{"id":30760,"date":"2023-10-31T14:55:12","date_gmt":"2023-10-31T20:55:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/cortez-puts-southside-park-plans-on-hold-housing-effort-to-continue\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T01:24:43","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T07:24:43","slug":"cortez-puts-southside-park-plans-on-hold-housing-effort-to-continue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/cortez-puts-southside-park-plans-on-hold-housing-effort-to-continue\/","title":{"rendered":"Cortez puts Southside Park plans on hold; housing effort to continue"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Community
Community Economic and Development Director Rachael Marchbanks (left) and Parks and Recreation Director Creighton Wright address residents Monday about the status of Southside Park renovations. (Joseph Williams\/The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

The city of Cortez put an indefinite hold on plans for a new southside park because of inadequate funding, officials told residents Monday evening, but will move forward with a study to determine the viability of potential housing on the 14-acre plot.<\/p>\n

Plans for the so-called Southside Park<\/a> at South Oak and West Seventh streets were conceived in 2018, with construction previously expected to begin and end in 2019. However, a city embezzlement scandal, the COVID-19 pandemic, rising costs and other issues delayed that timeline<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Now, there is not enough city funding to move forward with the original plans, according to Parks and Recreation director Creighton Wright, which included pricey amenities like new athletic fields, a BMX area, splash pads and other proposed additions.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the next couple of years \u2026 we\u2019ll come back and start reevaluating the site to determine its long-term future,\u201d he said. \u201cWhat we really need to look at is the path forward as it relates to the amenities.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Wright said the city was still committed to using the site of the old Montezuma-Cortez High School for a community park, he could not provide a timeline for when completion could occur, citing a litany of \u201cdeferred maintenance items\u201d that took precedence, including an unidentified issue at Centennial Park that Wright said would likely force the city to \u201cdecommission something\u201d in the coming months.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe last cost estimate we got is somewhere between $5 and $7 million. And it\u2019s going to take us a long time to figure out how to come up with an extra $5 to $7 million,\u201d said Wright.<\/p>\n

In the interim, the city will work on improving the irrigation system on the site and adding a small number of amenities for residents to use, including picnic tables.<\/p>\n

\"Cortez
Cortez residents hear from city officials Monday about the future of the proposed southside park. (Joseph Williams\/The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Meanwhile, the city is moving forward with plans to potentially build new housing on the site, which officials said is desperately needed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need, right now, immediately, 75 to 150 more housing units. On average, we only build about 20 per year,\u201d said Community and Economic Development Director Rachael Marchbanks. \u201cBased on that, we really wanted to look at this site again and prioritize some housing development.\u201d<\/p>\n

The city will work with Colorado Housing and Finance Authority to reassess its housing plan for Southside Park, according to Marchbanks, including figuring out updated cost projections and what type of development could go on the site.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen we\u2019re going to have to look at other potential funding sources and partnering with a developer,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

And while the original plans sectioned off 10 acres for the park and four acres for housing, that could change in the future depending on the results of the upcoming housing survey.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re looking \u2026 to identify something that a developer would be interested in coming in here and start working on,\u201d said Wright. \u201cIf that means we\u2019ve got to add an acre or two, I think that\u2019s something that we should consider.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Employees
Employees of the city of Cortez speak with Molly Somes from Connect One Design, the firm that led the planning of the proposed southside park in 2018. The city of Cortez announced Monday, that it does not have the money to build the park and would discuss its potential use. (Journal file photo)<\/span>du1-i-syn<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

work with Colorado Housing and Finance Authority to figure out the next steps for housing on the 14-acre site <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30761,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[21,28,453,29,1982],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-30760","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-cortez","tag-headlines","tag-housing-and-urban-planning","tag-newsletter","tag-parks"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30760","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30760"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30760\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":81196,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30760\/revisions\/81196"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30761"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30760"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30760"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30760"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=30760"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}