On Tuesday, the Teller County Board of County Commissioners announced a plan to build a new County Central Service Center in Divide, with a planned opening date in late 2026 or early 2027.
The new Central Service Center will be designed to be a “one-stop shop” for County services, housing the Departments of Human Services, Public Health & Environment, DMV, Community Development, and Veterans Services, and potential satellite offices for other County services.
Since 1997, the County has paid rent to house these departments at various locations around Teller County. The County is projected to save nearly $10 million in rent over the next decade and tens of millions more in the coming decades.
Teller County Commissioners announced that a request for proposals to build the projected 15,000- square-foot facility will be released in the coming days. The budget for the new building is not to exceed 10 million dollars, with some DOLA grant funds helping to complete the project. The County Commissioners noted in their statements at the press conference that this project had been planned since 1999, and the events over the last four years provided an opportunity to make a multi-generational impact on the way services are provided to the residents of Teller County.
Commissioner Bob Campbell commented he is thrilled to see that one of the Commissioners’ key long- term goals of providing most customer services in a single convenient location will be achieved with the development of this Service Center.
Commissioner Dan Williams, the incoming Chairman of the Board, commented that a modernized and centralized service center will not only allow our residents to be served in a more efficient and organized manner, but will enhance their safety and convenience as well. “Often our residents drive in winter conditions from one end of the County only to find they need to go to another County office for additional information. While the County seat will remain in Cripple Creek, the service center will be focused on high quality modernized customer service in a central “one stop shop” for customers. Our residents are busy folks and after years of careful and conservative fiscal and budgetary oversight the Service Center will now become a reality”, Williams said.
Commissioner Erik Stone noted that this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to build the new facility and eliminate decades of rent. “When the federal government made the decision to print and send money to local governments during the pandemic, we knew that we could not be foolish with these funds and if we were strategic in their use, we could leverage county taxpayer funds to get out of rent debt, forever. I think the thing that I am most pleased about is that we are able to do this while still crediting property owners with a $2.2 million tax reduction in 2024”, Stone said.
While Cripple Creek will remain the County seat of government, the new building will consolidate services that are currently located in rented properties in Divide and Woodland Park. The building will be located on the site of the current ball fields in Divide and the commissioners have requested that county administration work with the Divide Planning Committee and local landowners to develop new outdoor recreational opportunities in Divide, using a model similar to the redesign of the Florissant Park. The playground equipment and basketball courts in Divide Hayden Park will be unaffected by the new building project.
The request for proposal will be posted on the County website, and interested parties should contact Teller County Administrator Ross Herzog for additional details.
Watch a video of the county commissioners discussing the project below