Christmas in ruins
Sorry folks, but Christmas has been cancelled. At Mesa Verde National Park, at least.
Park officials reported this week that due to ongoing stability concerns at Spruce Tree House, the annual holiday luminaria ogling has been scrapped.
“I regret that we have to cancel the event,” Cliff Spencer, Mesa Verde Superintendent, said, “but I cannot justify allowing our staff into Spruce Tree House to place and light the lanterns with the risk of rock fall present.”
The site will be undergoing a geotechnical analysis next year, which park officials hope will give them a better handle on how to address the issue. The natural sandstone alcove in which Spruce Tree House was built has been slowly crumbling over the last several decades due to natural erosion processes. Early stabilization work was done in the 1940s, and again in the ’60s. It is believed some of this early stabilization work may have further compromised the arch, necessitating modern engineering techniques to prop it back up. Spruce Tree House has been closed to visitors since October 2015.
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