Colorado community to build new mega sports complex and preserve wildlife corridor

A community in Colorado is planning a new project to build a mega sports complex while preserving more than 400 acres of open space.

The Board of Douglas County Commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to enter a partnership for the development of the Zebulon Regional Sports Complex. The board went into a private executive session for discussion earlier that morning before the public vote.

The first phase of development will include three ice rinks and basketball courts, a soccer complex and a baseball complex. Officials said the project will also preserve over 400 acres of open space in the area, including a 104-acre wildlife corridor adjacent to Sterling Ranch and Louviers.

"This is such an exciting time. We are in the golden era of Douglas County where we can start moving on what our citizens want – a best-in-class regional sports facility paired with ongoing efforts to preserve open space," said Commissioner Abe Laydon.

Officials said the proposed site for the new sports complex is four miles south of C-470. The Sterling Ranch Development Company, which is partnering with the board of commissioners, said, "This project will attract new shopping, dining, recreation, and community gathering spaces that Sterling Ranch would not be able to support on its own at this time."

Funding for the sports complex comes from a .17% sales tax approved by voters in Nov. 1994 to cover the acquisition, administration, planning, development, construction, operations and maintenance of parks, trails, historic resources and open space. That tax was recently extended by voters in Nov. 2022.

Officials said the design process is underway for the first phase of the project. They said the estimated cost is between $60 million and $70 million.

A live town hall in April will allow residents to learn about the Zebulon project as well as other parks and open space projects in the county.

Two new parks, High Note Regional Park and Wildcat Regional Park, are also planned for Lone Tree and Highlands Ranch.