A $25,000 grant from El Paso County’s Urban Park Grant program will help Meridian Ranch in the construction of a new park, Longview Park, to the south of Rex Road, at the corner of Mt. Evans Drive and Pyramid Peak Drive. The 3-acre park will feature an inline hockey rink, basketball courts and a large sod area with a baseball backstop for little league games.Tim Hunker, Meridian Service Metropolitan district manager, stated the following in the grant request. ìOne of the most under-served segments of the community, as identified by a community survey, is middle school and high school youth. The inline hockey rink and basketball courts are focused on providing a recreation activity focused on that demographic.îThe metro district board initially proposed the park in August 2012 as a 4.12-acre park in response to a series of town hall meetings and resident surveys conducted by Meridian Ranch developer GTL Inc. and the metro district. People representing about 120 residences in the development attended the town hall meetings or responded to the surveys, according to the grant. The El Paso County Board of County Commissioners approved the Urban Park Grant request this past December.The program is funded by the urban park fees that developers pay when their properties are subdivided for sale to builders. ìWe established the program in 2007, and it provides a way for us to give the urban park fees ó that developers pay ó back to the local level,î said Elaine Kleckner, county planning manager. ìWe’re resource-challenged and need to focus on regional facilities. This helps us foster parks at the local level.îThe inline hockey rink and baseball backstop added to the appeal of the park proposal. It will be the first skate park or inline hockey rink in Falcon. The nearest inline skate park is more than 6 miles away in Colorado Springs, according to the grant request.ìWe like to foster active recreation use facilities, so that park proposal was very much in line with our goals,î Kleckner said. Urban Park Grant awards can also be used by recipient governments, developers, special districts and nonprofits as matching grants for Great Outdoors Colorado park grants and other local private foundation grants, which helps to leverage the benefit to communities, Kleckner said.Phase 1, which will include the hockey rink, basketball court, baseball field and sidewalks, is expected to be completed this summer. A pavilion and play area will be part of a future phase 2.
