A defeat for group opposing Christo's 'Over the River' project

The primary group opposing Christo's plan to drape fabric panels over nearly 6 miles of the Arkansas River suffered a defeat in court Thursday but vows to keep fighting the artist's elaborate project. The Colorado Court of Appeals denied an appeal filed by Rags Over the Arkansas River that argued Colorado State Parks violated its own special permit regulations when it approved the "Over the River" project planned between Cañon City and Salida. While the three-judge court agreed the proper procedures weren't followed, it ultimately decided to let the approval stand because the parks agency had strong evidence to support its decision. "At bottom, ROAR's disagreement with the authorization of the project is a disagreement with the project itself - not the process used to approve the project," reads the ruling. "But that is not enough to establish the prejudice necessary to invalidate an agency action." Christo intends to spend $50 million on the project. Installation, which involves drilling steel anchors and erecting frames to suspend more than 900 silver fabric panels 8 feet to 25 feet above the river, is expected to last 27 weeks. The temporary project then would be on display for two weeks, and Christo believes it would attract about 560,000 visitors...more