Revisiting the Edwards Field House
In 2019, Mountain Recreation surveyed the Edwards Area through an online community survey. The District wanted to understand how to best meet community needs through amenity improvements at the Edwards Field House. Those survey results were used to develop plans for renovation, included in its capital improvement project All Access Rec.
Four years later, post-COVID, and with All Access Rec falling short of voter approval, the District now finds itself with a different opportunity: to fulfill a handful of those amenity needs expressed by the community in 2019.
How is this possible? This is NOT a tax increase. Rather, with increased property assessments expected in 2024, the District is looking to earmark funds towards potential renovations in Edwards – all within the current mill levy set in place since 2002. While the final dollar amount is yet to become official, capital plans need to be significantly reduced in both scope and scale to fit within the available funds.
2023 Edwards Community Survey
The District will be engaging residents to ask if the current amenities meet their recreation needs, ask if the 2019 Community Survey results still resonate in 2023, and see how residents would invest the available funds within the current mill levy: by ranking the top three amenities they need to recreate at the Field House.
District staff plan to gather community feedback in two stages throughout January and February. First, by prioritizing surveying and listening to residents in person. Then, through an online survey to see that everyone gets a chance to participate.
- In-Person Community Check-Ins (January 17-27)
- Online Community Survey (January 30-February 10)
- The survey will be published on January 30 on this page.
Can’t make it to an in-person community check in? Please feel free to reach out to Janet Bartnik, Executive Director at JBartnik@MountainRec.org.
- FAQGet quick answers to the most common questions we hear!
Where are the funds to pay for these changes coming from?
First and foremost, this is not a tax increase. Between existing funds in Mountain Rec’s reserves and the expected increase for property tax revenue in 2024, we believe funds will become available to accomplish some small-scale yet important amenity improvements.
What amenities are we talking about and where did they come from?
In 2019, we conducted a District-wide survey focused on what amenities, if any, would the community like to see at the Edwards Field House. The most popular amenity improvements from that survey are the ones we’ve listed for you on the comment cards and online:- Indoor walking track
- Group fitness room
- Fitness center floor with weights and machines
- Locker rooms
- Hardwood floors for volleyball, basketball, and pickleball (this would also look at adding a second full-size court along with upgrading the current surface)
- Social spaces
- Increased climbing amenities
Why an indoor walking track? We’re so outdoorsy in Eagle County!
We love the outdoors, too. Unfortunately, not everyone can for a lot of reasons, like age and injuries sustained while we’re outdoors. An indoor walking track would help active older adults who want to walk but are concerned about falling on the ice and it will help those who are recovering from injuries to their legs. It would also allow for parents whose kids are enjoying programs to be active while still keeping an eye on their kid. And those are just three examples of how people could use the walking track—based on what we see in the Gypsum indoor track, there are more ways to use an indoor walking track than you can imagine!
What about a pool or an ice rink…?
Because we have limited funds, we can’t do large-scale projects like the ones listed below. We wish we could and unfortunately those aren’t possible within the footprint of land we have access to.- Indoor pool ($9-$12M)
- Indoor tennis ($4-$5M)
- Pickleball complex ($400k-$4M)
- Indoor ice rink ($4-$10M)
- Additional turf field ($500k-$4M)
Can you use the field in the parking lot to expand?
Unfortunately, we don’t own that land so we can’t use it or build on it. The land belongs to Eagle County, and they have some ideas for that space that will help the community in different ways than through recreation.
What about Eagle & Gypsum?
Great question! We plan to work with our partners (Towns of Eagle & Gypsum) in 2023 to do similar types of community engagement.
Why don’t you just lower our taxes instead of investing in facilities?
The board’s purpose in asking district residents to share their opinions is to understand what improvements could be made within the funding available – and that is with an eye to serve a broader range of the community. We hope you’ll share your thoughts on what recreation amenities might serve you best by completing the survey. Perhaps we’ll land on priority improvements that will make our services of greater value to you!
| In-Person Community Check-Ins | ||
|---|---|---|
| Date | Time | Location |
| Tuesday, January 17 | 5pm-7pm | Singletree Clubhouse |
| Saturday, January 21 | 5pm-7pm | Edwards Field House |
| Wednesday, January 25 | 5pm-7pm | Eagle River Village Clubhouse |
| Thursday, January 26 | 5pm-7pm | Edwards Field House |
| Friday, January 27 | 10am-12pm | Edwards Field House |
- 2019 Community Survey
On May 3, 2019 we launched a public survey to gain initial comments from the public. This survey collected 475 responses and closed on May 31, 2019.
Staff then worked with user groups and consultants to gather feedback and continue to refine the concept plan. The concept plan was shared with the public on February 10, 2020 and the comment period closed March 2, 2020. Our staff and board reviewed the feedback to see what adjustments, if any, should be made to the draft concept plan. View the draft concept plan below that was shared with community on February 10, 2020.