Southface Community Association

President’s Message

Aug 16, 1999

Update on the proposed Northwest Recreation Center

First of all, thanks to all of you who sent your proxies in to let us know your preference and/or attended the public meeting.

There have been several meetings since the last newsletter:
1. A meeting was held with representatives of many of the communities who were not at the meeting where the two proposals were presented. The purpose was to bring them up to date. David Jenkins of Norwood Development was there to explain his proposal. One or two attendees were very outspoken against the joint venture.

2. A meeting of Northwest community leaders and Terry Putman and Paul Butcher (from City Parks & Rec) was held as an opportunity for information gathering. Terry and Paul explained what was proposed for each of the three (3) phases on five (5) acres of the site for the center. They also mentioned that $400,000 is available from TOPS to build ball fields, picnic areas and the like on the remaining six (6) acres. Attendees made it clear that we were interested in: a) finding sources to complete the entire project as soon as possible; b) not willing to wait to see if another bond issue was forthcoming.

3. The most recent meeting was the public hearing, July 20th. It was a wonderful turn out (approx. 150) which amazed the P&R officials. At that time we learned that David Jenkins had withdrawn his proposal for a joint venture. The P&R officials and their consultants presented the details for Phase 1, the outdoor pool which will now include four (4) lap lanes. They also described the plans for Phases 2&3 which will be an indoor pool and a gym with fitness rooms, respectively. The consensus at the end of the meeting was that the P&R Dept. would begin work on Phase 1 of the rec. center, but additional funding sources will be explored to complete the project sooner rather than later.

The two possible funding sources discussed were: 1) forming a General Improvement District (GID), or 2) hoping for a joint venture with the YMCA.

Presently the YMCA is fundraising to begin the Southeast rec. center. YMCA officials estimate that it will take approximately three (3) years before they would be ready to consider our proposal.

A General Improvement District is a group of people who are willing to form a special taxing district that would add an additional specific amount to their property tax for a specific length of time. A very rough guesstimate would be approximately $50 per year over 10 years. The area boundaries would be Garden of the Gods on the south, the Air Force Academy on the north, I-25 on the east, and the mountains on the west. These funds would be used exclusively to fund our rec. center. We await feedback from the City Attorney as to the exact procedures we need to follow to make this happen. Although the rec. center must open to all residents of Colorado Springs, it is unlikely that people living at Powers and Airport, for example, would be traveling up to utilize our facility. Obviously, the bulk of users will be from our immediate area, especially since each quadrant of the city (except the southwest) will have their own recreation center.

There will be an effort to fund the rec. center with the GID. For an ANNUAL FEE of less than one month?’s fee at David Jenkin?’s health club, we could have our own complete rec. center which would increase our property value much more than it would cost. I will be spearheading the effort. This undertaking will need many volunteers to gather the thousands of signatures on petitions to make this happen. If you are interested in making our Northwest Recreation Center a reality and have just a little time to devote to getting signatures, please call me at 535-2673.