Blue Skies Park

Longmont, Colorado


The City of Longmont retained Winston Associates to design a park that would be unique and cater to the diverse needs of the surrounding community.  The design theme was inspired by flight, encompassing all aspects of that idea, from man-made flying apparatus, originally designed by Da Vinci and 747 aircraft to the natural insect flight of Pterodactyls and dragonflies.  In addition to passive uses of a butterfly garden and picnic area, the park includes a skate park, inline hockey rink, and basketball court.  The public engagement process included a charrette geared towards children, ages ranging from 8-16.

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Sandstone Ranch

Longmont, Colorado


A 315-acre Community/District park, Sandstone Ranch is a unique combination of active park and natural preserve.  Winston Associates has served as the overall project manager for the Master Plan and all three phases of construction.  During the 1998 Master Plan, the WA Team completed a detailed environmental analysis, conducted an extensive public input process and carefully sited the proposed facilities to avoid sensitive habitats, while preserving scenic and wildlife corridors.  The Master Plan called for the park to be constructed in five phases.


Phase I (2001): The first phase focused on the west half of the Community Park (design estimate $5.63 million/bid price $5.41 million), and was completed in May of 2001.  Phase consisted of overlot grading for the entire west half, four baseball fields, custom restroom/concession/shelter building, restroom/storage building, scorer’s boxes, and picnic shelter and designing the details and themes establishing the character of the future phases for the park.


Phase II (2004): Constructed in 2002, consisted of the construction of the east half of the Community Park and the District Park elements.  The District Park includes a trailhead and soft-surface trail system, conversion of an 1880's homestead to a Visitor's Center, scenic overlooks, interpretive signage and restoration.  Improvements for the Community Park included a restroom/concessions/shelter building, a five full-size soccer fields (two of which were lighted) Sports Field Complex well as trails, pedestrian bridge  connection to Phase I and roads and parking.  The design phase for Phase II was completed in December of 2001 with construction essentially completed in fall of 2002.  Seeding of the multi-purpose fields was delayed until spring of 2003 due to the drought, with the fields opening for play in spring of 2004.  The City received very favorable bids for Phase II with the low bid at $5,589,421 versus the WA Team’s estimate of $7,212,400.00.


Phase III (2005/2006):  The third phase of Sandstone Ranch includes two of the jewel facilities for the park: Adventure Play Area and the skate park (first phase of the Wheels Area).  Phase III also includes the Group Picnic Shelter, additional parking and walking trails and paths.  The $500,000 Adventure Play Area follows the agricultural theme established in the Master Plan and will become a destination event for Longmont residents.  The $500,000 in-ground skate park boasts a street course, a flow course and BMX facilities.  The skate park design involved Longmont's skateboard community in the design process through a series of public meetings.  The Bid Price for Phase III was within 0.5% ($7,000) of the $3,012,450 WA Team estimate for the Base Bid, allowing the City to accept all bid alternates.

Carroll Butts Park

Westminster, Colorado


With the City of Westminster and the Hyland Hills Park and Recreation District, Winston Associates redesigned the aging park, one of the oldest in the northern Metro area.  Originally housing an ice arena, the space has been transformed into an in-line hockey arena.  A major renovation was completed in 2005, incorporating updated active recreation facilities (ballfield complex) and incorporating passive recreation (trails, open space and pond.  The renovation was extensive and included bank stabilization, reclamation of land and retention pond development.  The surrounding neighborhood embraced all changes, feeling a sense of pride for a long-ignored park that turned into a true gem of the regional park system.

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