Brighton’s Water Tower Park fields getting a $4.2 million makeover

water to keep trees and other plantings alive, so councilors approved a $420,5000 contract with PSI Construction to install a new irrigation system.

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

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.

“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, a new facility.”

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 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 100-yard-long football/soccer eld with the City of Brighton logo in the middle and two smaller 60-yard-long elds. Neighbor Damon Balcerak, a co-founder of a Brighton youth rugby league, said the elds will be welcome. e complex will still require e entire eld will be lit, Smith said, allowing night games at the eld. “ ere are no lights there, and they have to bring lights in on trailers,” Smith said.

“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 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.

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.

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.”

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Staff Report

Adams City High School

Baseball

Mar. 9: Greeley Central 4 p.m.

Mar. 16: Westminster 4 p.m.

Mar. 18: @Denver South 10 a.m.

Mar. 21: @Poudre 7 p.m.

Mar. 23: @Manual 4 p.m.

Mar. 25: Wheat Ridge 10 a.m.

Apr. 1: Northglenn 10 a.m.

Apr. 4: Skyview 4 p.m.

Apr. 7: @Overland 4 p.m.

Apr. 11: ornton 4 p.m.

Apr. 13 @Aurora Central 4 p.m.

Apr. 15 Sheridan 11 a.m.

Apr. 20: @Skyview 4 p.m.

Apr. 22: FNE Warriors 11 a.m.

Apr. 25: Gateway 4 p.m.

Apr. 27: @ ornton 4 p.m.

Apr. 20: Grand Junction 11 a.m.

May 2: Aurora Central 4 p.m.

Boys swimming

Mar. 8: @Hinkley 4:15 p.m.

Apr. 4: @George Washington 4:15 p.m.

Apr. 12 North eld, Denver East, TJ 4:15 p.m.

Apr. 14 @Westminster 4:15 p.m.

Apr. 19: Denver East, Aurora PS team 4:15 p.m.

Apr. 21: @Westminster 4:15 p.m.

Apr. 26: Denver North 4:15 p.m.

May 4, 6 DPS League meet, Manual HS

May 12: State 5A swim meet (Veterans Memorial Aquatic Center)