The Confluence Center Will be One of Many ‘Pearls’ Along the Colorado River

The banks of the Colorado River in Grand Junction were once littered with uranium mill tailings and old junk cars, leaving little public access to the river flowing through town. Then, a group of community leaders, during the mid-1980s, envisioned something different for the river corridor.

The tailings were removed, the junk yard was cleaned up and local leaders began imagining a “string of pearls” along the Colorado River that would include parks and a paved riverfront trail from Palisade to Loma. The Confluence Center of Colorado, currently under construction at 2600 Dos Rios Dr., near where the Gunnison and Colorado rivers meet, will be one of those riverside gems.

Six nonprofit organizations — RiversEdge West, Eureka! McConnell Science Museum, Colorado National Monument Association, Colorado Mesa Land Trust, One Riverfront and Colorado Canyons Association — are all coming together under one roof at the nonprofit Confluence Center, to create a collaborative hub for education, environmental stewardship and community services.

One Riverfront, whose mission is to foster community stewardship and enhance the river corridors of the Gunnison and Colorado, has had little visibility with an office tucked away in the back corner of a county building, says One Riverfront chairman John Gormley. Awareness of its mission will improve greatly after the nonprofit moves into its new office near the river later this year.

“The six nonprofits all complement one another,” Gormley says. “We’re a group of people who can work together for the common good. Eureka! has a lot of educational opportunities. We’re taking advantage of the natural classroom right outside the new building.” The mission of Eureka! is to inspire a passion and respect for STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math) in its communities.

The idea of nature-focused nonprofits coming together to collaborate and share resources is fairly innovative, says Gormley. Already, the group is receiving inquiries from organizations in other parts of Colorado who are interested in building something similar, he notes.

Tim Beagley, Colorado National Monument volunteer, leads local kids on a field trip.

A few years ago, Rusty Lloyd — president of the Confluence Center’s board and executive director of RiversEdge West, which restores riparian ecosystems across the West — began talking with Jenn Moore, executive director of the Eureka! McConnell Science Museum, about creating a shared space to help mission-aligned organizations collaborate more easily.

Moore said she loved the idea; the science museum was already partnering with some of the organizations interested in the project to provide rafting trips and opportunities to participate in native vegetation restoration, as well as hikes and summer camps for kids. The Eureka! McConnell Science Museum will remain at 1400 N. 7th St., while some staff members and programs will be based at the Confluence Center.

“We are relocating our Environmental Institute (for Science, Stewardship and Leadership) to take kids (pre-K through 12th grade) on expeditionary learning experiences outdoors,” where they gain resiliency skills while learning science, Moore says. One program (for 4th-12th graders) takes kids on three-day expeditions where they learn how to research weather, use maps, set up a tent, prepare food and learn about endangered species on the Grand Mesa.

Student studying soil crusts on Environmental Institute course. Photo courtesy of EUREKA! McConnell Science Museum.

Eureka! is also expanding and building a new STREAM (Moore added an “R” for river) preschool at the center. The preschool will be for Confluence Center employees, and will also prioritize teacher and first responder families, followed by the general public if space allows.

“The Confluence Center will have more community and science education, as well as restoration opportunities,” Moore says. “It will build awareness of the Colorado River — the lifeblood of Western Colorado.”

Colorado Mesa Land Trust, Colorado Canyons Association and Colorado National Monument Association (CNMA) will also continue to operate out of their current locations.

The Confluence Center will own the building, with a representative from each of the nonprofit tenants on the center’s board of directors.

“We tried to find like-minded organizations centered on being a resource for our land, water, agriculture and public lands, while providing space for other community nonprofits, as well,” Lloyd says. Other nonprofits may be added in the future.

The Confluence Center will have co-working space, plus room for conferences, educational workshops and other events, including fundraisers and celebrations. Plans also include an interactive lobby with interpretive information about the Colorado River Basin, where visitors on the nearby Riverfront Trail will be able to pop in and learn about native plant species and the status of rivers in the arid Southwest.

CNMA, the nonprofit partner of Colorado National Monument, already collaborates with Colorado Canyonlands Association and Eureka! to offer opportunities for youth to participate in outdoor adventure and learning.

National parks do not get to keep all the revenue generated from entrance fees, which makes its nonprofit partners like CNMA essential, says executive director Johanna van Waveren. “We run the visitor center store, do fundraising events, write grants and have a membership model,” she says. “We do everything we can to help the park.” Colorado Canyonlands Association similarly supports National Conservation Areas in Western Colorado.

CNMA funds a Ranger Resiliency program that helps local schoolchildren and military veterans by offering outdoor programs designed to improve mental health. Colorado National Monument Association also supports the monument’s Junior Ranger program and — after recent federal budget cuts — the publication of park maps.

Currently, CNMA works out of a cramped office at the visitor center near the park’s Fruita entrance. The office is also used for storage. Plus, community members are unaware of where CNMA is located, adds van Waveren, adding that renting space at the Confluence Center will allow for more public engagement.

“It’s a game changer for us to have a CNMA office in town,” van Waveren says. “It will create more opportunities to engage with the community. Now we have space to grow, hold meetings and collaborate. People will know where we are.”

Cost of the Confluence Center building is $7.5 million. Organizers are continuing to raise funds to complete the project by the end of 2025. There are many ways donors can contribute, including gifts of cash, stock, appreciated securities and IRA charitable gifts. Enterprise Zone Tax Credits and Child Care Contribution Credits are also available. Visit confluencecenterco.org for more information.

Originally published in the summer 2025 issue of Spoke+Blossom.