COMMERCE CITY —The summer is looking bright for residents of Commerce City as more of the city’s promised capital improvement projects centered around public recreation are completed.
A new, nearly 20-acre park opened in August, and two more large community parks will be open in the coming months. This will also be the first full season for the city’s first outdoor pool, , which opened in July.
All of these are part of the city’s , which were launched in 2014 after Commerce City voters approved a permanent 1 percent increase in the sales and use tax.
“In 2013, voters recognized that new funding would be needed to provide the parks, recreation and road facilities that would keep pace with the growth of our community — the third-fastest growing city in the state,” said Mayor Sean Ford. “Because of our residents, not only can City Council deliver these five projects by Jan. 1, 2019, but we will be able to operate, maintain and fund new projects for years to come.”
Paradice Island, the three parks (which count as one project), a second recreation center in Reunion, the widening of Tower Road to four lanes between 80th and 104th Avenues and about $7 million worth of are the five projects taken on by the city.
The total estimated cost is $137 million. The entire program is being paid for in bonds. The city took out $73 million last year and will borrow the rest this year, with intent to pay it back over about 30 years.
“All of the remaining projects are in an active phase of development or completed,” said Angela Shelbourn, capital improvement program communications coordinator for Commerce City.
The three community parks are all in the Reunion neighborhood, . The population in Commerce City has grown by 125 percent in the last 10 years.
Bruce Emery and his wife, Carol, have lived in the Fronterra neighborhood in north Commerce City for almost 10 years. He said one of the reasons they choose to live there was the open space park that was to be located across the street from their home.
“It’s so nice to look out at now that it’s done. We see all this green out there instead of the old brown weeds, and we can’t wait for summer,” Emery said. “It is amazing how many neighbors get out and walk around that park at all hours of the day and night. All the kids and grownups and young mothers and older people are coming from everywhere to use the space. It’s been wonderful for our community.”
In addition to the $4 million Fronterra Park at 10020 Joplin St., the city’s Turnberry and the Villages at Buffalo Run East parks are both under construction.
The park at Villages at Buffalo Run East is a 9-acre site at 11698 Chambers Road, adjacent to a planned baseball field and a new middle school that the 27J School District is planning to open in 2017. The $2.2 million park will provide access to the existing trail along Chambers Road, and there are three pedestrian access points on the site, Shelbourn said.
All of the parks are next to middle or elementary schools. The 9½ acre, $2.2 million Turnberry Park at 10725 Wheeling St. is next to Turnberry Elementary School and will border the existing school playfield and basketball courts.
Commerce City asked the community to vote on an overall concept and a preferred optional element. After public meetings and online input, the community voted on a theme inspired by the children’s book “The Very Hungry Caterpillar.”
The five projects are not the only improvements on the city’s plate, they’re just the ones with promised deadlines.
Commerce city has added capital improvement goals in the same timeframe, however, including the Regional Transportation District’s 72nd Avenue commuter rail station for the North Metro Rail Line (projected completion in 2018), as well as more road widening on Colorado 2 and East 104th Avenue.
Megan Mitchell: 303-954-2650, mmitchell@denverpost.com or @Mmitchelldp
