Timeline set for completion of Sportspark

The long-unfinished El Paso County Sportspark renovation finally has a timeline for completion – 279 days. That’s how long county staff says it will take to finally finish it once the stalled project resumes.

County Commissioners Monday approved a new approved a contract with Carl Daniel Architects for about just over $187,000 to oversee final design and manage the project’s completion.

The Sportspark project will also be kept on the original project budget approved over two years ago.

As part of the contract, Carl Daniel laid out the timeline for all work to be completed: 14 days to review the final checklist, about 70 days total for design investigation and development, 30 days to develop the construction document, 45 days for contractor bidding to do the work, and 120 days for actual construction.

That timeline puts completion of the Sportspark in October or November of this year.

“I have to tell you, I am a little disappointed with how long it’s going to take,” County Judge Veronica Escobar said. “Because it just feels like we’ve been waiting forever and the public’s been waiting forever. But the bidding process is going to take longer than I had hoped. I think that’s a good thing I guess in the long run. We wait a little bit longer, and we make sure that we get the best possible contracting firm in place so that the problems we experienced in the past don’t rear their ugly head again.”