THORNTON —As the Margaret W. Carpenter Recreation Center gears up for another year full of high-demand programs and classes, the city is moving ahead with plans to build a second recreation center to help alleviate some of the stress of an increasing population on the more than 20-year-old facility.
Thornton planners began design work last year on the Trail Winds Recreation Center, which will be built near 136th Avenue and Holly Street within a 145-acre park that the city bought with its parks and open space tax.
“We have seen a lot of population growth,” said Diane Van Fossen, Thornton’s capital projects and planning manager. “We’re over 124,000 people now, and the existing recreation center was built in what can be considered the southern portion of the city. We’re seeing a lot of growth in the northeast, so we’re looking to serve the community in that area.”
The Margaret W. Carpenter Recreation Center at 112th Avenue and Colorado Boulevard was built in 1994 when the city had a population of just over 50,000. The center has never been renovated or expanded, though annual maintenance weeks have kept it in good condition.
“Every year we have a shutdown prior to Labor Day weekend and do aesthetic things like add fitness equipment and finish the hardwood floors to keep the place in good working order,” said Jan van der Sanden, recreation program and facility supervisor at the Carpenter recreation center. “The new rec center will help to take a lot of stress off this building, and help alleviate the demand for things like our swimming lessons, which are always packed.”
Once the new center is built, van der Sanden said the city plans to return its attention to Carpenter for possible expansions and certain renovation work.
Mindy Paddock has lived in Thornton for nine years, and she and her family recently moved right across the street from the future Trail Winds rec center. She takes her two children to Carpenter for swimming lessons.
“You definitely have to be in line or on the computer right away to get into the Saturday swimming classes,” Paddock said. “That’s why we’re so pumped about the new center. There’s going to be a lot of things to do at that park, but mainly the two pools in the city are always packed, so it will be really nice to have a new place to go. Right now, we drive to the Broomfield Bay in the summer, so this will be much more convenient.”
The Trail Winds Recreation Center is being designed with those packed swim lessons in mind, but also with an eye toward other areas of need in the city, like the senior center. It will include an indoor aquatics area, gymnasium, fitness components and a learning wing for active adults.
“The current Carpenter rec center does see a lot of need for swim lessons, and so the Trail Winds Rec Center will offer a leisure pool as well as a lap pool to help serve the swim lessons,” Van Fossen said. “And the Thornton Senior Center is in the southern part of the city currently, and with the growth in the active adult community, we’re seeing a need for a senior center in the north part of the city as well. The new rec center would have an active adult component to it as well.”
The rec center project will cost approximately $43 million and will be funded by the sale of certificates of participation.
The city anticipates beginning construction in 2017 or 2018.
The new recreation center will be part of the Trail Winds Park in north Thornton. The park includes the new recreation center and multipurpose field complex, an outdoor water park, dog park, skate park, community lawn, trails and open space. The aquatic center, fields, 14,000-square-foot skate park and 2-acre dog park are already up and running.
“Thornton is a growing place, so there’s a need for this,” van der Sanden said. “When this place gets too busy, people automatically find somewhere newer and less crowded. You can tell from our waiting lists on our swim lessons that’s there’s certainly a demand for an additional facility.”
Megan Mitchell: 303-954-2650, mmitchell@denverpost.com or @Mmitchelldp
