Citizens rally to provide input for Big Mine Park master plan

Zip lines not likely but lots of other possibilities

The town of Crested Butte has started a major initiative focusing on how to improve and expand the uses at the 5.49-acre Big Mine Park area in the town’s southwest corner. The first of several public meetings designed to draw up a new master plan for the site attracted 43 citizens on Monday, December 15. The next community work session is slated for January 15.

Crested Butte parks and recreation director Janna Hansen said she was impressed with what is considered a pretty big turnout for a public meeting. She said there are several reasons for the engagement. “Big Mine is very much a multi-use park that is home to many different user groups and activities. Many of the concerns that are driving the master plan have recently been at the forefront of people’s minds, in the media, and the topic of discussion at the Town Council level. I think people are personally invested in Big Mine Park and are eager to see positive change.”
The meeting facilitated lots of comments, and Hansen said there were several directions suggested. Among the top priorities were maintaining an emphasis on the multi-use aspect of the park; bringing in decent year-round restrooms; finding sufficient parking for the area; increasing the summer vitality at the park; finding a better balance between the Nordic and hockey programs; making some improvements to the skate park; and not forgetting the historic significance of the space that held the coke ovens during the old coal mining days of Crested Butte.
The consultants who ultimately will write a draft of the master plan, Mundus Bishop, helped run the meeting and heard the concerns and direction of the attendees. Part of the reason that group was hired was because of their experience with historic preservation and their public input process.
Tina Bishop told the Crested Butte council that this first meeting was “fabulous.” She was particularly impressed by the amount of public feedback for a project of this size.
“They are bringing a highly qualified team of consultants to the table and have expertise with parks, open space, trails and historic spaces,” said Hansen. The consulting team for the Big Mine Park master plan includes Mundus Bishop providing park planning, landscape design and overall project management; Anderson Hallas Architects providing architectural floor plans and elevations; Team Pain providing skate park design; and Martin and Martin providing engineering services.
The ultimate goal is for the Big Mine Park master plan to provide direction for the town to develop the 5.49 acres of raw and existing developed land and to redevelop existing amenities in need of renovation, such as the Big Mine Ice Arena, Skate Park, Nordic Center, Sled Hill and Disc Golf Course. The plan will include an examination and evaluation of current recreation programs and will identify opportunities and deficiencies for future programs and services.
“They understand they will address all the comments of the citizens as well as the ‘broccoli’ issues regarding infrastructure that need to be addressed before we can move forward with the ‘cheesecake.’ Some of the key ‘broccoli’ issues that became apparent to our consultants were the relocation of the water and sewer lines that run under the ice rink slab; the need for a fire suppression system prior to any facility expansions or new construction; and parking and transportation needs associated with Big Mine,” Hansen explained.
Big Mine already is the site of a lot of activity. Everything from summer concerts and roller derby bouts to winter town league hockey takes place under the roofed ice rink. Big Mine is also host to activities like disc golf, Gravity Groms, skateboarding, snow storage and weddings.
The character of the area was described as a sporting complex that should be embraced. It is seen as green and low maintenance and has potential to be a trailhead for Green Lake.
Based on the citizen feedback, the town staff and consultants listed the things people wanted to see and others they did not. For example, the idea of ziplines buzzing around Big Mine received a thumbs-down, as did loud concerts and a massive new building. Thumbs-up came for the idea of the park being dog-friendly and accessible for people with disabilities. Skate park improvements, avalanche mitigation, more winter parking, lighting for the skate park and refrigeration for the ice rink all received positive feedback.
Town councilman Jim Schmidt attended the first brainstorming session and while he said all of the feedback and ideas were great, they all came with a price tag and that was worrying to him, given the parks and recreation budget crunch. “We need to keep it realistic,” he said.
“All improvements at Big Mine will cost money,” agreed Hansen. “Deliverables of the master planning process include identifying needs, prioritizing those needs, determining a dollar amount needed to fulfill each need, and identifying possible funding sources. Current funding sources being considered include $300,000 that was donated as a gift from the Whatever USA event. Fundraising by the Nordic and hockey communities would likely be needed to pay for improvements to the warming house and locker room expansion. We will also pursue GOCO and DOLA grants and the council is already discussing the idea of putting the sales tax initiative back on the ballot in 2015.”
Voters turned down a sales tax proposal by three votes last November but at least some on the council think the idea is still viable and would be approved if more efforts were made to help voters understand the funding dilemma faced by the town.
The $300,000 is part of a $500,000 legacy gift donated by the Bud Light Whatever promoters after the September event. GOCO is a regular contributor to area projects and in fact has donated $60,000 to help pay for this master plan.
The final master plan report is expected to be complete in August 2015.
The January 15, 2015 work session has some tentative discussion items on the agenda, including a work session with Team Pain on the skate park design; a meeting to discuss the historical significance of the site; a meeting with the disc golf community to discuss needs; a meeting to discuss snow storage issues; and a meeting to discuss avalanche mitigation on the southern slope.
You can follow the progress on the Big Mine Park Master Plan Facebook page.