The
Vision
Imagine
the transformation of Basalt's connection to the Roaring Fork River.
Imagine a 2.5 acre downtown riverside park and a campus of community
organizations anchoring the entrance into the historic downtown.
Imagine the Basalt Community Campus.
The
Challenge
Since
its
creation in the mid 1950's as temporary housing for
Ruedi Dam construction
workers, the 5-acre Pan and Fork Mobile
Home Park
has
seen a series of high
water events. The Town
of Basalt has commissioned and joined a number of studies to
better understand the dynamics of the Roaring Fork River and explore
strategies to reduce flooding danger to the town. The result of this
work is the Stewardship
River
Master
Plan, adopted in 2002. This plan
details a number of steps (estimated to cost $16 to $20 million) to
reduce the flooding risk to residents along its banks. Key to
beginning the implementation of the River Master Plan is the
relocation of a portion of the Pan and Fork Mobile Home Park on the
north bank of the river.
As
the town was working to address river related issues, the rise in
real estate values was affecting the affordability of housing in the
community. Concern over the extent and price of new housing units,
and the closure and redevelopment of some in-town mobile home parks
(de facto affordable housing) led the Basalt Town Council to adopt a
100% replacement
housing
ordinance in 1999 for projects that would
eliminate existing affordable units.
This
ordinance has been a crucial tool in retaining the remaining mobile home
parks
in
the
community,
but
has
also
ensured significant
additional costs for any redevelopment
– and ironically, the
implementation of the River Master Plan. These costs and
the
economic downturn have made redevelopment of the Pan
and Fork site a
significant challenge.
Recognizing
the challenges of private sector redevelopment,
the
Basalt Town
Council attempted to purchase the Pan and Fork Mobile Home Park for
$5.0 million through a bond vote in 2008. The
ballot
measure
failed
by
10
votes.
Efforts
to address Basalt's unique set of challenges are complicated and
likely cannot be addressed by the private or public sectors working
alone.
Our
Unique Solution
The
Basalt Community Campus (BCC) is a collaborative effort between the
Roaring Fork Community Development Corporations and the Town of Basalt
to achieving a number of long
standing Town of Basalt goals: public access to the
river, getting residents out of
spring flooding danger, creating affordable housing,
and
transforming
a
prominent
downtown
corner
location.
The
BCC hopes to become home to several local
non-profit institutions
including Colorado Mountain
College (CMC). The campus will feature a two and half acre riparian
park purchased with town open space money, have curbside access to
RFTA bus service, and offer affordable on site housing. Additional
tenants will
have access to 20,000 square feet of non-profit office space, an
anticipated restaurant (hopefully the Tacqueira) and "campus
bookstore", and other proposed amenities such as shared meeting
rooms and conference style facilities.
BCC
will adopt high standards of environmental awareness and green
building standards. The campus is committed to offering
replacement housing options for the current residents, consistent
with social justice standards expected by both the Manaus Fund, the
RFCDC, and the Town of Basalt.
BCC has the potential to transform downtown Basalt.
Visit Frequently Asked Questions about the Basalt
Community Campus
