Peace Labyrinth’s 9-year journey winds its way to conclusion

A small group of supporters embarked on a final walk through the Columbine Peace Labyrinth on Oct. 31, bidding farewell to the winding circular maze that has developed loyal visitors and small trenches in its quarter-mile dirt path.

Emile Hallez Williams

Loraine Kreznar, right, hugs Sarah Manning as the two walked for a final time through the Columbine Labyrinth on Oct. 31.

Buy this photo

Emile Hallez Williams

Visitors to the Columbine Labyrinth bid farewell Oct. 31 to the structure, taking a final walk through it.

Buy this photo

The labyrinth, a spot for walking mediation constructed following Sept. 11, 2001, is now officially closed. The Columbine Unitarian Universalist Church, which bought the 3.5-acre patch near West Bowles Avenue and South Wright Street in 1997 with hopes of constructing another building, sold the area to a firm that will build a specialized nursing home for patients with neurological trauma.

“It’s just a place to meditate, center yourself and be at peace,” said Loraine Kreznar, who helped orchestrate the labyrinth’s construction. “Selling the property was the right thing to do, but it’s still very sad.”

Thousands of mango-size river rocks formed the thin and intricate path in the 60-foot-diameter labyrinth, which was based on an 800-year-old design that ultimately led visitors to the center of the structure. Including a trek out of the labyrinth, the path stretched half a mile.

About 20 people gathered for the early afternoon ceremony, which included words of remembrance, a smudging of the structure with sage and a walk.

“This was such a central place for me during my time in ministry at Columbine,” said the church’s former minister, Barry Bloom. “At times, I was a better person and minister for having the labyrinth to walk in.”

Visitors often went to the labyrinth to think, collect themselves or pray. And one of the best times to walk the path, which was in the middle of a field of native grass, was at night, supporters said.

“One of my favorite times to walk the labyrinth was during a full moon,” Kreznar said, with another person adding that the plaster-hued rocks seemed to glow with ethereal light.

With the understanding that the church would eventually seek to construct a new building on the land, the labyrinth was known to be an impermanent feature.

“We thought we would build a new church on it,” said Amy Rowland, president of the church’s board. “But it turned out that it was cost prohibitive.”

For now, the church is contemplating new locations on which to resurrect a permanent labyrinth. A new structure may include landscaping and cut sandstone.

“We knew from the beginning that it would be temporary,” Kreznar said.

Contact Emile Hallez Williams at emile@evergreenco.com or 303-933-2233, ext. 22. For updates, check www.ColumbineCourier.com.