RBC I On Oct. 14, interested parties gathered at the Columbine Park Jockey Shack to view and discuss several options for updating and renovating the Columbine Park facilities.
While the plans may not lead to immediate changes at the park, County Commissioner Jon Hill is hopeful that the improvements will eventually be brought to fruition.
“The economy won’t allow for immediate construction, but once the design is decided on and cost can be determined, the county can begin setting aside money and budgeting,” he said.
The four design plans were put together for the county in partnership with a program that uses graduate students from the University of Colorado. The plans were designed to help alleviate several problems the park currently faces, including a lack of available parking, challenging viewing of events and rundown facilities.
Concept A includes updates such as additional stables, giving the park between 150 to 200 stables, an indoor multi-purpose arena, an amphitheater and rodeo improvements such as bucking chutes, improved grandstands, a new sound system and a warm-up area.
Concept B includes all the previous improvements and adds multi-use trail systems and incorporates more green space.
Concept C also includes the aforementioned improvements, however it cuts down on the size of the race track and adds a ropes course and zip line attraction.
The last plan, Concept D, is the biggest change from the current park. It has removed the entire race track and includes more green space and water features as well as all previously mentioned changes.
Another transformation proposed at the meeting was an attempt to “rebrand” the park.
To accomplish that, three different logos were suggested including a covered wagon, an oil rig and a rearing stallion theme.
Colorado Northwestern Community College Rodeo Coach Jed Moore was happy about the potential project saying that there were a lot of great concepts presented and it’s just a matter of finding the right puzzle pieces.
“I’m excited; this is a huge deal,” Moore said. “It will be really big for recruiting” rodeo athletes to CNCC.
The cost for the development of the concepts totaled $8,424, with half of that fee paid for directly by the county and the other half utilizing a Colorado Department of Local Affairs (DOLA) grant.
The purpose of the meeting was to listen to community feedback and desires.
In the near future, the county commissioners will be presented with a final report, at which time they will calculate cost and determine how to best move forward.
