Community center feasibility study entering final stages - Western Colorado Alliance for Community Action

Should we have a community center in Grand Junction? Where should it be, what should be in it, and what is the community willing to pay to construct it? Take the Grand Junction Community Center Survey before May 7!

by Andreya Krieves, Grand Junction

PLACE (People for Local Activities and Community Enrichment) is getting closer to presenting a plan for a potential community center in Grand Junction. The plan will include a conceptual design for the center as well as costs, location, amenities and programming options. The plan will be released to the City of Grand Junction and the public this summer.

The final plan will be shaped by input from hundreds of Grand Junction residents who have participated in public input meetings, as well from local community and business leaders in meetings facilitated by PLACE and the Grand Junction Parks and Recreation Department. It is important to PLACE, a working group of WCC of Mesa County, to ensure that this grassroots effort reflects the opinions and voices of our neighbors in our great community.

There will be one more opportunity for residents to share their voice in the feasibility study process by participating in a final survey that will help refine and test some of the ideas for location, amenities, and funding options gathered in the initial phases of the study. People interested in participating in the survey will have two options:

a statistically valid survey mailed in mid-April to a randomized list of 4,500 registered voters residing in Grand Junction, or
for those not receiving a copy from the randomized list, the same survey will be available online until May 7.

Once the feasibility study is completed this summer, PLACE and the Grand Junction Parks and Recreation Department will present the final report to the Grand Junction City Council for review, and determine next steps for bringing a community center to a ballot for residents to decide.

If you are interested in learning more about the community center effort, or if you’d like to get involved, send an email to gjcommunitycenter@westerncoloradoalliance.org or check out PLACE on Facebook at www.facebook.com/GJCommunityCenter/

About the author

Jeriel Clark

Jeriel joined the Western Colorado Alliance staff in February 2017 (back when we were still Western Colorado Congress), but you may remember her as our Canvass Director for the successful Minimum Wage ballot initiative in 2016! In her young career, Jeriel has worked with engaged citizens across Colorado on issues ranging from veterans' affairs, healthcare and women’s rights. Jeriel has called Grand Junction and the Western Slope home for 16 years, and enjoys running, hiking, biking and crafting with her daughter Emma.