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The Haymeadow developer is at it again. After being turned down in his efforts to acquire the town of Eagle’s site for a future school, the developer now wants to acquire 6.5 acres of the…
Valley Voices
Mountain Recreation is evolving as a district, and we hope you are seeing the changes we’re making every day to better serve you. Since reopening post-COVID, the Mountain Rec staff have been finding ways to keep our facilities clean, operational, and welcoming to everyone.
Janet Bartnik
The benefits of this effort are clear: Memberships are once again on the rise, many youth summer camps were sold out with waitlists upon waitlists, our sports leagues had more growth than we’ve ever seen before, and our three pools have seen thousands of guests this summer. On top of that, we’ve held a ribbon cutting ceremony for our new Eagle Sports Complex building, we’ve partnered with Small Champions to bring new Adaptive Rec programming to ensure all youth feel like they belong, and, even more, we’ve been working on ourselves to revisit how to create welcoming and inclusive spaces and programs.
Recently, the team at Mountain Recreation launched All Access Rec, a capital improvements initiative that addresses the growing needs of our community. The district’s recreation facilities were built for half of the population we now serve, and the community needs are fast outgrowing the facilities. Through All Access Rec, we want to ensure our existing community has increased access while anticipating population growth.
It’s going to sound a bit cheesy, but it takes a community to build community centers. We are asking for community investment into some of Eagle County’s greatest assets. Similar to schools, fire and paramedic services and libraries, parks and recreation facilities are a community-wide investment, often built and maintained as a shared community cost.
Providing mountain kids with the opportunity to be their best in athletic arenas is crucial to self-confidence, team awareness and the joy of sport. This starts with access to the activities, and Mountain Recreation has been there for so many of us, providing local kids the opportunities they might not get from higher-priced sport clubs. A publicly funded organization like this brings together our priorities for keeping kids outdoors and allows parents the opportunity to watch and enjoy their children as they run around local sport fields.
In 2014, we signed up our 9-year-old son Owen for his first lacrosse team through Mountain Rec, then called WECMRD. As parents, we had no idea how to play the sport, hold the stick, or even what to cheer for from the sidelines. We also didn’t know if this would be a one season experience or maybe something longer. We were glad that our modest registration fee included all the gear. Sheryl met us in the back of the Eagle Ice Rink and helped us f