anniversary of independence and Colorado's 150th anniversary of statehood.

"I was born in 1948, so I've seen this growth, tremendous growth," said Clarine Barclay, resident at Reyn Rock Plaza Senior Housing.

Barclay remembers the Castle Rock of the past like it was yesterday.

"It was quiet. There wasn't a whole lot of activity going on," said Barclay.

As a teen, she made frequent trips to the town from Denver.

"It was good. It was just a little one-stoplight kind of a place, and that's what we did," said Barclay. "As a new teen, we would drive with the boys. You know, there was a race track kind of over that way, and they were all into cars."

Today, Barclay lives in downtown Castle Rock.

"It has totally grown," said Barclay. "It's a little bit noisier, but I really like a lot of the things that they have done."

Her memories of the once-small town helped inspire a mural on the side of her building.

"I love the trains when we came down here. Of course, the rock up there," said Barclay.

Now there's a new piece of history turning heads downtown. On Wednesday, the artist will seal a new mural with one final clear coat.

"It's so fun, bigger the better, you know? I feel like I'm in the scene at a certain point when the lighting and the shadow come together," said Colorado Springs-based mural artist Michael Beenenga.

Beenenga sketched the mural based on ideas and recollections from older adults interviewed by the Douglas County Housing Partnership.

"When somebody comes to me and has an idea for a mural, I kind of feel like I'm the director, they're the producer. And so we just kind of, creatively, play together until we get the project done," said Beenenga.

Then he laid his design on the wall with the help of VR goggles, hopped on a lift, and got to work bringing the vision to life.

"The horse is an homage to the Native American tribes that were in this area. So it's a painted war horse, the Ute, Arapaho and Cheyenne," said Beenenga.

The mural includes a Native American war horse, the Castle Rock (complete with star and flag), a bald eagle, and the Montezuma locomotive.

"The first train that came through was the Montezuma, and so they asked that that be in there and just pay an homage to the history of Castle Rock," said Beenenga.

"The train thrills me," said Barclay.

Even the stones beneath the railroad tracks have significance.

"I've been told rhyolite was such a huge part of growing Castle Rock. And so for me, that was fun to put in," said Beenenga.

The mural is called "The Spirit to Excel."

"You can't dismiss technology, you can't dismiss innovation. But also that spirit to excel in all of us," said Beenenga. "I want the viewer to really kind of take a look at it and dive into it themselves."

"It shows action, definitely, and it shows heritage," said Debra Holliway, resident at Reyn Rock Plaza Senior Housing. "It's really enhancing downtown."

"Michael is such a genuine, sweet person, and so he tells me different techniques and what he's doing," said Barclay. "Every day's different. I come out here, and I look and go, 'Oh, I didn't know that was going to be there,' that kind of thing. So it's been kind of fun."

The mural is on the side of 403 Perry St. in Castle Rock.