The Mayor’s Minute from Mayor Patrick Collins – Sept. 12, 2025
Published on September 12, 2025
The week started off with a City Council work session to discuss the old airport terminal on 8th Avenue. This unique building shares a birth year with me – 1960. With the new terminal open, it is time to decide what to do with the old terminal. The unique hyperbolic paraboloid roof is one of the last of this midcentury modern design left in the country. The 65-year-old building also has deferred maintenance needs like updating the HVAC, plumbing, and electrical to bring the building up to code. A working group has been formed to help bring the building back to life and the idea is for the building to serve multiple uses. The Cloud 9 restaurant used to be a mainstay in the terminal, and it is hoped we can attract a new restaurant as part of the building. Cheyenne has an amazing aviation history, and the group also hopes to create a museum to tell our aviation story. Finally, the last major component would be to create an arts center in the building. The airport board would also like to keep the building open for charters and for diversions from DIA. The challenge is how to pay for the necessary updates and get the building ready for tenants. The presentation included how the 6th Penny sales tax might be leveraged in the future to help. The building is owned by the airport, and I know many of you are interested in what happens. Happy to report a motivated group is working to ensure the terminal’s future.
I was disappointed to learn that there are hundreds of kids in our city that don’t have a bed to sleep in at night. They may have a home, but not a bed. Saturday morning, Judy and I joined the team from Sleep in Heavenly Peace to build free beds for these kids. I don’t know what I expected, but this team of volunteers was so well organized. They had a station to cut the wood, jigs to mark where the holes need to be drilled, drill presses, a sanding station, an amazing jig built by Pinnacle Cabinets to hold everything together for assembly, a station to brand the SHP logo on the headboard, a vinegar dunk tank to deter bugs, and an ingenious jig to hold the slats in place. We loved the happy stories of the excitement of the kids when they got a new bed. They deliver and assemble the beds, including a mattress, pillow, sheets and a comforter. I grew up in a house where these kinds of things were expected. I love that there is a group of folks at St Paul’s Lutheran Church working to make sure kids are taken care of.
Last week, I told you I met with Chispa who puts on the Hispanic Festival here in Cheyenne. Saturday was the actual day of the event, and Judy and I enjoyed music, culture, and food. For me, the highlight was the dancing horses. The Andalusian and Friesian horses are so beautiful, and their ability to dance was amazing. The Charros could make them prance, strut, and dance. One 9-year-old girl rode her 5-year-old Andalusian named Cancion fearlessly. She looked so tiny on the 1,200-pound horse. We are blessed to have these horses and riders in our community sharing their Hispanic cowboy culture with us. I hope to see them dancing down Capitol Avenue again in the next Frontier Days Parade.
The Critical Traffic Control Program committee met again this week to discuss speeding in our neighborhoods. We have been spending extra time and resources trying to slow vehicles down on Central Avenue between 8th Avenue and Pershing Boulevard and we’re looking at other areas across our city. The statistics from this past month were disappointing with 25% of vehicles on the Central corridor still speeding. The committee will continue to study the area and the rest of the community to find creative ways to slow down vehicles and make our neighborhoods safer.
Lt. Brandon Rood retired from our fire department on Monday. He has spent the past 20 years serving and protecting our community and residents. It was nice to have his wife and many other family members in attendance. Tara shared their love of his time as a firefighter and how they spent many holidays and birthdays celebrating at the fire station as he was on duty. Brandon’s future plans are to be ordained as a Catholic Deacon and continuing to serve his community. We wish him a great retirement and a happy second act as a deacon.
An hour later, Detective Aaron Willmarth retired from the police department and his wife and daughters were at the celebration along with family and friends. He also spent 20 years protecting and serving our residents and shared his favorite duty at the department was serving on the narcotics team. He called it real police work. His last job was working in the computer lab working to find digital evidence to solve crimes which has set him up for a career in cyber security. Wishing Aaron a happy retirement!
I would also like to thank the families of the retired and all families of our military and first responders who hold the family together when their loved ones are serving our community. You rock!
Sam Payne began his career at the City of Cheyenne more than 30 years ago as a part-time employee maintaining our athletic fields. Today, he is the deputy director of our Community Recreation and Events Department helping support 12 divisions and more than 100 employees. It was fun to host Sam and the division managers in the office to celebrate his 30th anniversary with the City. You will see Sam at all our city events, wearing a straw cowboy hat and making sure our events meet your expectations. He told about feeding the elk and buffalo that used to live in Lions Park to driving vehicles in the old days with holes in the floorboards. How times have changed! He expressed his love for the team at CRE he gets to work with. I love Sam’s story, his dedication to serving the residents of Cheyenne and supporting his teammates. CRE is such an important part of the quality of life in Cheyenne: Fridays on the Plaza, parks, Greenways, the Civic Center, the Ice & Events Center, the Botanic Gardens, the Weed & Pest Division, baseball, softball, soccer, gymnastics, cemeteries, aquatics, gyms at the Beast, you name it. Thanks Sam and the team at CRE for all you do.
Last week was a feat that hasn’t happened in a very long time – all my football teams won in the same weekend. The University of Wyoming and Nebraska won on the college side, and the Denver Broncos and Buffalo Bills won on the pro side. It seems like a very long time since that has happened. I hate to admit I gave up on Josh and the Bills and turned it off when they were down by 15. Shame on me! Big challenge for the Pokes this weekend with Utah coming to town. I feel bad for Judy as she puts up with my fandom. Go Pokes, Huskers, Broncos, and Bills! I love this time of year.