In July, SDM reported on the status of a 490-acre privately funded sports complex project in Windsor, Colorado, being billed as the “Disney World of youth sports.” At that time, construction manager and owners representative Steven Chasteen said the $225 million Rocky Mountain Sports Park, after a series of delays, was set to partially open in 2019.
Now, according to The Greeley Tribune, the project essentially is back to square one “with a name change, a new location, plans to start smaller and a new partnership with the town of Windsor.”
Developers of what now will be known as the Colorado National Sports Park recently entered into a public-private agreement with the town to provide a “makeover” to the existing Diamond Valley Sports Complex in Windsor, the paper reports. The project, officials say, will convert the existing three ballfields, playground and concessions stand into a 100-acre year-round sports tourism destination.
Reasons for the change in plans include obstacles that apparently proved too strong to overcome, including the extension of sewer service and resistance by homeowners living near the original proposed site, which was zone residential. (The new site in Windsor is already zoned for industrial use.)
“We had a plan of action out there [at the original site], but the time frame and escalating cost of the project made it not manageable,’’ Windsor Mayor Kristie Melendez told the Fort Collins Coloradoan.
According to the paper, Chasteen said “most of the original leadership and ownership … remains in place,” and the facility’s first event is planned for July 4, 2019.”
“One thing about this ownership and leadership group is never count them out,’’ Chasteen said. “This group has always wanted to bring a world-class sports complex to Windsor and now we are going to be able to do that starting next year.’’
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