“A safe place for kids to play”: Clifton Community Center Opens in Mesa County

By Sharon Sullivan

Neighborhood kids wasted no time initiating a basketball game in the shiny new gymnasium at the Clifton Community Center’s June 22 grand opening. The center and its gym were partly funded by a $1 million grant from The Colorado Trust.

Earlier that morning, a dozen kids joined adults in a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new community center near the Clifton Library and Rocky Mountain Elementary Park, where a new playground opened.

About 200 people attended the grand opening, which included remarks from Mesa County officials, U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper’s staff, Colorado Trust President & CEO Don Mares and others. Mares thanked Mesa County Commissioner Janet Rowland for her commitment to children and families, calling the community center the “epitome” of that dedication.

Mares also credited community leader and former Colorado Trust staff member Jose Luis Chavez, who, while working for The Colorado Trust, founded Clifton Community Leaders to organize around community needs.

“Jose started talking to the community about child care and jobs five years ago, and look what happened,” Mares said.

Clifton Community Leaders spent a year knocking on doors and making phone calls, asking community members what resources were lacking in unincorporated Mesa County.

“We needed a safe place for kids to play,” Chavez said. “We needed a park, and we got it. Now, we’ve put a community center together. With the help of The Trust, we built a gymnasium.”

The center also includes a child care facility, a training center, classrooms, a commercial kitchen and a room for after-school club meetings. Andres Sanchez, a Clifton Community Leaders member and youth coordinator, founded the after-school group to help youth learn public speaking and other leadership and life skills. According to Chavez, the students also helped design the new playground.

Rowland said there are 3,500 children under age 5 in Clifton, and a lack of child care is an ongoing challenge in the community of 19,450 residents. There are 60 daycare slots overall in Clifton, with only 12 openings as of July 2024. A new “state-of-the-art” child care facility at the Clifton Community Center will add 200 spots. The county hired Jennifer Knott, who runs Adventure Academy—Community Hospital’s early childhood education center—to operate the Clifton Community Center’s early childhood program.

The community center also includes classroom space for Colorado Mesa University adult technical education classes, a mobile learning lab and reduced-rate summer camps for kids in grades five to 12.

Mesa County commissioners established and appointed a Clifton Community Engagement Board of Directors to ensure free public events take place at the community center. So far, a family picnic in Rocky Mountain Elementary Park, a movie night, pumpkin carving in October and a craft fair in November have been scheduled. A lawn with a concert pavilion is situated between the community center and the library (which opened in August 2023).

While the Clifton Library construction was a separate project, its inclusion on the Clifton campus was intentional. The library had already purchased property elsewhere to build a new Clifton branch when Rowland reached out to Mesa County Libraries leadership.

Rowland asked if the library branch wanted to join the project by moving the library to the Clifton campus. “They sold the [already purchased] land and now lease property from Mesa County for 40 years,” she said.

Meals on Wheels Mesa County, a nonprofit that provides meals for adults age 60 and older, is moving from a temporary dining site to the community center. This summer, the organization will begin serving lunch four days a week.

The Clifton campus also includes a farmers market that will be held at Rocky Mountain Elementary Park during the summer and at the community center from mid-August into October. Mesa County residents may also rent the community center’s gymnasium and commercial kitchen for private parties, quinceañeras and wedding receptions.

The total cost of the 15,000-square-foot community center, excluding tax credits, was $33.6 million. Project funding included $18.9 million in federal funds from the American Rescue Plan Act, more than $4 million in grants from various foundations (including The Colorado Trust), a $1.6 million library reimbursement, and $4.6 million from Mesa County sales tax revenue.

During her remarks, Rowland recognized former Mesa County Commissioner Scott McInnis, who in 2021 brought to the board’s attention a 40-year-old document stating the county’s intention to build community centers in all of its outlying areas. Rowland said one was built in the town of Mesa before the 1982 oil shale bust, which caused the local economy to crash and the idea to be forgotten for decades.

“We wouldn’t be here today if it weren’t for Scott McInnis and support from our funders,” she said.