(PUEBLO COUNTY, Colo.) — The sounds of rock and roll and a plethora of other genres have all found a home thanks to the CR23 Bombshelter. This unique underground space began back in 2019, and since then has welcomed musicians from all over the state to perfect and perform their craft.
The music venue is located on the property of Cody Rheuff, who founded the spot after other music venues closed in the area, leaving many looking for a new home to share their tunes.
“We didn’t have any music venues in Pueblo at the time, Rainbow just shut down where most of the bands used to play and we lost Phil’s a year before that,” Rheuff said. “So, we just didn’t have any place for the kids to play or anything so we decided to try it out here.”
The Bombshelter was born, welcoming those of all ages and all music performers onto the underground stage.
“It’s just a family-friendly venue that all the local bands and national and traveling acts have come to play at and it’s just a friendly, all-inclusive area for everybody to come out and enjoy the music or just hang out,” said Rheuff.
Complaints from nearby neighbors due to the loud noise and the large gatherings are causing challenges for the upkeep of the hidden hideaway.
“We’re doing a GoFundMe, it’s called Save the Music,” Rheuff said. “It’s for doing insulation and soundproofing inside the bomb shelter. So hopefully we can get down to that noise level outside since it’s underground blocks, a lot of the sound naturally, but the roof and the doorway here are the biggest problem.”
Musician Tony Potter reflected on how much this musical oasis means to him, by allowing him to perform his art and listen to other talented individuals.
“We don’t have to worry about other people and it’s just a great place to come and see the different styles of music and like I said there’s comedy, too,” Potter said.
While this space is located in a neighborhood area, Rheuff said in years prior there have not been any issues, but in the past six months is when concerns were raised.
“We’ve always asked all our neighbors around the area if we’re bothering them, and most of us are older and they think it’s great that the kids have someplace to go and they’re all for it,” Rheuff said. “We’ve had cookouts, neighbors have come out and joined in the cookouts. We’ve got people that live around this area that come down to the shows, people that used to come to this house before we ever owned it, this was always kind of the hangout area.”
This underground music venue now is looking for support from the community to keep this space alive.
While Rheuff is aware of the neighbors’ concerns, he emphasized how the fate of the venue will rely heavily on support from the community through this GoFundMe page for noise mitigation.
“It’s home for a lot of people in the community, and I don’t want to see it go away,” said Rheuff.
Other neighbors who live up the road understand why music fills the air. Robert Nowell explained he has lived in the area for nine years and it has not been a problem for him.
“You can hear it a little bit, but it’s nothing that’s too loud,” Nowell said. “They do kind of calm things down around 10 p.m. Sometimes it is a lot of traffic, but for the most part I see everyone behaved their self, doesn’t really cause any problems.”
The space welcomes all ages and musicians are thanked by donations.
Now with the GoFundMe in place to help with soundproofing, there is hope for neighbors like Nowell that the area will be in perfect harmony.
“Just continue to be respectful to the neighborhood,” Nowell said. “For the ones that do have concerns, just kind of give them a chance to see what they’re going to do. I believe they are going to correct any problems that they have going on, so I guess time will tell.”
