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Gymnastics

City’s purchase will benefit the program, and frees Mason Center

The city of Durango has a long and impressive track record of supporting youth and adult sports programs that arise from community interest. A full generation of Durango youth has donned the ubiquitous yellow and blue reversible soccer jerseys for Saturday morning games – all organized by the city. Coaching training, partnerships with Fort Lewis College’s soccer program, practice space throughout town, and an affordable price define the soccer program, which is just one of many similar examples.

Through the city, kids can learn to play hockey, lacrosse, ski, snowboard, swim, leap or tumble among other skills. Providing such an array of recreational options requires a deep commitment – and steep investment; with its purchase of a new facility for the gymnastics program, the city has indicated once again that keeping Durango’s youth busy building skills is very much a priority.

Within that context, the city’s purchase was also a good business decision. The gymnastics program, which begins with parent-and-child classes for toddlers and extends to a progressive competitive travel team with options through high school, is housed in the city’s Mason Center. This aging former school building on 12th Street and Third Avenue is inadequate to the task of housing the gymnastics program, but has done so under less than ideal circumstances for more than a decade.

Remodeling the facility to properly accommodate gymnastics would cost an estimated $12 million; the city purchased a building in Bodo Industrial Park for $1.1 million with a planned $2.1 million remodel to fit the 11,000-square-foot facility with gymnastics equipment. The math on the matter is clear, as is the expediency.

The Bodo Drive building formerly functioned as an indoor sports training facility operated by the Stillwater Foundation. It is a large, open space well-suited for gymnastics equipment, gymnasts and observers. The Mason Center gym is crammed with balance beams, uneven bars, trampolines and floor space. Parents wishing to catch a glimpse of their tumbler must peer in through a small door. Hosting competitions is out of the question. All of this could have been remedied at the Mason Center, of course, but a $12 million price tag put the remodel far down the road – in time, political and financial feasibility. The Bodo facility, at a quarter of the cost, can be up and running within the year and could serve to transform the city’s gymnastics program – and the future of the Mason Center.

Freeing up the downtown space is an added bonus for the city. The building will surely require a remodel regardless of its future use, but that conversation can now be expansive and inclusive – as it should be. Money from the city’s recently re-upped sales tax for parks and recreation projects will fund the Bodo purchase and likely will pay something toward the Mason Center’s next incarnation.

A community process to determine how to best use the Mason Center is sure to generate interesting ideas that draw on the city’s strength and its residents’ interests and needs. Moving the city’s gymnastics program to Bodo Park provides a wide-ranging opportunity to improve and expand the already excellent offerings – for gymnasts and many others. The city should be proud of its investment.



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