Rio Grande County leaders gathered on Friday, May 1, to celebrate the opening of newly constructed sports courts at the Del Norte Recreational Fields located just south of the Del Norte school district. The courts include a pickleball and basketball court, with the possibility of more uses in the future.
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DEL NORTE- Rio Grande County leaders gathered on Friday, May 1, to celebrate the opening of newly constructed sports courts at the Del Norte Recreational Fields located just south of the Del Norte school district. The courts include a pickleball and basketball court, with the possibility of more uses in the future.
The project has been well underway for several years as Rio Grande County worked to revitalize the recreational fields. Initially, the development included a walking path that was paid through grant funding, and as the years passed by, more and more plans for the area began to get underway.
“The concept of the project has been underway for quite a while, but it was last spring when we really got the idea going of using this end of the property to add some courts, and the funding behind this is the Colorado Conservation Trust Funds that come from lottery proceeds,” explained Rio Grande County Administrator Skip Schoen.
Other components of the project included remediation of the landscape by the Rio Grande County Noxious Weed Department, which came in to eradicate the noxious goat weed that had become a severe issue, as well as refurbish the existing baseball field and build a new playground through funding provided by KABOOM!.
“Really, the driving force behind this was Commissioner Gene Glover, who pushed for the project to be funded with the support of fellow Commissioners,” said Schoen.
It was also noted that the walking trail system had been built five years prior by the Del Norte Trails Association through funding provided by Great Outdoors Colorado.
“This really started seven or eight years ago while I was working with High Valley Community Center because the kids would come out here and play soccer all the time. They would fall and just be covered in goat heads, and that was when I knew we had to do something to make a better place for them,” said Glover.
As work on the area progressed, Glover saw a need for sports courts where families could come to enjoy. “This is the pride and joy. We have trees coming that were donated by Del Norte Rotary, and all of this is a big improvement to our community.”
