Future of Recreation Centers

On Monday, October 28, staff presented an overview of the project process to the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board (PRAB). Check out the recording of the Future of Recreation Centers presentation to PRAB online.

On Monday, November 18, staff and consultants presented the Window 2 engagement summary to PRAB.

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.

Next up? Engagement Window 3! Between December and January, city staff will be out and about getting input from a broad range of community members. Stay tuned for more details about how to engage.

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. 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:

• The East Boulder Community Center and East Age Well Center is an ideal candidate for renovations, which are funded by the Community Culture Safety and Resilience tax. In addition to energy efficiency upgrades, community input will inform what these renovations include. Construction is expected to start in 2026.
• 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 that South Boulder Recreation Center has reached the end of its life. Major repairs or renovations at South are neither feasible nor funded. The level of service we can provide at South may decrease as parts of the building fail, requiring more investment than is wise or feasible given the building’s age and condition. The Future of Recreation Center Project anticipates reductions in service levels at South and will explore whether and how these services could be accommodated at East. 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.

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!