It’s Boulder Parks and Recreation’s mission to provide high-quality parks, facilities, and programs to the community and we want to maximize opportunities for active play in Boulder! However, to act as responsible stewards of public spaces and for the safety of community members, we sometimes need to make the difficult decision to close facilities. We do this with the information we have to ensure the safety, quality, and durability of our community sport facilities.
City staff who are certified turf and sports facility management specialists use industry-best practices to make decisions for the operations of our reservable recreational fields – and take the following into consideration:
- The safety of community members is our highest priority. Overly wet or overly dry fields can cause injury to lower limbs, head injuries or accidental collisions between players. Conditions that could be risky will result in facility closures.
- We strive to protect our sports facilities so they can be enjoyed by our community now and in the future. Playing on them when they may be in compromised conditions could cause damage, which could close them for weeks with repair costs taking money away from long-term facility investments.
- Localized weather conditions could impact facilities differently in different parts of the city. For example, we’ve had rain in the northern part of the city while the southern portions of the city stay dry. When we make closure decisions, they’re done with a system-view in mind. Assessing conditions at all sites simultaneously is not always possible and staff resources may be diverted elsewhere if the weather shifts.
- Our staff interpret weather forecasts just like everyone else and we rely on available forecast data. We may not always get it right, but we err on the side of safely maximizing recreation opportunities.
Keeping this in mind, the decision to operate or close sports facilities are made twice a day:
- No later than 7 a.m. for morning use
- No later than 3 p.m. for afternoon and evening use
User group contacts will receive direct communication from on-call staff related to any changes to normal operations.
We understand that this process can be frustrating and may cause confusion for our community whose goal is to play as much as possible. We respect that and want our community to play, too. Our goals are to protect our community from injury, apply this policy equitably across our system, and keep the sports facilities in the best shape for years to come. Thanks for your understanding and keeping our community of players informed about our process.
For updated field status, call our weather line at 303-441-3410 and listen for options.