A new recreation center and a larger Tower Road corridor are the two most anticipated and costly improvement projects in the works in Commerce City. After years of planning and increasing need, both improvements are at the starting line and set to be done in two year’s time.
The construction of a $60 million recreation center in is about to begin at the end of the summer, and the long-awaited widening of Tower Road between East 80th and East 103rd avenues began last month. That project is estimated to be just over $50 million.
“We’re still working on the detailed, final design of the second recreation center, but it should be finished at the end of the summer,” said Danielle Yearsley, program manager for Commerce City’s capital projects program. “We have a contractor already on board, so later this summer or early fall we’ll break ground.”
The city’s unnamed second recreation center is going up near East 112th Avenue and Potomac Street, situated to serve a ballooning collection of families who have located there in the last several years. Yearsley said it will be open before the end of 2018.
“Commerce City is the third-fastest growing city in the state of Colorado, and a lot of that includes the northern range development where we see a lot of families moving in,” said Julie Emko, spokeswoman for Commerce City. “This facility will be able to serve those people but also surrounding communities. We anticipate an impact that will draw people in from everywhere else.”
Preliminary designs for the 106,000 square foot recreation center include a large indoor aquatics center with a pool, water slide and lap lanes, an outdoor spray ground, an indoor running track and outdoor exercise deck for classes, a large community room with a stage that can be divided into three rooms, a catering kitchen and parking for upward of 400 cars.
“There was a lot of input and emphasis from the community regarding family and children needs,” said Gordon Hamby, co-chair of the city’s Capital Improvement Project Citizen Advisory Committee. “Feedback was very family oriented and youth-oriented. They wanted room for competitive gymnastics, healthy food options and waiting areas.”
, in 2013 and created a permanent 1 cent tax increase that is expected to generate millions of dollars annually. All of the money is dedicated to five major development projects that were chosen collaboratively by residents and city officials.
The other projects are , the city’s first outdoor pool () and a renovation of the existing Commerce City Recreation Center at 6060 Parkway Drive.
The original rec center is just 67,000 square feet, and there is parking in the front of the building for about 25 cars. That lone center serves about 10,000 people a year through a variety of classes and activities and programs and has been at capacity for years.
Emko said the original rec center won’t be shut down during its renovation, and it will probably also be renamed.
The widening of Tower Road is the longest-running 2K improvement project in terms of planning and execution. Construction crews started just south of East 104th Avenue and will work their way to East 80th Avenue, expanding the two-lane highway to four lanes and adding a 10-foot-wide pedestrian trail on each side of the roadway.
“We’re including extra space on both sides of Tower to add an additional lanes on each side in the future if needed,” said Maria D’Andrea, director of public works. “With the adjacent development, we’re looking at traffic increasing another 20 to 30 percent in the next several years.”
Separate from the project but still slated to be completed at the same time — toward the end of 2017 — is a long-awaited entrance ramp from Tower Road to Peña Boulevard.
“We moved up here 14 years ago and back then we could drive from our house down into Denver by I-70 in 10 minutes, and now it’s closer to 30 minutes in rush hour,” Hanby said. “There’s concern from residents about how the city will engineer those improvements without further impeding traffic.”
D’Andrea said detours and slowdowns from lanes being diverted are to be expected. Residents can look for road diversion updates on the city’s website.