{"id":794698,"date":"2019-04-10T17:12:00","date_gmt":"2019-04-10T23:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/news\/breckenridges-river-park-pushing-ahead-with-help-of-state-lotto-money\/"},"modified":"2019-04-10T17:12:00","modified_gmt":"2019-04-10T23:12:00","slug":"breckenridges-river-park-pushing-ahead-with-help-of-state-lotto-money","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/local-news\/breckenridges-river-park-pushing-ahead-with-help-of-state-lotto-money\/","title":{"rendered":"Breckenridge\u2019s River Park pushing ahead with help of state lotto money"},"content":{"rendered":"
Children play on one of the nature-based features at River Park. The park is being designed as a \u201cnature-based environment\u201d with features that are supposed to produces safe, controlled introductions to outdoor elements.<\/strong>
Courtesy of town of Breckenridge<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When families are enjoying Breckenridge\u2019s River Park years from now, they might not know $700,000 worth of state lottery money helped pay for the artfully designed, nature-based play space.<\/p>\n

The park on Floradora Drive is not yet finished, but the town wrapped up the first phase of the two-part project last fall and plans to attack construction of the second phase next year.<\/p>\n

River Park has been designed as a \u201cnature-based environment\u201d with elements appropriate for children of all ages. And so youngsters will find multiple features at the park that produce safe, controlled introductions to outdoor elements, including the nearby river system, forest, mountains and meadows, along with the rich history of the area, all while they\u2019re at play.<\/p>\n

One of the biggest features at the park is the large nature-play playground that\u2019s perfect for children ages 5-12. For anyone familiar with the park, it\u2019s the climbing towers people see as they drive by on Highway 9.<\/p>\n

The idea is that having nature-based features like these can help stimulate children\u2019s imagination, increase their engagement and better connect them with the environment.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s kind of a bridge for younger kids to get into our open-space areas,\u201d said Scott Reid, Breckenridge\u2019s recreation director.<\/p>\n

The first phase of the project brought River Park the playground, a pavilion, restrooms, landscaping and a bridge to the Summit County Recpath. The second leg calls for the addition of playground equipment geared toward younger age groups, along with a fishing platform on the Blue River, some grassy areas and potentially a beginner\u2019s strider track.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe decided this was an important place to have irrigated sod because it is a place that we feel like is going to get a lot of use\u201d by the families living in nearby workforce units, Reid said.<\/p>\n

Native grasses just wouldn\u2019t be as durable or useful for activities like kicking a soccer ball around or having a picnic, he added.<\/p>\n

\u201cGolfers shouldn\u2019t have all the grass,\u201d joked Councilman Jeffrey Bergeron. \u201c(It\u2019s) good for the kids.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bergeron\u2019s joke came Tuesday night as Breckenridge Town Council was paving the way for the second leg of the River Park project by approving a resolution to accept a second round of funding from the Great Outdoors Colorado Trust Fund, more commonly known as \u201cGOCO.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 1992, Colorado voters approved distributing profits from lottery sales to the GOCO, Conservation Trust Fund and Colorado Parks and Wildlife.<\/p>\n

The amount of GOCO funding awarded for the second phase of River Park is the same as what the town got for the first<\/a> \u2014 $350,000 \u2014 which brings the total amount of state lottery money that\u2019s been funneled into the park up to $700,000.<\/p>\n

And with River Park, Breckenridge now has one of 11 projects in the state honored with a 2019 Starburst Award, which recognizes the excellent use of lottery money on community and conservation projects.<\/p>\n

The Starburst Awards are based on creativity, economic and social impacts of a project, and whether the project achieved its goals. Other award winners this year were Cortez, Fruita, Lakewood, Lamar, Pueblo, Castle Rock, Cripple Creek, and the Foothills Park and Recreation District, among others.<\/p>\n

Altogether, the 11 projects represent more than $16.2 million worth of lottery funding, and Anne Murphy, Breckenridge\u2019s open space and trails manager.<\/p>\n

Murphy has been instrumental in the progress made on River Park, and she said she agrees with the Starburst judges who honored River Park for meeting the project\u2019s original goals.<\/p>\n

\u201cReally our goal in designing this park was to have it be both a neighborhood park for the workforce housing that\u2019s going in (on Block 11) and as a destination park for guests,\u201d said Murphy, adding that River Park is in close proximity to Colorado Mountain College\u2019s campus in Breckenridge, the town\u2019s recreation center, Upper Blue Elementary and two childcare facilities.<\/p>\n

Murphy said snow fell too early this fall for a proper grand opening ceremony and the town is hoping to celebrate the opening of River Park with an event perhaps sometime in July.<\/p>\n

In other business<\/p>\n

\u2022 Following the direction of Summit County commissioners, Breckenridge council members approved an ordinance on first reading that would allow Class I e-bikes on town-controlled portions of the paved recpath. A similar measure is currently moving at the county level.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Council approved a resolution adopting the Summit County Climate Action Plan produced by the High Country Conservation Center environmentalist group. The plan calls for a multipronged approach to reduce energy use and cut carbon emissions with specific targets and dates detailed in the plan.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Council supported a resolution re-adopting Breckenridge\u2019s comprehensive plan and land use guidelines as the town\u2019s annexation plan. According to the town, state statutes require that annexations run consistent with an annexation plan for a three-mile area surrounding the town.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Council also heard presentations and discussed the town\u2019s plans to build a high-speed fiber network, the next steps for workforce housing in Breckenridge, a CDOT highway access plan and usage rates at the Arts District Campus, among other topics.<\/p>\n

via:: Summit Daily<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Children play on one of the nature-based features at River Park. The park is being designed as a \u201cnature-based environment\u201d with features that are supposed to produces safe, controlled introductions to outdoor elements.Courtesy of town of Breckenridge When families are enjoying Breckenridge\u2019s River Park years from now, they might not know $700,000 worth of state […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[99],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-794698","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-14 12:05:31","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSMT The Mountain","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/794698","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=794698"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/794698\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=794698"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=794698"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=794698"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}