To: Parks and Recreation Commission Members and Staff
From: Jeff Smullen, Assistant Director
Title
Proposed Recreation Facility Design Update
Body
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Executive Summary
The purpose of this agenda item is for the Assistant Director of Parks and Recreation to provide an update on the design development for the proposed recreation facility.
Project Background
The Castle Rock community supports Town-operated indoor recreation and has for over 30 years, since the Recreation Center was built in 1988, when the population was only about 8,000. To continue to maintain quality of life expectations for a growing community, the Parks and Recreation Master Plan and Strategic Plan support the development of a new indoor recreation facility. New facilities are funded through impact fees.
Throughout 2021, staff partnered with architecture firm Barker Rinker Seacat to conduct an Indoor Recreation Feasibility Study. The purpose of the study was to assess relevant project details for the Town’s next recreation facility, including factors such as programming needs, development costs, soft costs and future operational and site requirements. The study identified the community need to offer increased sports development and fitness options to complement the youth-focused Miller Activity Complex and traditional gym options available at the Recreation Center. The Town has not constructed a new gymnasium or competitive pool since 1988. By the time a potential new facility is developed, the Town will have approximately 90,000 residents. A new sports center could help fill in this gap by offering new and much-needed facility space for competitive swimming, league and tournament play, developmental programming and expanded drop-in use.
Since the Town owns limited site options to construct a recreation facility of this nature, staff issued a Request for Proposals to seek potential partners to contribute land and other value to the project. All undeveloped park properties owned by the Town that could accommodate a future facility are located within residential areas, and a sports development center could potentially generate significant traffic, especially during tournaments, requiring a more ideal and centrally located site.
Confluence Companies, the developer of the Riverwalk and Encore, answered the RFP and provided a proposal to provide land and options for financing and construction services to advance the project. Confluence proposes to build the sports development center at the former Acme Brick facility on Prairie Hawk Drive. They envision the facility as part of an overall mixed-use development project called the Brickyard that would clean up a blighted industrial area and energize the proposed development with restaurants and shopping, a high-end hotel and residential.
The Brickyard property is located adjacent to Interstate 25 and the future Prairie Hawk extension, placing it between two I-25 interchanges and located along the Town's ring road. The property is centrally located within Castle Rock and equidistant and along a frequently traveled route for many Town residents.
The proposed facility could include a variety of complementary amenities, such as:
o Competition gymnasium; court space to allow for five high school-sized basketball courts (can be broken down to maximize usage, such as eight elementary-sized basketball courts, six volleyball courts, 12 pickleball courts, etc.)
o Competition natatorium featuring an 11-lane, 25-yard x 9-lane, 25-meter pool and diving board, as well as a 3-lane, 25-yard warm up pool with deck separated spectator seating
o Cardio, circuit, stretching, plyometric and free-weight stations
o Group fitness studios
o Indoor track
o Child care area
o Indoor playground
o Meeting and party rooms
o Administrative and tournament office spaces
For the Brickyard and sports center projects to move forward, a development agreement would need to be approved by Town Council. Confluence Companies will concurrently pursue the approval of the development agreement while Town staff continue to work on the facility's design until the projects are approved and both parties are ready to commence project construction.