ReCreate: Parks and Recreation Master Plan

North East Fort Collins Connections

There are no connected sidewalks, trails, or bike lanes in North East Fort Collins to the rest of Fort Collins, and no public transit options North of Vine from College to I-25. Crescent Park is currently one of TWO total completed neighborhood parks (the other is Rabbit Brush Park) on this side of town - an area encompassing approximately 3-5K homes depending on where you draw the boundaries. Crescent Park is the only one with bathrooms, and residents cannot currently bike safely between the two parks. Richards' Lake park has no water connection and is not completed; it is only two play structures and a picnic shelter (there is no field or trees). Trail Head Park is delayed due to COVID. Iron Horse park and the future North East Community Park are all far-future considerations. The closest community-size park is City Park.

Build a new large-scale bike park system in downtown

Refreshing unused/seldom used areas of 3 existing parks and acquiring a new property into the Parks system can easily be done to create a unique world-class bike park system. Specifically, these 4 areas include the northern section of Lee Martinez Park, all of Legacy Park, a portion of Soft Gold Park and the area behind/adjacent to Lincoln Middle School (known by some as Narnia). These 4 areas can then be connected with purpose-built singletrack trails along the river corridor incorporating numerous bike skills features, riding tips/techniques signage, extensive mapping signage and proper trail etiquette/stewardship signage. This would provide new and high-quality outdoor recreation access to many local neighborhoods that are currently underserved and lack access. It would provide a new learning environment that would make many trail users much more comfortable and knowledgeable before heading out onto other local trail systems. It would also take some pressure off of other high-traffic trail areas. Bike parks are flourishing throughout the country and become well-known community hubs. Progressive features are designed and built to be fun for all ages and abilities. A facility like this combined with our new whitewater park and the existing paved trail connectors would make the downtown area a new hub for outdoor recreation. This plan allows for other park features to be developed alongside and in conjunction with this park system as well.

Bike Park

Pickleball

More splash pads

Can we please get a few more splash pads. I only know of spring creek and old town. My kids love them and it is a great alternative to an actual swimming pool. It is great for small kids who can not yet swim. I would LOVE to see more options!!!

To truly address the whole community, more pickleball courts are needed. It is a relatively new sport that has a huge following in Ft.C

Indoor sport court Facility

The City of Fort Collins (and Larimer County) is lacking an indoor Sport Court facility with the loss of the Qdoba Events Center in 2018. Currently, the nearest sport court facility is Island Grove in Greeley. This limits the athletic opportunities for those who play roller hockey, roller derby, Futsal, volleyball, lacrosse, etc. A world-class community like Fort Collins could benefit from an indoor sports facility such as the Parker Fieldhouse.

New skatepark

Kids that live in the twin silo area have dreamed of a skatepark for ages, over the years there has been multiple DIY skateparks that pop up around the twin silo area because the kids have nothing to ride and take matters into their own hands but everytime that happens the city destroys them, the two closest skateparks waters way and twin silo are both across town, A skatepark in the twin silo area would most likely be the most popular skatepark in Fort Collins, Zach elementary, bacon elementary,kinard middle school, Preston middle school, and fossil ridge high school are all within a couple miles from twin silo

Build a new indoor swimming pool with a slide and lazy river as well as an additional outdoor one.

FC residents travel to Loveland, Windsor, and Greeley to take their children swimming. Mulberry and EPIC are great, but they serve the lap swim and swim lesson community, not necessarily the swim to play and build community folks.

Aging population

I'd like to see more classes, exercise, educational, writing, storytelling, etc. that not only keep our bodies healthy but also our minds.

More Pickelball Courts!!! Huge pickleball community in Ft. Collins, but not enough places to play! Indoors and outdoors!

Require horseback riders to clear the trail of horse manure in the same way that dog owners are required to pick up after their dogs.

This is a true safety issue for those using the trails in the dark, for both bikers and runners.

Fitness Park

An outdoor fitness park that has a *real* workout area (as in https://nationalfitnesscampaign.com/). A community 400m track that is always open. And I'll second or third the Parkour Area. This would be an awesome park if it had all this. (You could easily fit this at Fossil Creek park in one of the fields near the pond)

Parkour Park

Parkour Parks are beginning to emerge in some of the best cities for outdoor activities in the world. Cities as big as Vancouver, BC and even small cites like Boise, ID boast having the outdoor training spots as part of a rich city experience. Ideally in a spot with a mix of ages. There are actually very few places a parent is comfortable training with their kids. Or even spots where teens/adults can hang, swing, jump and run. There are now many cities who have done this. The resources for planning and safety are there. There are communities local and national that will support and promote cities that offer places to be active. Relative to larger scale ideas the cost for parkour parks are much less and the positive effect on a diverse community is high! Check out how fun the park in Vancouver is here: https://www.instagram.com/p/B5CVCw8Atmv/ Am I right?!?!? - Travis

Shade/Trees by Park/Structures

Every park in the city needs Shade/Trees planted *within distance* of all the playground structures and benches in nearly every park. These shade/trees should be on the South and West sides, AND with some planted IN the actual park/structure area as well. From about April thru October it is too hot to play on most FoCo city park structures during the normal daylight hours, and some of the equipment is actually dangerously hot to the touch.