The Fremont County Board of Commissioners, the Canon City Recreation and Park District, and the Florence-Penrose RE-2 School District continue to move towards adoption of the final master plan and an Intergovernmental Agreement for the new regional park and events center site. The site is on 178 acres along the Arkansas River along Colorado 115 west of Florence.
Representatives of the three entities met recently to review the agreement which will divide the tract into 131 acres for the Recreation District and 47 acres for county development. The agreement is expected to provide the RE-2 District with joint ownership for part of the property to preserve the District's interest in participating in future development of a baseball and softball complex.
At the forefront of the project in 2005 is constructing a Highway 115 access into the property with appropriate safety features of added lanes for left turns, acceleration, and deceleration. The Recreation District is applying for a $300,000 State Mineral Impact Grant that will be integral to financing the highway access.
The Recreation District and the County are then anxious to pursue Phase One development of the site. For the Rec District that involves site preparation, utilities, irrigation improvements, roads, and parking. For Fremont County the focus will be on roads, parking, and site development for an outdoor arena. A $500,000 Great Outdoors Colorado Grant is the key finance component towards development of the site.
One representative of each entity will also form a committee to establish a process to choose a name for the regional park this spring.
