MetRec weighing more options for North Valley

Another ballot initiative in the future?

By Katherine Nettles

In a work session with Gunnison County commissioners earlier this month, Gunnison County Metropolitan Recreation District (MetRec) leaders presented an update of the organization’s master planning process and  current project collaborations. MetRec representatives reiterated that the district’s two major focal points were currently on multi-use recreation paths, and how and where to develop an indoor recreation center for the North Valley.

MetRec is going big on its namesake—recreation. Following the district’s North Valley subdistrict tax addition in 2022, MetRec conducted a valley-wide community survey in 2023 and recreation survey in 2025 to help steer its master planning. The results showed that Gunnison County residents were overwhelmingly in favor of adding more multi-use recreation paths and outdoor amphitheaters at both ends of the valley, and an indoor rec center at the north end of the valley.

MetRec executive director Derrick Nehrenberg said that the district distilled six priorities from the survey results as part of its master plan. The first is to elevate the MetRec community grant program to improve and clarify its allocation of grants and capital funding.

Others are to provide regional leadership for recreation pursuits by convening stakeholders and heading collaborations; improve rec path connectivity; support field, park and playground development; support recreation and land use planning efforts of strategic partners (e.g., municipalities); and promote development of a multi-use indoor rec center for the North Valley.

Nehrenberg said the rec center would likely need a ballot initiative, as costs for an indoor rec facility would exceed MetRec’s budget even with its 2018 TABOR repeals and its 2022 ballot issue to create a north subdistrict. Its 2025 the general fund budget was $1.2 million, and the north subdistrict general fund was an additional $1.4 million. The district is also supporting the county-wide effort to create a CB to CB South (CB2CBS) rec path through its annual grant funding mechanism.

Aquatics or no?

Nehrenberg summarized that from his experience with the survey and speaking with people, “People want an indoor, multi-use recreational facility somewhere up [north]. They don’t know where it’s going to be yet. They just know that they want something, and there’s a need for it.”

MetRec board president Cassia Cadenhead reviewed the range of possible rec center sizes and scopes, which MetRec has researched based on public input and costs. A basic facility would be about 40,000 square feet, requiring 3.5 acres and 80 to 120 parking spaces. Adding aquatics would increase the overall size to about 57,000 square feet and require 4.5 acres with 140 to 180 parking spaces, and adding an indoor turf field would increase it to an overall 71,000 square feet requiring 5.5 acres with 180 to 220 parking spaces. The costs of the first, most basic option would be $38.4 million; the base-plus aquatics would cost about $69.5 million and the third option with turf added would cost about $82.3 million. Cadenhead said these estimates include construction, site costs and soft costs, calculated for inflation, but not including land acquisition.

Nehrenberg said a rec center up north was not an immediate plan, but something to consider for the future. “I think we still have a lot of work to go to figure out where exactly would be the senior programming; where exactly would be the youth programming and what would be the minimum viable product that would actually meet their needs. Maybe it gets built in phases,” he said. “Could I sit here and tell you that yes, we should put our foot on the gas for an $83 million recreational facility right this minute? Probably not. We have too many things to figure out. But I can tell you there is a strong desire for some kind of multi-use indoor facility up there somewhere.”

Commissioner Laura Puckett Daniels said she understood the community benefit of an indoor recreation space for the North Valley, “but I don’t necessarily think a pool is the answer, and I know we disagree on that,” she said. She did not articulate further.

Nehrenberg noted that aquatics is also generally one of the biggest revenue generators in such a facility.

Rec paths

Nehrenberg said they had not originally included rec path development in their master plan process, “because we were trying to just focus on the narrowest definition of the traditional rec district.” But he said after strong feedback from residents, they added it as a needs assessment. He noted that there are proposed paths on Kebler Road, Slate River Road and Washington Gulch Road, “but the biggest need by far, I’ve been hearing it over and over again for the past 13 years, is a rec path from Snodgrass to Gothic.” He added that the CB2CBS path and a path from the corner of Brush Creek to Buckhorn Ranch all combine to compose the biggest needs for the North Valley. “It lines up very well with what I’ve been hearing over the years.”

The MetRec board decided in November to go ahead with the CB2CBS shared use path design plans, which the district will fund entirely for an expected cost of $1 million. The design process is expected to take about two years, and they will be issuing a request for proposals (RFP) this spring.

However, MetRec has an eye on rec paths in the south district too.

“We held a lot of events for these surveys in both the north and the south, and my impression from the south is that their rec path needs were more pronounced than in the north,” said Nehrenberg. “More people showed up [in the south], and more people talked about a rec path from Gunnison to Mt. Crested Butte. People have that vision.”

Accordingly, MetRec is currently working to develop a rec path master plan for the entire valley. Nehrenberg said focal points to the south would be north Gunnison rec path improvements tackled as soon as summer 2026, and a possible future Hartman Rocks to Gothic townsite rec path. Nehrenberg called this “a shared dream” county-wide. 

Grant funding and master plan

Nehrenberg and Cadenhead also reviewed Met Rec’s community grants. The 2026 general fund budget allows $100,000 each for capital expenses and operations, and $75,000 for community grants. In the north subdistrict, there is an additional $50,000 for capital projects, $445,000 for operations and $50,000 for community grants.

In addition to funding the CB2CBS trail design, the district is looking at several capital projects recommended by staff including the Gunnison County Fairgrounds playground and park expansion, the Mineral Point trail project in Crested Butte and the Ted Scheske Park playground replacement in Mt. Crested Butte.

Trailhead parking improvements at several North Valley locations are possible as well.

Non-profit organization operations grant applications are now open through March 13, and recipients will be announced May 27. Last year’s awards included CB Avalanche Center, CB Land Trust, CB Mountain Bike Association, CB Mountain Theatre, CB Nordic, CB South Property Owner’s Association, Gunnison Outdoor Initiative, Mountain Roots Food Project, Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, West Elk Soccer Association, Adaptive Sports Center, City of Gunnison, Crested Butte Community School enrichment and recreational programs, the county’s early childhood council, substance abuse prevention project, Gunnison Community School recreation and enrichment programs, Gunnison High School soccer, Gunnison Nordic, the Gunnison PTA and Gunnison Senior Center.

Nehrenberg said MetRec is also considering creating a pocket park in Ohio City in 2027. There are still questions about how to manage operations since Ohio City could not afford to fund maintaining the park itself. MetRec would need to take title of such a park and own it in order to handle operations as well, which would be an entirely new direction for MetRec. Nehrenberg said they as a district are not sure about that step, but they recognize the need in more rural, isolated areas of the county. “We’re treading very lightly. We’re holding off on these decisions, but we definitely want to hear from these communities.”

In its master plan, MetRec is exploring the addition of one amphitheater in both the north and south subdistrict. Nehrenberg presented the preliminary amphitheater vision with a semi-formal layout and sized between examples found in Montrose (which holds 5,700 people) and Salida (which holds less than 500 people). These could be implemented by renovating existing public spaces and partnering with current entities involved with outdoor music, theatre groups, wedding venues and more. MetRec’s cost estimates range from $3-10 million, depending on size, location, level of formality and gracing/access considerations. The recommendation is for the board to consider planning and budgeting for the mid to upper portion of the cost estimates, or $6-10 million.

Commissioner Liz Smith said she was supportive of the overall big picture of a rec path from Hartman’s up to Gothic and in the collaboration on the county’s corridor planning and the CB2CBS path. She said she was interested in how much data could be pulled out of the ballot measures of 2018 and 2022, such as how much support for MetRec’s funding came from the north and south subdistrict, and making those subsets clearer.

Nehrenberg reflected at the outset of the meeting how recreation has implications for physical, mental and community health and noted that until about 200 years ago, active motion was part of everyday life and modern life is far more sedentary.

“I think that’s why people who move here and visit here, they do that because they understand that moving is very rewarding. I think it’s more than that, I think it’s a biological imperative,” he said.