Visitor Center at Rocky Mountain Arsenal to Honor Pat Schroeder

COMMERCE CITY — Former U.S. Rep. Pat Schroeder spent much of her political career at the helm of a movement that would transform 15,000 acres of deeply toxic land in Commerce City into the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge.

On Wednesday, 18 years after Schroeder left office, nearly 100 dignitaries and community members gathered in front of the refuge's visitor center to see the unveiling of its new name: Pat Schroeder Visitor Center.

"I started working on (having the center named for Schroeder) when I was first elected to Congress, and it, somewhat fittingly, took this long to get it done," said U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette, a Denver Democrat who now represents District 1.

She said: "In March 1991, Pat introduced a bill that would turn the land over to the National Fish and Wildlife Service. It took a lot of work by a lot of people to pass that bill, and then it took a lot of work after the bill was passed to allow us to stand here at this beautiful vista," which is considered a key accomplishment for the area during Schroeder's time in office.

Schroeder represented Colorado's 1st Congressional District for 24 years before she retired in 1996. The wildlife refuge was authorized by Congress in 1992.

"We are walking here on trails that Pat blazed." said U.S. Rep. Jared Polis, a Boulder Democrat.

The original master plan for the refuge was created in 1996 and was largely based around remediation and clean up efforts for land, which was historically used by the Army to produce chemical weapons. Cleanup was finished in 2012.

In 2013 the refuge had 300,000 visitors. About 2,800 acres are open to the public, accessible through the visitor center in Commerce City.

After the new signage was uncovered, Schroeder spoke to the crowd gathered Wednesday: "It's our duty to leave everything in a little better shape than we found it, and in this case we did it."