Freedom School site just a memory

QUESTION: Your newspaper at one time was a sponsor of Freedom School in the mountains north of Colorado Springs. Robert LeFevre from California was the instructor. The lodge had accommodations for 10 or more, I think. When I was in high school in 1958, a lady sent myself and a friend to the school. It left an impression until today of what freedom means. I am coming to Colorado Springs this summer and would like to show my grandsons the old school if it is still there. Or, if it has been sold maybe to a lodge that accepts guests, we might like to stay there a few days.
Pat McShan, Montgomery, Texas

ANSWER: Freedom School, with a predominantly libertarian course of study, was started in 1957 by Robert LeFevre. Later named Rampart College Freedom School, it was a pastoral setting on Perry Park Road near Larkspur. It took a hit during the 1965 flood when more than eight feet of gravel and mud filled Reno Sales Lodge, where the school’s records had been stored and Pine Tree Press was located.
Dick Wallace, vice president of corporate affairs for Freedom Communications Inc. and a Freedom School graduate, recalls that several years after the flood, “a tornado came down the mountain and destroyed most of the school.” The campus was officially closed in 1968. LeFevre died in 1986. A Freedom School curriculum is still being taught, this summer in Dallas. Although you won’t be able to show your grandsons the Larkspur campus, it’s still a beautiful area to visit, and the Renaissance Festival is nearby.