Lake County Government invites competitive proposals from qualified professional firms to provide a feasibility study for a new community center in Lake County that would include Lake County Public Library, Lake County PROS (Parks, Recreation and Open Space), Lake County Senior Center, Aquatic Center, and a childcare facility. The current facilities for these departments are aging and no longer meet our space requirements. Additionally, we are looking for a centralized, multi-use space to meet the needs of our growing community.

Below are details of the needs of each of the departments:

Library:

The current library was opened in 1971 and while the building is in good condition, we have outgrown it. We do not have the space to add any weekly programming because we can only host one program at a time. Further, this space is not only for library programming, it is also used by community groups and local government departments.

While we have been able to add some shelving in the children's area, due to the layout of the building we are unable to add anymore shelving. As a result, we are unable to grow our collections and must remove older material at a rate that allows us to keep new material in the collection.

Indoor Recreation:

The Lake County Recreation Department offers a variety of programming year-round. While we are very fortunate to have the facilities we do, we often run out of space. We have partnerships with Lake County School District and Colorado Mountain College to help with programming needs. Unfortunately, there are times when all facilities are booked, and programs are put on hold or held at later times. More indoor space is a high need in the community

Aquatic Center:

The Lake County Aquatic Center was built in 1975. Lake County Government started operating the facility in 2004. The facility received partial upgrades throughout its years in service with the county and an audit of the facility was completed in 2019. In 2020 the pool had some big maintenance issues. After consulting with multiple contractors and trying to fix the issues, staff and BOCC made the difficult decision to shut down the pool.

Senior Center:

The Senior Center building was originally built at Climax Mine and was moved to Leadville in the early 60’s. Lake County Government acquired the building after that and it has since housed our Congregate Meal program, Meals on Wheels, and Food Bank of the Rockies Commodities program. The Senior Center also stores Durable Medical Equipment for loan, is a meeting and gathering space for Seniors and community members, and provides rides for Seniors to medical appointments, errands, and various excursions. There is a large basement that once housed a shooting range (no longer in use), a large meeting space, and many storage areas. The building is aging but has had updates such as a new furnace system, new flooring, windows, deck, and kitchen appliances and has been able to meet our current needs. The Seniors often request more recreation, dance classes, and exercise opportunities; including use of a pool. We currently bus them to Silverthorne to use their Rec Center, but that only once monthly.

Childcare:

Leadville has seen a shortage in early childcare (birth-5) for many years. While the Lake County School District Center offers preschool aged spots and Bright Start Learning Center offers childcare spots aged 1-5, both locations often have a waiting list that never gets served. To address the biggest need, we would need to open more childcare spots for infants and toddlers - children aged 0-4 - who are not yet old enough for preschool. In order to open additional spots we need a place for Bright Start Learning Center (or other licensed childcare program) to expand classrooms that meet licensing requirements. Finding space that is up to the state’s licensing requirements is a big challenge and very expensive to build. Additionally, in order to open more spots, we need more childcare providers. Currently, even if more space were available, our community would not be able to staff those rooms. Our county and city are both already supporting child care initiatives with the support of Lake County Build a Generations Child Care Coalition that is working hard to increase the early childcare workforce. In coming years, once we have successfully increased the workforce, we will need a place to expand to have more classrooms. There are also concerns surrounding the current space for Bright Start Learning Center as it is housed in an aging School District Building, if that space became unavailable Bright Start would have no location to operate out of.