"Over The River" by Christo and Jeanne-Claude

Artist Christo recently told residents of Salida (approx. 90 miles south of Breckenridge) he would be willing to pay for ambulances, helicopters and firefighters to be stationed along the Arkansas River for visitors to a planned exhibit that would drape a giant canopy over the river.

He also offered to install watering troughs for bighorn sheep that may be spooked by the translucent aluminum-coated fabric panels suspended from 8 to 20 feet above the river in a 7 mile stretch just east of Salida to the Parkdale siding 10 miles west of Canon City.

The success of "The Gates, Central Park,"has advanced their planned work, "Over the River," which was first conceived in 1995. "There will be many interruptions (in the fabric panels) for boulders, rock formations, vegetation," Christo said. "The fabric panels' width will be the same width as the water."

An environmental impact study needed for the necessary permits is 75 percent complete, he told a standing room only crowd at a theater in Salida. Christo needs approval from the Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area governing agencies of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and Colorado State Parks. Once approved, Christo said it would take workers about a year to install the anchors for the fabric. He said he hoped to have the installation ready for sometime in mid-July and mid-August of 2008.

Christo said he looked at 89 places in the Rocky Mountain region."We chose the Arkansas River because it is so habitable there is so much human activity. Also, there is no screen of trees to block the view of the river and there are high banks," Christo said.