Recreation Director Steve Samson is visiting city recreation centers and field houses in north central Colorado to get a better idea of how much it will cost to operate and furnish Fort Morgan’s field house once it is constructed.
He said that while the city has a planned budget of $10 million for construction, landscaping and getting the field house open to the public, Fort Morgan is not sure how much its day-to-day operation will cost. Samson said he’s been charged with determining a plan for the field house’s “FF&E,” or its fixtures, features and equipment.
This month, Samson said he’s taking trips to different communities in the region to tour their recreation or community centers and get some firm numbers together on costs of things like maintenance, air conditioning and other operations. The city expects to begin construction on the field house this spring or early summer.
“It’s the operations and procedures of the building, and all the stuff that goes into the building. That’s what’s up in the air,” Samson said.
Samson said his initial research shows that operational costs for running similar city rec centers can range from 1 percent to 10 percent of the building’s cost of construction. He said he hopes these upcoming trips will help him hone in on a number to present to city council.
On Feb. 19 Samson will visit Clear Creak Metro Recreation District in Idaho Springs, which he said has a recreation center constructed by the same architects Fort Morgan is working with on its field house. Samson said he got in touch with the recreation directors there regarding questions about the cost of running their laundry service at the rec center.
From there, Samson and Community Services Director Ty Hamer will make a trip to the Family FunPlex rec center in Greeley on Feb. 21 to survey operational costs there. Also on Feb. 21, Samson said he will visit rec centers in Eaton, Fort Lupton and Windsor. He expects to be travelling around the state for nearly 14 hours that day.
“My job is just to get the data and present that to city council, because ultimately they’re the ones who make the (funding) decision,” Samson said.
Recently, the city council has faced questions about the cost of running programs at the new field house and community center.
Local accountant Larry French has at least twice asked the Fort Morgan City Council how much it will cost to keep the field house open, pay any new employees and run operations. During public comment portions of city council meetings in the last few months, French said that he feels the project is only becoming more expensive.
“Who’s going to operate this? Has anybody done the paperwork to come up with what it’s going to cost for labor and utilities and maintenance, and that kind of information?,” French asked the council during a regular meeting on Jan. 21.
During that meeting, Mayor Ron Shaver said he expects part of the operational budget to come from the funding allocated to operate the current rec center at the Old Armory. Ward 2 council member Alison Howe said those questions about cost aren’t hard, and that the city will get back to the public with answers soon.
Samson said he hopes to have answers to questions about those costs after returning from site visits in the next two weeks. He also said that the city is reviewing documents and plans with the construction team on March 3.
“That’s the best thing we can do now, because we’ve already done a lot of research on our physical building,” Samson said.
Samson said he plans to move as much equipment and as many furnishings over to the new field house from the recreation center’s current location at the Old Armory as possible. He said he wants to continue using furniture like his current office desk and chairs, but will probably need to budget for new furnishings as well.
“In the end of the day, I think think there are going to be a lot of small communities who come to us and ask how we did this big project at this price,” Samson said.
He encouraged any residents with questions about the field house or other costs to stop by his office at the Old Armory or contact him directly.
