Continued growth in the Muslim community in El Paso County and ongoing financial contributions from supporters are helping the Islamic Society of Colorado Springs realize a decade-old vision to build southern Colorado’s first dedicated masjid, the Arabic word for mosque. The congregation has su rpassed 1,000 members, according to its website, and regularly draws 250 people to each of two Friday prayer services. El Paso County was estimated to have 488 Muslim adherents in 2020, according to statistics from the Association of Religion Data Archives. The number of burgeoning worshippers is taxing the ability of the Islamic Society’s 30-year spiritual home at 2125 N. Chestnut St. to accommodate new followers, a video about the expansion project says. No one from the mosque responded to requests for an interview. The existing mosque is a 1960s-era brick building that previously operated as the neighborhood laundromat. It was converted to holy ground in 1996, after the local Muslim congregation was founded and following an initial period of gathering in homes, history accounts state. The existing building that the Islamic Society of Colorado Springs has used as its mosque for the past 30 years is a brick structure that previously housed a laundromat. (Debbie Kelley, The Gazette) Permitting for construction of the new worship building at 7610 Maverick Road is moving through several processes; review of the site development plan is pending, said Miranda Benson, project manager for El Paso County planning and community development. Since religious institutions are allowed in all zoning districts, the site development plan is an administrative approval, she said. “Just like every other project, we’re making sure it’s meeting the criteria of the land development code,” Benson said. The Islamic Society of Colorado Springs purchased the 5-acre parcel for $275,000 in 2016 and paid off the loan two years later with donations, its website states. Today, the land is amid a quickly developing subdivision about 8 miles east of Interstate 25 off the Woodmen Road exit. It’s part of a row of houses of worship, starting with Woodmen Valley Chapel North near Marksheffel Road and marching east with the proposed mosque, a Jehovah’s Witness Kingdom Hall and St. John the Baptist Orthodox Church, which was consecrated in February 2025. A Carmelite monastery and an unsanctioned Catholic Church also operate in the area. Initial plans for the mosque detail a 14,680-square-foot worship and education center at a projected cost of $7.34 million —  or $500 a square foot — for the first phase, according to submitted permitting documents. A second phase, projected to be completed 10 to 15 years later, would expand the facility to 25,300 square feet. The center would serve religious and social needs with a prayer hall, gymnasium, classrooms, a kitchen and a weekday daycare facility. The first phase is expected to be completed by February 2027, the documents say. The building’s architecture will feature traditional elements of a mosque, such as a visible dome that symbolizes the vault of heaven, and a tall tower that calls the faithful to prayer five times daily. “The pandemic delayed our progress but strengthened our faith and renewed our commitment to building a center for future generations,” the website says. The property will become a hub for worship of the Islamic faith, unity among the congregation, educational classes and programs, and community building for all Muslims, online materials say. A $2.5 million fundraising campaign to build the new mosque continues, with about $500,000 raised, according to the Islamic Society’s website. The number of Muslims nationwide increased from 2.6 million in 2010 to 4.5 million in 2020, according to the 2020 U.S. Religion Census. Though worshippers have increased substantially, Muslims constituted 2.76% of the nation’s 161.2 million religious adherents in the 2020 religious census. For more information on the new mosque, go to https://iscs.info/new-mosque/. ...read more read less