As we speak, Fort Collins City Council is deciding what to do with the former Hughes Stadium. Cycling community members, including Overland Mountain Bike Association, Dude Dad, Bike Fort Collins, and Your Group Ride, favor a community recreation area that features a world-class bike park. We believe that the 160+ acre parcel in West Fort Collins that for 50 years housed a 35000-seat college football stadium and the accompanying paved and gravel parking lots and was the staging area to build Horsetooth Reservoir before that would be the ideal area for a Valmont-style bike park. Survey after survey has shown that Fort Collins needs a bike park.
If not at Hughes now, then when and where?
More Information
- Overland Mountain Bike Association Huges Information Page
- Fort Collins Bike Park Collective. Facebook. Instagram
- The official City of Fort Collins Future of Hughes Stadium site
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FAQs
No, we believe 60-80 acres would be ideal. That would leave a large portion of the land for things like; frisbee golf, sledding, nordic skiing, xc running, an amphitheater and a wildlife rehabilitation center.
A bike park on the Hughes property could include; an asphalt pump track, dual slalom courses, multiple jump lines, single track, cyclocross, and shorttrack courses, observed trials features, a paved course and features, courses, and tracks for littles just learning to love cycling.
The area has been ravaged by human use since Horesetooth Reservoir was built in the 1940s, and especially since Hughes stadium was completed in 1968. It would be irresponsible to use limited Natural Resource money to attempt to rehabilitate this property. Actual pristine land would likely be sold for development while Fort Collins Natural Areas resources are tied up at Hughes. The price of $74,404 per acre is considerably higher than recent acquisitions, including the new Bobcat expansion ($6,900/acre) and the Larimer County acquisition of Heaven’s Door Ranch ($5,800/acre), both of which are within 10 miles of the Hughes property. This could set a dangerous precedent (comp prices) for future Natual Areas purchases.
In 2021, a citizen-initiated ballot initiative passed with 70% of the vote requiring the City to purchase the former Hughes Stadium property, rezone the parcel to a Public Open Lands District and use the site for “parks, recreation, open lands, natural areas, and/or wildlife rescue and restoration. So far the property has been rezoned and the city is currently under contract to buy the property for $12.5m. The City should close on the property in July.
Previous Hughes News
Council Approves Bike Park Study & Civic Assembly Process
We continue to make slow and steady progress toward a world-class bike park here in Fort Collins. On Tuesday, the Fort Collins City Council passed two ordinances that help the cause. We still have a long way to go, but this is progress.
Hughes Update 06/21/024
Fort Collins City Council met on June 11th to discuss the future of the former Hughes Stadium site. During the work session, Ginny Sawyer, Senior Project Manager, presented background on the Hughes property to date and past engagement and requested direction on future guiding principles and outreach. They will likely use a “Civic Assembly” engagement process to determine how the land will be used and pledge to have that plan in place by next summer.
Hughes Update 06/05/2024
I reached out to city leadership to see where we’re at in the bike park process and to learn what the next steps are. Ginny Sawyer, Project and Policy Manager with the City Manager’s Office, sent the following information.
CBS Colorado’s Bike Park Coverage
On Sunday, CBS Colorado sent reporter Dillon Thomas out to learn more about the community push to bring a bike park to Fort Collins. At the 1/2 acre Spring Canyon Skills Park, Dillon was greeted by roughly 75 riders of all ages and abilities riding the pump track, drops, and other beginner-level features. The chaotic scene showed both the overwhelming appetite for a bike park and the shortcomings of the current park facilities.
Fort Collins Election Bodes Well For Bike Park
The results from yesterday's Fort Collins city council and proposition election bode well for a bike park in Fort Collins. The question is when and where.
City Staff, Leaders & Citizens Tour Valmont- 2011
The Valmont Bike Park in Boulder, Colorado, opened clear back in June 2011. In October of that year, a group of Fort Collins bike park advocates accompanied Fort Collins City leaders and Parks and Recreation staff on a park tour. We all came away excited to bring a facility like that to Fort Collins. During the tour, Craig Foreman (former Park Planning & Development Manager) said, "I'm excited about this. This would be a great addition to our parks system".
Dude Dad Joins Hughes Movement
Local video creator (and former bike mechanic) Taylor Calmus, aka Dude Dad, has joined the movement to turn the former Hughes stadium property into a bike park. Many locals were surprised when Calmus approached the podium during a recent city council meeting to speak out in favor of the bike park and again the next day when he showed up at the former college football stadium to be interviewed by Denver 7. The father of three (soon to be four) is well-versed in riding dirt jumps, pump tracks and helping to build parks. Clamus started riding BMX bikes when he was nine, and after moving to California, he started riding dirt jumps.
Denver 7 Visits Hughes
During last week's city council meeting, roughly 50 people, most of whom were kids, spoke out in favor of the former Hughes Stadium property being turned into a bike park, and Denver 7 took note. Reporters from the channel reached out to Dave Dixon with Bike Fort Collins, asking for an interview at Hughes. Dave was out of pocket, but he reached out to Kenny Bearden with Overland Mountain Bike Association who in turn reached out to Ciclismo Coaching, Wolfpack Cycling, Sendtown Bike Club, Dude Dad and YGR. Within a few hours, we had 50 people waiting to greet a somewhat taken aback reporter. The video and article are below.
City Council Hughes Work Session Video
Fort Collins City Council will begin to discuss the Hughes property redevelopment during tonight's work session. I have the LIVE stream and agenda packet embedded on YGR.
Hughes City Council Work Session Packet
On Tuesday, March 14th, the Fort Collins City Council will begin discussing what to do with the former Hughes Stadium property. They recently released their agenda packet for Tuesday's Work Session; it includes the results from a five-month study conducted by the consulting company Kearns and West. The 57-page packet includes the results from public surveys and focus group meetings. While there is strong support for a bike park, it isn't the only purpose presented.