{"id":2451058,"date":"2019-11-14T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-11-14T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/?p=315998"},"modified":"2019-11-14T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2019-11-14T07:00:00","slug":"basalt-river-park-finally-taking-shape-with-1-million-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/basalt-river-park-finally-taking-shape-with-1-million-plan\/","title":{"rendered":"Basalt River Park finally taking shape with $1 million plan"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
The Basalt River Park will feature a great lawn on the eastern end with a band shell that resembles the charcoal kilns that are an important part of Basalt’s history.<\/strong>
Connect One Design\/courtesy image<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

After years of planning, gnashing teeth in a political battle and a costly relocation of mobile homes, Basalt is finally ready to add amenities to its River Park.<\/p>\n

Town Council gave an informal endorsement Tuesday of a conceptual plan for the park, located near downtown on the northern bank of the Roaring Fork River. Council must approve the final design.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m excited about this plan,\u201d Councilwoman Jennifer Riffle said. \u201cIt\u2019s got really something for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

The town has about $1 million earmarked for the project through its sales tax dedicated to parks, open space and trails, according to Town Manager Ryan Mahoney. Roughly $750,000 would be spent next year and $300,000 the following year on the second phase.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not going to be inexpensive but this is not something that\u2019s going to be break-the-bank expensive,\u201d Councilman Gary Tennenbaum said.<\/p>\n

The town must also negotiate acquiring additional land to expand the park.<\/p>\n

Heather Henry of Connect One Design, the Basalt firm hired to work on the plan, outlined the conceptual plan for council. The town\u2019s Parks, Open Space and Trails citizens\u2019 advisory board also influenced the design.<\/p>\n

Many of the proposed features are tied to the history or geology of the Basalt area \u2014 \u201cThose things that make Basalt, Basalt,\u201d Henry said.<\/p>\n

For example, the stage and band shell will resemble the charcoal kilns that are so prominent in Basalt\u2019s history. Seven kilns constructed in the mid-1880s have been restored at Arbaney Park in Basalt.<\/p>\n

A \u201cmister\u201d water feature would prominently display features constructed of basalt rock that gave the town its name.<\/p>\n

Large play features resembling hay bales will dominate the center of the park, giving a nod to the midvalley\u2019s agricultural past.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom a distance, it will look like you just hayed part of your field,\u201d Henry said.<\/p>\n

The band shell will be at the eastern end of the park along Midland Avenue. The interior will be a climbing wall. A walking path and the curved misting water feature area will create a natural amphitheater with a vast \u201cgreat lawn.\u201d Henry said the area will be able to seat as many as 4,000 people for concerts and other special events.<\/p>\n

The plan honors one of the community goals to preserve a wide, V-shaped viewplane while looking from downtown toward the river. A large, mature tree at the intersection of Two Rivers Road and Midland Avenue will remain at the park entrance. Close to the entrance will be a slide wide enough to let multiple kids go down at once.<\/p>\n

As the park moves west or downstream from the great lawn, it will include the hay bale play features, willow forts for kids to play in, climbing trees and an existing sand beach. Wetlands will be preserved on the western side of the park, which is sandwiched between the river and a proposed development closer to Two Rivers Road.<\/p>\n

An existing boardwalk will tie into a path that will be built between Rocky Mountain Institute\u2019s Innovation Center and a new development that mixes residential, commercial and nonprofit uses. A team headed by Tim Belinski proposed the project, which is on the other half of the former Pan and Fork site, closest to Two Rivers Road. Although the development project doesn\u2019t have final approval, the proposal includes a restaurant with a large patio that would face the great lawn and be oriented toward the band shell.<\/p>\n

The park will include numerous shade trees and benches. Picnic areas overlook the river. Boat tie-offs will be sprinkled along the riverbank.<\/p>\n

A bus shelter with bathrooms is being contemplated close to where a bus stop currently exists on Two Rivers Road.<\/p>\n

Councilman Ryan Slack called the plan \u201cawesome\u201d and said he couldn\u2019t wait to see it come to fruition.<\/p>\n

Councilman Bill Infante gave credit to the consulting team, POST board and town staff for the work on the plan.<\/p>\n

Mayor Jacque Whitsitt also credited the team for \u201ca great job.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI have felt a lot of ownership about this thing for many, many years,\u201d Whitsitt said. \u201cI will refrain from micro-managing on this planning effort because I think you\u2019re doing a great job.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tennenbaum said he initially questioned if the project should include the misting water feature.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt first I was like, \u2018Should we be using water\u2019?\u201d Tennenbaum said. \u201cThis is the most efficient and I think it\u2019s something people would really like. It shows we\u2019re trying to conserve water by not having a full-on water feature there.\u201d<\/p>\n

The town bought about 3 acres<\/a> of the old Pan and Fork Mobile Home Park for $1.2 million in 2011. It began relocating residents<\/a> of the mobile homes in 2013. The debate over what to build on the site broke out and pitted park proponents against those who felt something with more vitality was needed. Some people are frustrated that the park still has bare-bones amenities so long after its purchase.<\/p>\n

Belinski\u2019s team earned sketch plan approval<\/a> for a plan earlier this year. He is working on final details for review by council, so that half of the property also could alo soon take shape.<\/p>\n

scondon@aspentimes.com<\/a><\/p>\n

via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Basalt River Park will feature a great lawn on the eastern end with a band shell that resembles the charcoal kilns that are an important part of Basalt’s history.Connect One Design\/courtesy image After years of planning, gnashing teeth in a political battle and a costly relocation of mobile homes, Basalt is finally ready to […]<\/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":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2451058","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-19 06:24:54","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":"KSPN The Valley's Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2451058","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2451058"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2451058\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2451058"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2451058"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2451058"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}