As the days get shorter and the nights get longer, lighted sports fields become sought after.
Durango’s 15-acre Smith Sports Complex at Fort Lewis College is supposed to accommodate longer playing time, especially on autumnal evenings, but unfortunately, the sports fields won’t be ready to open this year or by next spring as once planned.
Cathy Metz, director of parks and recreation, said the $4.4 million project will be closed indefinitely for remedial work, which is covered under the city’s contract with its general contractor, FCI.
It is a dream deferred because the city identified the need for a regional sports complex in its 2001 Parks, Open Space and Trails master plan.
The city entered into a lease agreement with FLC for the property on a northeast corner of the campus in 2011. City officials once said the complex would be ready a year ago.
While passers-by might have seen the fields, the problem is subterranean, as in too many rocks under the playing surface.
The situation has literally left Durango between a rock and a hard place.
Metz did not think the fields would be ready be for the Soccer Shoot Out, a regional soccer tournament on Mother’s Day weekend that draws teams of mostly 10- to 12-year-olds from Arizona, New Mexico and the Front Range.
Currently, the tournament is spread out over the city.
“When the facility is available, it’s going to allow us to centralize it a bit more,” said Kate Stahlin, the director of coaching for the Durango Youth Soccer Association.
Stahlin anticipated using four soccer fields at the Smith Complex for the tournament.
“That’s the most exciting for me, to be honest. If we can host the whole thing up at Fort Lewis, it will be a lot easier to run. It will be an even better event,” she said.
There is too much work to be done by May.
A city contractor is currently checking for rocks within at least four inches of the surface.
“If rocks are encountered, the rocks are flagged and dug up,” Metz said in an email.
The city is currently evaluating the long-term viability of one of the fields.
“The field closest to Goeglein Gulch Road has the most rocks, and we are currently evaluating if the current methodology will result in a good, long-term, viable playing field or if another approach should be considered,” Metz said
The multi-use sports fields will accommodate sports as diverse as soccer, lacrosse, football and ultimate frisbee, but there are no backstops or fencing to accommodate baseball or softball.
The complex is named after Duane Smith, FLC professor emeritus of history and former chairman of the city’s Parks and Recreation Advisory Board.
The city’s Open Space, Parks and Trails Fund, which is funded by a half-cent sales tax approved by voters, is paying for $3.2 million of the $4.4 million project, according to a city budget document.
Durango also got a $700,000 grant from Great Outdoors Colorado, which is funded by the state lottery.
The college provided the land and about $400,000 for the lights.
The delay has not affected the college, said Mitch Davis, a public information officer for the college, because its sports teams have other facilities they can use.
“We do hope the delay can be resolved soon, as we want to bring more community members up to campus, and the Smith Sports Complex will be a great way to do that,” Davis said.
Stahlin said there is high demand in town for a soccer playing place, especially lighted fields.
But Stahlin and Charles Milliet, chairman of the board of the Durango Youth Soccer Association, understand, too, that the project has to be done right and not rushed.
“We’re not so much worried about getting them open, we want them ready to rock and roll for the long term,” Milliet said.
jhaug@durangoherald.com
