What was once a landfill is now home to popular sports fields and might soon have another purpose: a solar garden.
Golden city officials want to consider adding a community solar garden to the land at the Rooney Road Sports Complex at 101 Rooney Road, Golden. But per city charter, they need residents’ permission to use park or open space land for anything outside of recreation purposes.
is a large collection of solar panels that individuals can buy shares of to offset their personal usage of other energy sources. It is a particularly desirable model for renters and others who cannot put solar panels on their property.
“Itap a project we’re excited about, but ultimately the citizens have final say on whether or not we have renewable energy uses at that parkland,” said Theresa Worsham, Golden’s sustainability coordinator.
Between now and August, Worsham will be meeting with neighborhood groups, athletic teams and organizations and others in the community to educate them on what this would all mean. In August, City Council will decide whether to put the question on the November 2017 ballot and after that, will have to rely on volunteers to spread the word.
Golden’s Sustainability Advisory Committee has been exploring the possibility of a community solar garden since 2008 as a way to help meet the by the city and its residents come from renewable sources by 2027.
Golden already has solar power for 10 of its city facilities, eight of which are net zero, meaning they get all of their energy from solar power.
They explored about 200 sites since then, Worsham said. The Rooney Road Sports Complex was not the city’s first choice because of the expense of a ballot question, but given the supply of land in the Golden area, it is the most viable one.
“In Golden, land is expensive and so you have to find an unusable, cheap parcel of land, and one thatap flat and oriented to the sun — that practically doesn’t exist,” Worsham said.
The Rooney Road Sports Complex sits on top of the former Rooney Road Landfill, classifying it as a brownfield site and therefore not eligible for development. The fields are made from synthetic turf that sits on top of a clay cap that covers the old landfill.
Jefferson County owns the land and maintains the clay cap. In 2006, the city of Golden entered into a 20-year lease on the land for a total of $100. The city subsequently annexed the land and spent a little more than $3 million to build the 11 soccer fields that are there on about 50 acres today.
The original master plan for the complex includes the future construction of up to eight more fields, and plans for the estimated 10-acre solar garden would leave room for that growth, Worsham said.
Thousands of soccer, lacrosse, pickle ball and other games and practices are played on the fields each year. The primary user, according to Rod Tarullo, Golden’s director of parks and recreation, is Colorado ICE, which has more than 1,200 players ages 3 to 18. It was formerly known as Table Mountain Soccer and as an organization, it contributed a significant sum to help build the fields and maintain them.
“Table Mountain works with parks and recreation and does the yeoman’s work of funding and maintenance,” Tarullo said.
Laura Albrecht, Colorado ICE’s executive director, said her board of directors is in favor of the solar garden idea. Their only concerns would be keeping soccer balls from hitting the solar panels, she said.“A lot of our members are residents of the city of Golden, so I just think itap a win-win,” Albrecht said. “Solar is something we support — becoming more self-sufficient. I think itap great for the community.”
The Golden Community Solar Garden is just an idea at this point, and voters would see the question on the November 2017 ballot.
If the city gets the OK from voters, Worsham said more details would be worked out, such as the specific size and model of the shares. If voters turn it down, the garden is unlikely to find another usable site.
Find more information about the proposed solar garden at .