Boulder News

WAVE THAT FLAG

Eldorado Turns 100

By Amy Brouillette, 7-04-05

Along with America’s independence, yesterday also marked the centennial celebration of Eldorado Springs Resort—Boulder’s sleepy pool enclave that was once the pinnacle of high society in the west. Monday's gala was a nod to resort’s glory days, back when the pool was a prestigious 40-room hotel-and-spa getaway, a place to see-and-be-seen for upscale folk and celebrity types. Glenn Miller and Louis Armstrong played the resort's once-grand ballroom; Jack Dempsey was a frequent hotel guest, and Dwight and Mamie Eisenhower even honeymooned here.

While no longer the celeb-hangout (or, let’s face it, the pristine facility) it once was, one thing has apparently changed little over the pool’s 100-year-history: the parking situation (see photo of jam-packed pool parking lot from early 1900s above). Yesterday's festivities came on top of the regular Fourth of July crowd that draws masses of day-trippers, hikers, bikers, climbers, picnickers, bbq-ers and pool-dwellers into this tiny box canyon on this day each year. By 10 a.m. Eldo was swarming with traffic—the human, bicycle and vehicle kinds—as visitors crammed into town vying for a coveted parking spot. With the limited spaces across from the pool now reserved for staff, motorist have few choices: find a spot along the dirt road, join the amorphous tangle of cars in the make-shift lot just down the road, or risk the ire of a local by doing the unthinkable: park in a resident's space (not recommended). It’s an unregulated and disorganized affair, much like the hippie hamlet that is Eldo itself, and one that has become a normal part of the summertime rhythm here.

The pool’s owners (who’ve always got the best parking spot) are also the same folks who own Eldorado Artesian Springs, the world-class bottled water company (Eldo water has been rated the best-tasting water on the continent, and the third-best in the world). Yesterday's event was a celebration of the resort's good-old days, sure, but judging by the towering 30-foot blow up Eldorado Artesian Springs water bottle hovering over the pool, it was also a chance at some good old fashion pr for the bottle-water side of their biz. In March, company heads announced declining sales due to increased competition in the bottled water game (Coca-Cola and Nestle have now joined in)—and told stockholders the company planned to up its marketing efforts. The pool bash could be an example of this -- a shrewd mix of patriotism, nostalgia and business—not that there’s anything wrong with that. What could be more American than mixing business with pleasure on the Fourth of July?

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