Lt. Governor Primavera Tours Colorado's Infrastructure, Arts and Military Readiness During Three-Day Visit to the Vail Valley

EAGLE COUNTY, COLORADO - This week, Lt. Governor Dianne Primavera traveled to the Vail Valley for a three-day trip highlighting Colorado's leadership in infrastructure, arts and culture, and military readiness, with stops at the Eisenhower-Johnson Memorial Tunnel, the Vilar Performing Arts Center, and the High-Altitude Army National Guard Aviation Training Site (HAATS).

Lt. Governor Primavera's trip began Monday at the Eisenhower-Johnson Memorial Tunnel, where she joined Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) for a tour of the Tunnel, a critical artery for the I-70 Mountain Corridor. Primavera met with the crew responsible for the tunnel's day-to-day operations and recent safety upgrades, viewing improvements firsthand alongside the staff who keep the corridor running through some of the state's harshest winter conditions.

"Good government means showing up for the people who make Colorado work, and that includes the CDOT crews who keep our mountain corridor open and safe for every Coloradan who depends on it," said Lt. Governor Primavera. "Investing in infrastructure like the Eisenhower-Johnson Memorial Tunnel isn't just about concrete and steel, it's about keeping our communities connected and our economy moving."

On Tuesday, Lt. Governor Primavera traveled to Beaver Creek to tour the Vilar Performing Arts Center, which received a $20,000 Colorado Creates grant through the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT). Colorado Creates is Colorado Creative Industries' largest annual competitive grant program, supporting arts programs, services and activities that carry out the National Endowment for the Arts' strategic plan. Through its Support the Arts Reaching Students (STARS) program, the Vilar brought performing arts experiences to 10,757 students between September 2025and April 2026. The Vilar also used grant funding to launch STARS in Schools, sending guest artists directly into local classrooms for educational workshops, and to cover busing costs so students across the district could attend performances at the theater. The recent upgrades to the Vilar ensure accessibility for people with all types of disabilities in all seating levels, including wheelchair access, listening devices, and ASL accessibility.

"The Vilar is proof that when the state invests in the arts, communities like Eagle County see the return many times over, in classrooms, on stages, and in the lives of young people who might never otherwise experience live performance. No student's zip code should determine whether they get to experience live theater, and programs like STARS make sure that opportunity reaches every classroom in Eagle County," said Lt. Governor Primavera.

The trip concluded Wednesday in Gypsum, where Primavera visited the High-Altitude Army National Guard Aviation Training Site (HAATS) at Eagle County Airport for a tour and hoist demonstration. HAATS is the only Department of Defense aviation school that trains pilots in aviation Power Management, a methodology built around aircraft power accountability in high-altitude, high-density-altitude and rough-terrain flying. The site has trained rotary-wing pilots from countries across the globe.

"There is nowhere else in the country where military pilots can get this kind of training, and that's a point of pride for Colorado and our nation. The same skills these pilots train for right here in Eagle County are the skills that save lives in our mountains and, the skills that are helping drive space exploration and innovation," said Lt. Governor Primavera.

The site has partnered with NASA and trained 33 astronauts at their site, including the astronauts from the Artemis missions. Additionally, the pilots at the site play a crucial role in high alpine hoist rescues in our state. Just last summer, a Colorado Army National Guard aircrew trained at HAATS set the record for the highest hoist rescue ever conducted by a military aircraft in Colorado, saving two stranded hikers at roughly 14,200 feet near the summit of Torreys Peak. The work at the HAATS site has saved many lives across our state and even more across our country and world.

Across all three stops, Lt. Governor Primavera's visit underscored a common thread: the continued efforts to build a stronger and more connected Colorado for all.

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