The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
District contributed $25,000 toward Big Mine ice rink cover
The local Crested Butte subdistrict of the Gunnison County Metropolitan Recreation District will be conducting a survey of local arts, culture and recreation organizations to see if those entities feel the Met Rec district should give a couple of large grants to the north end of the valley during a grant cycle, or if it should award several smaller grants.
Crested Butte Center for the Arts executive director Jenny Birnie, Nordic Center director Keith Bauer and Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory development director Allison Butcher approached the district board on Monday, September 20 with the idea.
“We’d like to recommend the district award one or two large grants up here instead of more, smaller grants,” Birnie said. “There would be more bang for the buck. We would like to survey people and stakeholders around here to see if that idea has support.
“We would also like the subdistrict to have an active role in the grant process,” Birnie continued. “We don’t want to take the process away from you but just feel we can be helpful.”
“We have been struggling with what our role is,” said Bauer. “And as far as the grants—if for example there is $20,000 in potential grants, we’d look at one or two grants for $10,000 each rather than a bunch for $1,500. It might be more beneficial.”
“You are finding yourself,” commented district director Paul Wayne Foreman. “The idea is to use the subcommittee as a filter. Maybe we have found each other.”
District business manager Lori Patin cautioned the board, “Be careful. The smaller grants are impactful to smaller organizations. There are many groups that have been helped by small grants from the district. Not everyone is an Arts Center or Nordic Council.”
“We’d survey the groups to see what they feel,” said Birnie. “The idea is to perhaps focus on a greater impact.”
“A bang for the buck isn’t always in the big numbers,” said Patin. “There’s a segment of the population that needs to be served and smaller grants can help do that.”
“We’re not trying to weed out smaller proposals,” said Birnie. “Our experience is that there are larger proposals coming from up here.”
Patin said the board has agreed to not hold a grant cycle in 2010, given financial constraints.
They did award $25,000 last month to the town of Crested Butte for potential ice rink improvements at Big Mine Park. Patin said given the timing of a possible large Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO) grant, the board felt it appropriate to contribute. “It was a special situation and GOCO likes to see other contributions to leverage their grants,” she explained. “The board felt that was an important project.”
Since 2001, the Met Rec district has donated more than a million dollars in the county for various projects. The district collects only about $200,000 a year through property taxes but is also the conduit for some state lottery funds.
Foreman wanted to pursue the strategy of the Crested Butte subdistrict helping select grants. “It makes sense to me that a group of involved people want to comment as the subdistrict,” said Foreman. “Maybe we should pursue such a subdistrict at the south end of the valley, too.”
The board felt the idea of the Crested Butte subdistrict conducting a survey on the matter was a good one. The survey will take place this fall.
“We’ve found each other and this can work,” concluded Foreman.
