MEC Collective Recreation Center Project in The Homestead, Morrison

There is a new, privately-funded recreation center proposed development to be located in The Homestead in Morrison, just off of Hwy 285 in the open meadow next to Inter-Canyon Fire Protection District's station. Below is more information on the project.

Jeffco Planning & Zoning Pre-Application Documents:
Case 21-107227PA Documents

THE MEC Collective is an indoor sports and activities facility. The ‘MEC’ (Morrison, Evergreen, Conifer) features over 50+ activities and nearly 100,000 sq foot of indoor space, and 19 acres of outdoor room to run and bike. We will also be pioneering some of the most advanced technology in interactive sports activities and high altitude training programs, all of which are available to our local community.

A world-class sports experience is coming right here in the foothills of the Rockies.

Why is it needed?
The children of our served communities do not presently have any facility nearby to play at during the fall, winter, and spring snow times. Our athletes are fighting for space at facilities in the Denver area against teams who live in those areas, making it difficult to have priority times. Our facility will also extend the seasons of Soccer, Lacrosse, Tennis, Pickleball and provide training areas for other sports such as Baseball, Football, and Rugby. This year-round facility will develop a healthier community, better athletes, and stronger families. It will also give parents more opportunities closer to home. Our core demographic is ages 2-18. But don’t worry there is plenty of recreation for adults too.

The Conifer community has tried unsuccessfully to create a community recreation center/district on 4 occasions. Evergreen recently tried and failed in 2018 with a poorly proposed bond, which would have improved facilities primarily at Buchanan and Wulf recreation centers. No monies would have served persons in the south and east areas of the district. Furthermore, it would have made Evergreen one of the highest-taxed recreation districts in Colorado. Our fully-funded project was proposed to EPRD in a smaller format and they elected not to even explore the idea. Our only local government, EPRD, is unwilling and incapable of improving our area for those that live here. Instead, they would rather increase taxes to improve existing facilities which further concentrates recreation in an already unfairly apportioned district. Most of our served area is in an unincorporated area only under the jurisdiction of Jefferson County.

The desire and the need are there in the community but the appetite for increased taxes is not. This privately funded center makes community recreation viable with no impact on private citizens’ wallets.

The specific location will serve multiple communities; primarily Morrison, Evergreen, and Conifer with its location being very accessible on Highway 285.

The land which will be utilized was designated for recreation when the land was subdivided into parcels for home development. Nearby homeowners should already be aware of its potential usage for recreation.

This usage type is in the Jefferson County Master Plan

This is a fully funded project using private funds. No tax dollars or grants are being used for the project.

Website: meccollective.com/
About Us: meccollective.com/about-us/
Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/meccollective

Upcoming Informal Community Meeting

This is an informational meeting to present the MEC Collective recreation center project to our community. The presentation will feature 3D conceptual designs, programming, details on issues, and our timeline.

Q&A:
We will take questions and respond to all pre-submitted questions at this time. Questions should be limited to a concise framework. Follow-up questions will be limited to one per person unless time allows. Any questions already answered will be referred back to our FAQs page to save time.

*Please keep in mind this is NOT AN OFFICIAL Jefferson County Planning & Zoning meeting. That meeting is not yet scheduled and will operate on a more formal procedure.
Hosted by:
Founders - Chris Lewis & Ken Holtschlag
Planning - Jeanne Shaffer - Chadwick Planning
Zoom - us02web.zoom.us/j/73320374716 ...
Meeting ID: 733 2037 4716
Passcode - kW0uu4

Source

Here's the original proposal to EPRD (before it was renamed to MEC Collective).

Indoor ice rink, fields proposed at south rec center

Courtesy photo

The U.S. 285 corridor could get a privately owned recreation center.

At least that’s the plan for two couples who propose a 100,000-square-foot building on 19 acres on Settlers Drive near Inter-Canyon Fire Station 3. They foresee an ice rink, indoor turf field and an indoor tennis/multisport area, plus rooms for fitness and yoga classes, a snack bar and more, though the designs are conceptual at this point.

They are calling it the MEC Collective. MEC stands for Morrison, Evergreen and Conifer.

Chris and Georgina Lewis of Evergreen and Ken and Amy Holtschlag, who live in The Homestead in Morrison, conducted a kickoff meeting on April 14 to inform the community about the project. About 80 people listened in on the virtual meeting, and many were curious about what the proposal would entail.

Read more here: www.canyoncourier.com/stories/indoor-ice...th-rec-center,375620
Posted Wednesday, April 21, 2021 11:43 am
Deb Hurley Brobst
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

From MEC Collective, there's a 2nd meeting they are hosting that just started.

This is our second online community meeting to present our project to the community and take questions. This is not the official Jeffco meeting, that will be scheduled later.

There will largely be redundant information as we have received feedback that many people wanted to attend our kickoff meeting but could not. There will be limited new information as well.

Meeting Format: This meeting will follow an abbreviated format with a short intro followed by Q&A.

Questions should be kept to a concise format and are limited to one follow-up, time permitting. We will post pre-submitted responses online on our community Q&A page.

Link To Meeting
Topic: MEC Collective Community Meeting 2 Unofficial
Time: May 11, 2021 06:00 PM Mountain Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
This is our second online community meeting to present our project to the community and take questions. This is not the official Jeffco meeting, that will be scheduled later.
There will largely be redundant information as we have received feedback that many people wanted to attend our kickoff meeting but could not. There will be limited new information as well.
Meeting Format: This meeting will follow an abbreviated format with a short intro followed by Q&A. Questions should be kept to a concise format and are limited to one follow-up, time permitting. We will post pre-submitted responses online on our community Q&A page.
Link To Meeting
Topic: MEC Collective Community Meeting 2 Unofficial
Time: May 11, 2021 06:00 PM Mountain Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
us02web.zoom.us/j/82128368385?pwd=VnVEWE...V2h3UHpTam5NZ1NmUT09
Meeting ID: 821 2836 8385
Passcode: 903975
One tap mobile
+16699006833,,82128368385#,,,,*903975# US (San Jose)
+12532158782,,82128368385#,,,,*903975# US (Tacoma)
Dial by your location
+1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)
+1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)
+1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)
+1 408 638 0968 US (San Jose)
+1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
Meeting ID: 821 2836 8385
Passcode: 903975
Meeting ID: 821 2836 8385
Passcode: 903975
One tap mobile
+16699006833,,82128368385#,,,,*903975# US (San Jose)
+12532158782,,82128368385#,,,,*903975# US (Tacoma)
Dial by your location
+1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)
+1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)
+1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)
+1 408 638 0968 US (San Jose)
+1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
Meeting ID: 821 2836 8385
Passcode: 903975

Also, they have created a Q&A Page: meccollective.com/community-qa/

Questions continue about proposed Conifer rec center on 285

Increased traffic and access to water appear to be two of the biggest issues that Conifer area residents have with the plan for a privately operated recreation center on U.S. 285.

At the second virtual community meeting conducted by the developers on May 11, about 20 people wanted answers to questions on those topics and more, though answers weren’t always available.

The developers, Chris and Georgina Lewis of Evergreen and Ken and Amy Holtschlag of Morrison, propose constructing a 100,000-square-foot building on 19 acres on Settlers Drive near Inter-Canyon Fire Station 3. They also envision an indoor turf field and an indoor tennis/multisport area, plus rooms for fitness and yoga classes, a snack bar and more, though the designs are conceptual at this point.

Read more here: www.canyoncourier.com/stories/questions-...center-on-285,377131
Posted Wednesday, May 19, 2021 5:55 pm
Deb Hurley Brobst
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.