Bayfield trustees have expressed interest in a proposal to build a new fire station and community recreation center in town.
Upper Pine Fire Protection District Chief Bruce Evans is backing a plan to replace the old gym and former middle school west building on South Street with the new facilities.
Bayfield Town Manager Chris La May presented the concept to town trustees in mid-December.
“When we did the downtown assessment (in spring 2015), there was discussion of re-use of that property,” La May said. “The fire chief has wanted a downtown fire station back in the community.”
In the 1980s, Upper Pine had a small station where the town hall is now.
“The district is looking at a new station,” La May said. “The one on Clover Drive isn’t meeting their needs any more.”
The fire district hired an architectural firm to develop proposals.
La May said Evans wants to seek outside grant funding and build the complex without raising taxes.
“The community center part would make it more attractive for grant funding,” La May said. “The community has expressed that need.”
The proposal places the new fire station where the old gym is and the community recreation center entrance to the west on Church Street and visible from Mill Street.
The fire station is designed to accommodate firefighter living quarters as well as vehicles.
Plans for the community recreation center include a multi-use gym and, below it, an indoor gun-shooting range that has drawn mixed reaction.
The plans also include possible retail space, such as for athletic goods, which would front South Street.
La May said the fire district didn’t contract with the architects to design anything on the 23 acres to the south that the town purchased from Bayfield School District, but the architects met with Parks and Recreation Director Scott Key and created a site plan with tennis and pickleball courts and a building that could be used by community groups for events.
La May said all of the proposals are conceptual plans with a lot of details to be worked out, such as cost estimates.
“This is very preliminary,” he told trustees. “The school still uses the facility. Until that changes, this won’t be an option, but it’s time to start thinking about it. It would have to be worked out how we would staff and maintain a community center.”
He suggested working with architecture students from University of Colorado.
“We’ve asked if they might take this on. It’s something they could do,” he said.
La May asked trustees if they wanted town staff to invest time and effort into the proposal.
“It comes down to numbers,” Trustee Matt Salka said. “It looks good on paper. I’m interested.”
“A gun range leaves me not happy,” said Trustee Ed Morlan. He asked about town liability and whether it would have to be staffed.
La May said response to the gun range has been about evenly split.
Mayor Rick Smith said he really likes the fire station and community center in that location.
As for what the community center would include, he said, that “would be fleshed out long before a decision is made” about the gun range.
“I’d be very interested in what the CU students think the cost would be. It would be very preliminary,” he said.
Trustee Matt Nyberg agreed with Smith’s sentiments, but he suggested the architects should do the cost estimate from the start.
“The students can give a ballpark figure,” La May said.
He didn’t think a licensed architect would be necessary. Smith agreed. Morlan disagreed.
Trustees Michelle Nelson, Rachel Davenport and J.J. Sanders all endorsed the proposal for the fire station and community center.
Morlan said that formation of a recreation district has been discussed “off and on for years.”
“That could be a way to pay for staffing and maintenance,” he said. “When we worked on (forming a district) in the past, we didn’t have a specific community center” in the proposal.
Trustees didn’t take any formal action, but La May said he had enough direction from them to continue.
