An advisory committee is about half way through a 9-month process to design Gateway Park, including the types of amenities to be offered and the extent to which the public will be allowed access to the secluded area.
The committee is comprised of representatives from government agencies and nonprofit groups that have had an interest in opening the 377-acre site at the confluence of the Poudre River and north fork of the Poudre.
The site is owned by the City of Fort Collins Water Utilities Department. Several government agencies own adjacent or nearby land that could be impacted by public use of Gateway.
Nonprofit groups with representatives have worked the last several years to get the area open to the public. Among those groups are Friends Of The Poudre, Poudre Canyon Group of the Sierra Club and the local chapter of the Audubon Society.
The advisory committee will make recommendations about the types of use that will be available in Gateway. Park planners for the City of Fort Collins will then develop design plans.
Following that, meetings will be held to gain feedback from the public and appropriate city boards. The feedback will be used to develop a final design plan. As the site owner, the City of Fort Collins will make the final decision on what will be offered in Gateway.
"This is an important project that has involved many citizens during the last 13 years," said Marty Heffernan, assistant to the director of the Fort Collins Department of Cultural, Library and Recreation Services. He is chair of the advisory committee.
"We intend for members of the public to have ample opportunity to offer their ideas and thoughts," he said.
The time frame is for construction of the new park entryway to begin this fall. Originally, construction was to have started this spring, but the project was delayed because engineers developed a new set of entryway plans that will save money while providing a similar type of safe access off Colorado Highway 14.
Site improvements will be constructed in the year 2000 with the park opened after that.
Gateway is the committee's main focus, but the group is also considering possibilities for public recreational use of nearby areas. Among those are Seaman Reservoir, which is owned by the City of Greeley. The reservoir is a 15-minute walk from Gateway.
In addition, some adjacent land is owned by the U.S. Forest Service. The now-unused Wintersteen Trail starts at Gateway and goes through the Forest Service land to connect with the popular Grey Rock Trail.
The availability of nearby public lands mean the possibilities exist for more hiking, fishing, kayaking, rafting, flat-water boating, wildlife viewing, hunting, and many other types of recreational use than what could be found just at Gateway Park.
It also means there is a possible scenario where more public use will cause more disruption of the natural setting and wildlife in the Gateway area.
Bill Sears, a Friends Of The Poudre member who sits on the committee as a representative from the Lower Poudre Canyon Association, says the committee has struggled with an issue that has been a concern since Friends Of The Poudre started the effort in September 1986 to open the site as a park.
"How do we make sure the public has access without causing the area to lose its natural flavor?" Bill explains. "That issue has underpinned almost every discussion wešve had about Gateway over the years and during the committee meetings.
"We want to keep the natural integrity of the park area intact. We're afraid if we allow unlimited use at all times we may face a situation where every summer weekend at Gateway looks like the Fourth of July at City Park - crowded beyond belief. That's something we want to avoid both for the sake of the park and the people who go there to have an outdoor experience."
The committee has talked about these scenarios, but has not made any final recommendations:
"These are tough issues," Bill says, "and it will help us to have feedback from the public."
So far, the committee has gone through a long list of possible options of services and amenities that could be provided. Developed by the city's park planners, the list covered about every use that could conceivably be offered in a park. The park planners offered the extensive list as a way to ensure that no possibilities were left out.
With unanimous agreement, the committee nixed such amenities as baseball diamonds, tennis courts and concessionaires that rent boats and horses. The committee has agreed that:
Friends Of The Poudre will keep its members informed about public meetings on the park design. In addition, the committee meetings are open to the public. Time is allotted for members of the public to speak about issues and offer ideas. For more information, call Bill Sears, 970-224-1189 or Chuck Wanner, 970-484-0810.
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