Colorado Springs Sister Cities International
Nuevo Casas Grandes, Mexico
Nuevo Casas Grandes, a city of 80,000, was founded in the 1870's. It is situated in a wide, fertile valley on the 4,000 foot Mesa del Norte of the Plateau of Mexico in the central part of the Chihuahua State. Nearby are the Sierra Madre Occidental (Rocky Mountains) and the Casas Grandes River. Many of the region's inhabitants are of Native American ethnic groups closely related to our own southwest cultures.
The area around Nuevo Casas Grandes is noted for its great historical and archaeological heritage. Five miles southwest of Nuevo Casas Grandes is the most important archaeological site in northern Mexico, including the Casas Grandes Archaeological Zone and the Paquime Archaeological Zone highlighted by the new Paquime Museum. Nuevo Casas Grandes is also world famous for the nearby "potter village" of Mata Ortiz and its revival of pottery in the ancient Paquime tradition. To see more of Mata Ortiz visit http://mataortizpottery.com/index.htm. Also nearby are a Mormon village, Mennonite communities, and apple and pecan orchards.
Dedication of a mural on May 3, 2005 commemorating friendship between the Sister Cities. Mural on display on the north side of building at 102 East Pikes Peak (at Tejon) in Downtown Colorado Springs, by artist Kim Polomka. Joe Barrera explains the mural to Presidente Orlando Polanco of Nuevo Casas Grandes and Mayor Lionel Rivera of Colorado Springs.
The Mayor of Nuevo Casas Grandes tries out the driver's seat of a "new" fire truck for their city. A Rotary Club and Sister City collaboration made the gift of the Cimmaron Hills ladder truck possible. Firemen from both cities trained on the truck. This is the fifth fire truck donated through these efforts. Much additional equipment has also been donated to make their department in Mexico self-sufficient.
In 2008, Rotarians, and Colorado Springs School District 11, continued their assistance by donating a total five school buses for use in Nuevo Casas Grandes.
