This project is meant to inspire and capture the community’s vision for city recreation centers long into the future. With upcoming, funded renovations to the East Boulder Community Center (EBCC), as well as aging facilities in North and South Boulder, now is the time to both dream up and prioritize improvements.
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Thank you to everyone who provided feedback in Engagement Window 3 - for more information on this feedback please see the "Window 3" tab below on this webpage.
Join us in Engagement Window 4 at the East Boulder Community Center (EBCC) Age Well Ballroom on Tuesday, April 8 for a community open house.
Drop-in 4 - 7 p.m. to talk to staff and provide feedback on:
You can also provide feedback online from Tuesday, April 8 - Tuesday, April. Stay tuned for details!
Designing upcoming renovations to East Boulder Community Center (EBCC)
Based on community priorities for funded improvements to EBCC, the city’s consultant team is hard at work developing several preliminary design concepts for EBCC. These options will consider different ways of maximizing community benefit within available funding.
Short-term improvements coming to South (SBRC) and North (NBRC)
The city’s consultant team recently reviewed all past assessments of city recreation facilities and completed an updated building condition assessment. We are prioritizing needs at SBRC and NBRC based on this assessment. Even with short-term repairs at SBRC, level of service we can provide at that site may decrease as parts of the building fail.
Staff are currently assembling an approach, schedule, and funding for immediate improvements over the next 12-18 months. These short-term investments will support the city's ability to continue promoting health and well-being, while long-term conversations are in process about the city’s Long-term Financial Strategy project, a potential replacement facility at SBRC in the next 5-7 years, and future renovations at NBRC in the years following that.
Looking ahead
While major, capital improvements to SBRC and North Boulder Recreation Center are currently unfunded, community input is helping shape a preliminary vision for what those enhancements could include if funding can be identified.
Together with existing policy and technical analysis, these initial ideas are informing an assessment of which indoor recreation activities are most important to provide space for in future versions of each facility.
As we consider all three centers as part of a whole system, the public will have opportunities to weigh in on these ideas at an open house at EBCC on Tuesday, April 8, 4-7pm or online from April 8 - 22. Stay tuned for details!
Boulder Parks and Recreation Staff recently held a "game night" with community members who represented recreation organizations. The intent behind the special community engagement event was to gather more feedback for the Future of Recreation Centers project
Thanks for your interest and involvement in the process! Your input will inform a needs assessment report that describes the communities recreation priorities and makes recommendations on how to address them including where additional funding is needed.
Public engagement is vital to the process. In so many ways, city recreation centers are community wellness hubs – places for all community members to gather and connect, exercise and play, rest and recover. Imagining their future requires input from neighbors, visitors, children, teens, older adults, people with disabilities, people with lower incomes, and so many other voices that historically have been marginalized. Please share your voice.
Between Spring of 2023 and Spring of 2025, members of the public are invited to participate in a series of 4 engagement windows, followed by future conversations about how to fund outstanding needs and opportunities. Past windows are described below, including summaries of what we heard. Check out the Future of Recreation Centers presentation to PRAB from Monday, October 28 for more information on the project process.
Thank you to everyone who provided feedback in December and January including the Youth Opportunity Advisory Board (YOAB), Community Connectors, Older Adults and EXPAND participants. A full summary of this feedback is included in the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board (PRAB) packet for February (starts on pg. 11).
This input confirmed findings from past engagement windows and advanced understanding about the community’s top priorities for all three recreation centers:
Based on recent engagement, we worked with an artist to illustrate the themes that are emerging for each center.
Thank you for helping us plan for the future of Boulder's indoor recreation centers!
Engagement window 2 included more than 4,000 touchpoints with community members from the What's Up Boulder event, online questionnaire and more. While this window is closed, you can still sign up for project email updates at the bottom of this page.
On Monday, October 28, staff presented an overview of the project process to the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board (PRAB). Check out the Future of Recreation Centers presentation to PRAB.
On Monday, November 18, staff and consultants presented the Window 2 engagement summary to PRAB.
During this window of engagement community members affirmed the values that had been shared in previous engagements. When asked which 3 improvements community members would like to see at recreation centers, respondents prioritized more opportunities for in-demand activities, indoor options to support year-round opportunities for outdoor sports and activities, and activities and facilities that better reflect their interests.
Communities prioritized fitness, aquatics, mindfulness and wellness as the three most important types of activities to provide at recreation centers. More details can be found in the PRAB memo (starting on page 75).
In April 2023, community members provided feedback about their hopes, fears and values for the future of Boulder's recreation centers during engagement window 1. More than 1,200 community members filled out the online questionnaire and nearly 100 community members participated in in-person sessions at the centers. We heard love for many indoor recreation activities including sports and community gathering. More details can be found in the Window 1 Engagement Summary.
In September 2024, we asked community members to help us prioritize values and indoor recreation activities as part of engagement window 2. The Engagement Window 2 Summary will be posted here soon.
Boulder’s system of three publicly accessible recreation centers reflects our community’s long-held values and support for health, wellness, and fitness. This project is solely focused on indoor recreation and older adult services provided at all 3 recreation center sites. It does not include outdoor recreation in adjacent or other outdoor spaces. These centers exist within a range of other recreation facilities in the city, including private gyms, Boulder Valley School District (BVSD) facilities, and University of Colorado (CU) facilities.
City recreation center buildings are nearing the end of their lifecycle and are using high amounts of energy, water (i.e., pool leaks), and limited resources. To meet citywide climate goals, reductions in energy and water use must be made. The city’s consultant team on the project – Perkins & Will – includes professionals from across several disciplines such as mechanical engineering, structural engineering, electrical engineering and aquatics. This team reviewed all past assessments of city recreation facilities and completed an updated building condition assessment in late 2024. Addressing these issues requires costly physical improvements. However, city budgets are constrained. Public engagement, data, funding and city policies will guide the city’s strategic and phased approach to making improvements at each center over the next 10+ years. Current next steps include:
Renovations to the other two recreation centers (North and South) have not been planned or funded. City council accepted the 2021 Facilities Plan and 2022 BPR Plan, both of which confirmed we need to be thinking about the future of recreation in South Boulder. The city is currently exploring opportunities and identifying funding to make repairs that might support current SBRC operations until long-term plans can be made.
Short-term investments would support the city's ability to promote health and well-being while long-term decisions are made for a more permanent solution. Throughout this process, community input will help prioritize which indoor recreation activities are most important to provide in the South Boulder location, if a replacement structure were to be funded in the future.
This feedback, as well as additional technical analysis and cost estimating, will inform a citywide needs assessment for all city recreation centers, due out in mid-2025.
Thank you for your support as we plan for the future of Boulder’s recreation centers. We are committed to engaging our community regarding these long-term decisions. Please engage and let your voice shape your play!
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