makeover

BY SCOTT TAYLOR STAYLOR@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

In relatively quick succession, Brighton City Councilors spent $4.2 million March 21, all aimed at giving the city another lighted athletic eld.

Councilors agreed to ve resolutions at their regular meeting all aimed at converting the city’s athletic elds at Water Tower Park into a water-sipping, lighted, fenced athletic complex.

BY MICHAEL BOOTH THE COLORADO SUN

Colorado’s state water engineer has a message for the Nebraska o cials doubling down on their commitment to a $567 million canal across the border:

You can build it, but the water may not come.

Colorado state engineer Kevin

Rein acknowledges a historic compact gives Nebraska the right to build the canal at the South Platte River west of Julesburg. But in a ve-page response to Nebraska’s rst o cial evaluation of the plan, tacking closely to the direction set by Colorado’s attorney general, Rein says the actual water Nebraska is counting on may never show up. e Nebraska report by an engi- neering rm makes multiple assumptions that Colorado disputes, in particular whether the water will be “physically available, or whether it’s legally available at the time when it’s physically available,” Rein said in an interview. e Nebraska study “does not adequately consider future

“Too frequently, we don’t have the resources to do the right job the rst time,” Councilor Clint Blackhurst said. “ is time we do, and I think the only thing that’s missing here is some work on the parking lot area — but that is secondary. is is essentially going to be a new facility, not just an upgrade to the elds,

SEE MAKEOVER, P2 determine the schedule, according to Parks Manager Ryan Smith - is installing the arti cial turf for the three elds. e turf will go down on three elds a new facility.”

Brighton City Councilors have approved $4.2 milllion in work to convert the fields at the Brighton Water Tank Park into an an athletic compound with artificial turf, fencing and lights.

Parks Manager Ryan Smith said the work on the elds should be done by August, in time for high school and club football use.

“We have a construction timeline of roughly four months if it’s approved tonight,” Smith told councilors. “So that puts us into early August, complete and ready for use.”

One after another, the council approved ve contracts with developers for di erent aspects of the renovated athletic elds. ey reviewed all of the items for the park at their March 15 study session.

Turf, irrigation, lights e most expensive part of the project - and the one that will

— a 100-yard-long football/soccer eld with the City of Brighton logo in the middle and two smaller 60-yardlong elds. Neighbor Damon Balcerak, a co-founder of a Brighton youth rugby league, said the elds will be welcome.

“We have had a heck of a time nding eld space in Brighton over the past ve years,” Balcerak said. “ ere are what I call the typical sports that continue to grow — ag football, football, soccer — now you through the rugby program in the mix.

“It’s really really tough, and a lot of elds have been in disrepair, so I just wanted to urge everyone to vote for these,” Balcerak said.

Smith said the new elds would use the same kind of arti cial turf

E Agle View A Dult C Enter

Prairie Center Parkway • Brighton, CO 80601 • 303-655-2075 • www.brightonco.gov

Eagle View Adult Center Update

March 29 – April 5, 2023

Eagle View Adult Center is open Monday – Friday, 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Call 303-655-2075 for more information. e March and April Newsletter is available.

Cards, Games and Pool

If you like to play games like bridge, pinochle, dominos, scrabble and pool… Eagle View is the place to get connected. Check out the newsletter for playing times.

VOA Lunch

Due to VOA moving to a new kitchen facility, there will be no VOA lunches at Eagle View Adult Center March 6-April 14. Meals will begin again April 17.

Call Eleanor at 303-655-2271 on Mondays and ursdays.

Readers eatre Performance

Drop in for a fun and free show! 11:00 a.m. urs. Mar 30. Free

Friends Meeting New Friends

Are you living in the Brighton area and don’t have any family in the area? is is your chance to meet others that are in the same situation. Perhaps you will nd a new friend!

1:00 p.m. Fri. Mar 31. Free. Deadline: urs. Mar 30 e Orphan Train Movement

From 1854 to 1929, it is estimated that over 250,000 children were moved by train from orphanages to rural areas of the U.S. Jeanne MacVicar presents on this topic as a tribute to her Great-Aunt Adeline Trowbridge who arrived on the Orphan Train in 1911.

1:30 p.m. Tues. Apr 4. Free. Deadline: Mon. Apr 3

History of Brighton Parks

Kyle Sylvester, Assistant Director of Parks and Open Space, is here to share the history and foundation of public use parks in the City of Brighton.

1:30 p.m. Wed. Apr 5. $4. Deadline: Tues. Apr 4 used at Brighton Sports Complex and at the Pawlowski Fields. at piece of the project is expected to cost $2.7 million, according to the contract councilors approved with Rocky Mountain Turf Solutions. e complex will still require water to keep trees and other plantings alive, so councilors approved a $420,5000 contract with PSI Construction to install a new irrigation system. e entire eld will be lit, Smith said, allowing night games at the eld.

Smith said the city has used an average of 2.7 million gallons of water each year on the park’s elds. Removing 4.2 acres of grass in the 7.7-acre park should save the city an estimated 1.85 million gallons of water per year, he said.

“Essentially, if we don’t do this part, we’d just be watering the turf,” Councilor Peter Padilla said.

“ ere are no lights there, and they have to bring lights in on trailers,” Smith said.

It would be the rst fully lighted outdoor eld for football, soccer and rugby in Brighton, Smith said, and the lights will all be directionally pointed down to limit light pollution for neighbors.

In all, eight lights will be installed, two each along the smaller elds and one at each corner of the larger eld.

Councilors approved the $515,000 contract with Musco Sports Lighting to make that happen.

“I love the ‘no light pollution’,” Councilor Ann Taddeo said. e entire complex will be enclosed in black fencing based on a $135,850 contract councilors approved with Ideal Fencing Corporation. Smith said the fencing would be similar to the kind used at Brighton’s Ken Mitchell Park and is meant to keep vandals from ruining the playing eld.

“Currently we don’t have any fences around the eld and we’ve had people doing donuts in their cars on the eld, we’ve had people driving on them on motorbikes or using their trucks to plow the eld at their convenience,” Smith said.

Finally, councilors approved a $393,700 contract with AtoZ Recreation LLC for a new ADA-acceptable playground at the center of the three elds.

“As Mayor Pro Tem Blackhurst said, this is a whole new park,” Green said. “It’s a whole new park at Water Tower Park and we’ll have something for all ages, even for the kids while their older brothers and sisters are playing on the elds. So I am so excited about this whole concept, this whole park and not just the athletic elds.”