Softball field and tennis court construction at Fort Lewis College will require an additional $1.35 million in funding.
The Durango City Council unanimously approved the additional funding from a variety of sources Monday night.
The project is expected to cost $4.35 million, instead of the budgeted $3 million.
Two of the major contributors to the increase in cost were deciding to move the tennis courts to a different location at the request of the college and regrading the softball fields, which was more extensive than planned, Parks and Recreation Director Cathy Metz said.
“I think the end result will be far superior to what the athletes played on previously,” she said.
Extensive dirt work to bring the three softball fields up to NCAA standards required the city to replace all of the irrigation and the fences around the fields because the grade of the fields changed, Metz said.
When complete, the softball fields will also have new lights to help eliminate the light spilling over the edge of the mesa, new bathrooms and locker rooms. The bathrooms were closed about 10 years ago because they were unusable.
Rather than rebuild the tennis courts, the college asked the city to move the tennis courts to undeveloped land adjacent to the Smith Sports Complex, previously used for soccer and other sports.
The move will allow the college to expand the Campus Student Life Center at some point, Metz said.
However, moving the courts was much more expensive than rebuilding them in place and required the city to extend electricity and sidewalks, Metz said.
Without much discussion, the council appropriated funds for the renovations.
To pay for the additional cost, the city applied for and received a $250,000 energy and mineral impact grant from the state.
The city also designated $150,000 from the park development fund and $200,000 in conservation trust fund money that it received from the state to the project.
A few projects were deferred to help fund the project, including $400,000 designated for Rotary Park restrooms, $180,024 for the Santa Rita to County Road 210 trail and $137,570 in other improvements. About $12,000 left over from the Smith Sports Complex will also help fund the project.
The construction is a partnership between the city and FLC, and rebuilding the softball and tennis courts fulfills a 50-year lease agreement that the city has with Fort Lewis College.
Fort Lewis College initially pledged $250,000 to the project and the Fort Lewis College Foundation raised an additional $20,000 for new scoreboards.
The project displaced the Fort Lewis College softball team, which played its 2017 season at the Aztec Tiger Sports Complex in New Mexico, the home site of Aztec High School.
The project is expected to be finished in time for the 2018 softball season, Metz said.
“At the end of the project, I really feel that the community will be very pleased,”she said.
mshinn@durangoherald.com
