“This year, we’re looking at over $100,000 in net profit, so it will be a self-sustaining building,” said Barb Butler, Foothills’ director of recreation programs.
The district will host a grand opening event Saturday with local sports leagues and district staff to showcase the new offerings at the Foothills Fieldhouse, 3606 S. Independence St.
2016 for $1.4 million from the Rocky Mountain Roller Hockey League, which is now one of the many sports leagues that rents time on its court.
After the purchase, the district dove into some upgrades to the building that finished around the beginning of 2017. It covered one of the hard-surface rinks with artificial turf to accommodate sports like lacrosse and volleyball, upgraded the lighting to LED, added security cameras and a computer system and brought the concession stand back into operation.
The changes may seem subtle — most parents and coaches attending box lacrosse practices Jan. 16 said they didn’t notice them — but Craig Ward, a coach for said he has appreciated improved lighting and temperature control, and the snack bar and turf field are welcomed by his players.
“I’ve definitely noticed a difference,” he said. “I’ve noticed overall a better vibe.”
At even this early stage, the peak hours at the field house are at 60 percent capacity, and the field house brought in around $20,000 in its first six months under district ownership.
Box lacrosse is one of the sports putting the indoor hard-surface court and turf field at high demand. The districtap only other indoor venue for the sport, 64,000-square-foot Foothills Sports Arena stays pretty booked, so the new field house has already started to catch that overflow.
“We were out of indoor space to run our activities and all our outdoor space was full in season,” Butler said. “This allows us to have continued growth in a variety of areas,” Butler said.
The district will introduce its own box lacrosse league at the facility soon, Butler said. The sport already dominates much of the use there through other outside leagues.
The field house will also offer other in-demand programming like fitness boot camps, and more pickleball time, as well as be home to the districtap summer sports camp, and a new program called Boom Sports that introduces toddlers to different sports.
Butler said the field house also fits with a trend the district has been seeing in team sports. Instead of full teams playing each other, players want to rent half a field for smaller games, such as three-on-three.
“Really, we think itap just kind of the tip of the iceberg in terms of what kind of needs there might be for programming,” said Ronald Hopp, Foothills’ executive director.
TO GO
The is 10 a.m.-noon Saturday at 3606 S. Independence St., Denver. The building dedication is at 11 a.m.