Elk Ridge Park awarded $700K grant from the Colorado Lottery
Aerial view of Elk Ridge Park – photo courtesy of Bob Wiebold
by Anthonette Klinkerman
Castle Pines North (CPN) residents currently enjoy three beautiful parks, and the city’s newest park – Elk Ridge Park – will be a welcomed and well-funded addition. Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO) recently awarded the Castle Pines Parks Authority a $700,000 grant for the funding and development of Elk Ridge Park.
The president of the Castle Pines Parks Authority, Anna Mallinson, announced the awarding of the grant in an e-mail to the community the first week of April. She thanked Axel Bishop from Design Concepts for writing a successful grant application and for submitting it to GOCO (essentially the Colorado Lottery) in August of 2009. CPN Metro District Open Space Manager Charlie Fagan also played an important role in the grant application process.
“This is great news for Castle Pines North and our newest park, and is exactly the kind of funding that we and the city should be sourcing for the future parks in CPN,” stated Mallinson.
Thus far, the financial funding of Elk Ridge Park (approximately $3.7 million) has come directly from residents’ homeowner association dues paid to the CPN Master Association since 2001.
Local land developer, HF Holdings, donated the land for the park as part of its land use requirement for the city, and HOA1 (whose members’ homes back to the park) deeded the remaining land. These financial contributions and commitments, combined with the support of the entire Castle Pines community, assisted in the grant application process.
“Elk Ridge Park represents more than a few swing sets and a ball field; it represents a much-needed civic amenity that has the potential to bring the community, young and old, together,” wrote the editor of The Castle Pines Connection newspaper in a letter of support submitted with the grant application.
Located on Mira Vista Lane in the Lagae Ranch development and currently still under construction, the park is set to be complete in 2011. Contracts for construction will be going out to bid as construction drawings near completion. Meanwhile, the Parks Authority is determining the best uses for the grant money.
To learn more about the Castle Pines Parks Authority, including its establishment, purpose, and vision for the future, go to
www.castlepinesconnection.com/pages/news/2010/qtr2/pa.html.
