After losing roughly half of his Colorado RV park to two floods in two weeks, owner Daryl Sprague says he plans to rebuild. His strongest source of hope is an untouched meadow he calls Stage 3:16.
PAGOSA SPRINGS, Colo. — Daryl Sprague is facing a long road to recovery after two destructive storms brought widespread flooding to the region and severely damaged his Pagosa Springs RV Park.
About half of the property was affected, Sprague said, as crews continued cleanup efforts throughout the area.
“Half of it was pretty much damaged,” Sprague said. “The sewer lines were uprooted, the power pedestals were swept away, and the water lines are gone. It’s total destruction.”
One portion of the park has also lost its road access, he said.
Sprague’s family has left the property and is staying with relatives, while he remains behind with his dog. He stayed through the first storm but evacuated during the second and said he will not take that risk again.
“I know I won’t do it again, because I didn’t the second time. I took off,” he said.
The flooding, Sprague said, has caused pain far beyond the damage to his business.
“It’s heartbreaking because it’s not just me who’s hurting. It’s the entire region,” he said.
For years, Sprague watched television coverage of hurricane recovery and wondered how people managed to rebuild. He never expected to face a similar disaster himself.
“You watch the news and see those hurricanes and think, ‘How do those people come back and rebuild?’ I always thought that wouldn’t be me. Yet here I am in the same situation,” Sprague said.
Even so, he remains determined to restore the park.
“I’m not sure what the path forward will be. I’m leaving that in the Lord’s hands and trusting him to show me the next step,” Sprague said. “But yes, I will rebuild. It may not look the way it did before, but we’re not going anywhere.”
Sprague left his limousine business in Denver about 15 years ago after his mother asked whether he wanted to take over the RV park. Without a buyer, she told him, the bank was preparing to seize it.
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“My mother called and asked if I wanted the RV park because, if I didn’t, the bank was going to take it,” he said.
While trying to secure the property, Sprague walked through a meadow and stopped to pray.
“Lord, if you help me get this property, I’ll dedicate it back to you,” Sprague recalled saying. He said he has spent the past six years honoring that promise.
The meadow was spared in both floods.
“This was left untouched, and I believe it was left untouched for a reason,” Sprague said. “People can interpret that however they want, but twice the river came around all three sides, and the water never reached this place.”
As he works to clear the damaged park, Sprague regularly returns to the meadow.
“I come back here a lot — really, a lot. It’s where I find comfort and quiet,” he said.
He envisions the meadow as a place open to everyone.
“I don’t see myself holding a church service, so to speak. I see it more as planting seeds,” Sprague said.
He also treasures the connections he has made with travelers who visit the park.
“I get to meet people from all walks of life who cross that bridge and stay at my RV park,” he said.
Seeing the meadow survive both floods has strengthened Sprague’s resolve to reopen the property.
“To me, the fact that this survived the flood twice is further confirmation that it’s meant to happen,” he said.
Sprague hopes eventually to host concerts in the meadow, which he has named Stage 3:16.