Berthoud Rec Center readied for grand opening Nov. 20
Facility offers gym, pool, outdoor park and more
Berthoud’s newest recreation and community gathering center is almost ready to welcome town residents with an open house for the people of Berthoud to see it all Nov. 20.
The 50,000-square-foot building, which sits on 32 acres of land, has been under construction since 2020 and will be ready to open to the public 16 and a half months since the project began.
The $32 million center and park was funded in two rounds of passed sales taxes, one in 1998 and one in 2018; the town board, in a split and controversial vote, approved financing through certificates of participation last year to allow for construction to begin and be finished in 2021.
While construction has run smoothly, it was not without hardships.
“We have had material shortages, manpower shortages,” said Tom Boucha, project manager with the facility’s general contractor FCI Construction. “We delivered on time but we had some challenges along the way.”
Despite shortages and the overall impacts of the pandemic, the facility is nearing completion and will welcome the community in less than two weeks.
Chris Kirk, Berthoud town administrator, said the size of the property gave them the ability to offer a wide selection of services.
“We have programmed and crammed (things) in every inch of this site,” he said.
A walk around the facility will give residents the feeling of a farmhouse, with the exterior being reminiscent of large barns. Mosaics placed at the entrance of the pool give off pops of colors as if flowers grew from out of the stone. Accent walls in the gym show zoomed out views of farmers driving tractors through a field.
But the building is not just pleasing to the eye, as it is filled corner to corner with amenities for the community. A large pool area offers a lap pool, children’s space and even a water slide with a timer for children to see who can race down the fastest. An indoor court offers space for basketball, volleyball and pickleball. Finally, on the north end of the facility sits a large room for free weights, exercise machines and a special program room for workout programs.
Just outside the facility, across a paved walkway lit by overhead lights sit several grassy fields, perfect for outdoor sports. Nearby is a basketball court, children’s playground and a 10,000square-foot skate park. Kirk said the trails that surround the facility connect to nearby streets, creating a thoroughfare from the town and its local schools to the facility. He added the trail around the facility itself, if walked twice, is around the distance of a 5K.
“It’s rejuvenating,” Kirk said about the project nearing completion. “A lot of what we do can be … repetitive, but to come here and see the project has been motivating.”
“It’s a once in a lifetime project for me,” said deputy town administrator Jeremy Olinger.
As the facility comes to the finish line, all involved see it becoming not only a great place to stay healthy and have fun, but a great place for residents to connect with their neighbors.
Kirk said he sees it becoming a spot that brings together the Berthoud community, even serving as a location for town events on the outside lawns.
“I really do see it as transformative for bringing our community together,” he said.
“It is a rec center, but … I see it as a community gathering spot as well,” Olinger said. “There’s a lot of boxes we were checking as we built it that (make it) not your typical rec center.”
Boucha said rec centers like this one are great to help a community like Berthoud grow, adding that FCI is “very happy to help contribute to the growth of this community.”
Amanda Gustafson, director of recreational and cultural services, said everyone at her office is excited to open the long-awaited facility to the public.
“It is going to be a destination place for people to go,” she said. “Whether it is a birthday party, or to watch their kids play, or go and take a fitness class. This town is really going to enjoy having something they can be proud of that they can go(to).”
The grand opening ceremony will take place Nov. 20 starting at 9 a.m. with a ribbon-cutting, and then from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., the community can explore the space for itself. More information about the rec center, located at 1000 N. Berthoud Parkway, as well as how to sign up for a membership can be found at berthoud.org.