Something to talk about
Planners seek input on Ewing Mesa's new fairgrounds, outdoor concert venue

Locals cruise along the mesa’s edge, overlooking Bodo Park and Smelter Mountain – maybe headed to the community gardens for a harvest or the BMX track for a Friday night race. Along the way they pass the outdoor concert venue and soccer fields before arriving at the county fairgrounds, where visitors can care for their horses at the stables before taking them out on the vast surrounding trail network.

All these ideas are part of what could be a key part of La Plata County’s identity and an economic driver for the community – a 200-acre space atop Ewing Mesa on the southeastern edge of Durango.

“It’s a meaningful gem of a project,” Ann Christensen, managing partner at DHM Design, said. “I’m humbled by it, frankly."

DHM, a regional landscape architecture and planning firm with an office in Durango, along with Goff Engineering, RPI Consulting and others are working on a master plan for the park. Tagged as a multi-event center, the vision is for a public outdoor space with plenty of room for fairgrounds, concerts and more.

Driving the puzzle of possibilities is the county fairgrounds and the outdoor concert venue. Those two facilities are the big picture components of the plan.

For the county, it’s the perfect spot for the new fairgrounds. The current site has a limited foot-print, is too small to host many events, and the facilities are aging fast.

“They can’t even meet all the needs currently,” Christensen explained.

Knowing it had its limits, the county appointed a task force to search for a new location almost a decade ago. It wasn’t until the Katz family donated 200 acres atop Ewing Mesa on the south-eastern edge of Durango that they found their potential new home.

“It’s an incredible gift from the Katz family,” Christensen said.

Marc Katz, founder of Mercury Payment Systems, and his family bought 1,850 acres on the mesa. Of the 1,850 acres, roughly 800 acres are developable – 200 of which he offered to donate to the county for the events center and the new fairgrounds.

His donation gave the county's search a new boost. Today, instead of still searching, county officials are planning.

The emphasis is on the needs and interests of the local agricultural community. The fair-grounds need to accommodate equestrian events and have plenty of room for horse trailers and stables.

What it might need more than anything else, though, is room to grow.

Christensen said expansion is a key concern in these initial stages. The plans they’ll bring to the upcoming meeting will show where construction for the fairgrounds could begin, leaving plenty of room for future growth.

The plans will also focus on the Katz family vision – the outdoor concert venue. For the past few years, the acreage atop the mesa has hosted the Durango Bluegrass Meltdown’s key fundraising event, Meltdown on the Mesa. At this point, the fundraiser can’t continue to grow without proper facilities.

Plans for the outdoor venue, like the fairgrounds, would begin with the basics and have room for expansion. Some of the ideas floated during initial planning sessions include a concert stage surrounded by facilities, camp grounds and parking.

The planning process started with some information gathering. The planning team first asked about the county fairgrounds: What do the fairgrounds offer today? And, what do they need to move forward?

Then, they asked about the wish list. What other activities could be possible?

The answers included sports fields, bike parks, BMX and pump tracks, a track for motorized vehicles, picnic grounds and much, much more.

“We’ve heard a lot of really great ideas,” Christensen said.

But, that doesn’t mean they’re done listening. DHM, along with other members of the planning team, are hosting a meeting from 4:30-7 p.m. Tues., May 30, at Escalante Middle School. They’ll reveal some alternatives for the site and gather feedback from attendees.

Christensen said they’re even bringing polling keypads. As the architect reveals the different alternatives, attendees will be able to respond immediately on their keypads.

But the polls are just one way to get comments. They’ll also have a Q&A portion, and even plan to stay after the meeting for one-on-one conversations.

“The public input will be really important,” Christensen said.

So far they’ve received more than 300 survey responses from an online survey on the county website (co.laplata.co.us/). She said all were supportive and positive. The team is still accepting surveys and encourages residents to attend the upcoming meeting. This is the time to offer up ideas.

Not only are planners looking for ideas about what the mesa could be, they also want ideas on how to fund these projects.

The county was able to secure $250,000 from the Conservation Trust Fund, which gets its money from the State Lottery, to pay for the master planning. The construction and building is another matter.

It’s no secret the county and the state are strapped for cash. La Plata County is already tightening its belt and looking for creative ways to fund critical services, like road improvements and maintenance.

So, the planners for the multi-events center are interested in learning about available funding through grants, foundations and any public or private partnerships.

Following the public meeting, the site’s planners will get together with the La Plata County Board of Commissioners to start refining the plan. They’ll work on it through-out the summer and return to the commissioners and residents with a Master Plan at the end of the summer or early fall.

Christensen said, at its core, the project is a public park. It won’t be about development, but a public amenity for county residents and all those who come here to visit.

“It’s a legacy project,” Christensen said.