New 18,000 Square-Foot Building to Become a One-Stop Shop for Teller Services
Trevor Phipps
After years of planning and saving county funds, construction has finally begun for the new $10 million county services hub in Divide.
The building project has been actively pursued for several years, as Teller leaders have examined ways they could stop spending taxpayer dollars on renting office space.
The county actually got into somewhat of a financial dilemma years ago, when it gave up its ownership of a prime office area in Woodland Park to the state to help fund the Catamount Open Space conservation project. At the time, major concerns arose about this scenic corridor turning into a major development. This conservation effort was heavily supported, but it came with a hefty price tag and forced the county to continue leasing out space for needed government services in Woodland Park. Now, the county may have finally turned the corner it its continual plight of footing big rental bills every year.
On May 29, the Teller County commissioners and other leaders held a ground-breaking ceremony at the future location of the new building at the Hayden Divide Community Park in Divide. The building would consolidate all of the current county services into one location, which is centrally located. It still would have a few offices at the courthouse in Cripple Creek, and Cripple Creek would still retain the status as the county’s seat. The Divide project has been in the discussion stage for years
Currently, the county spends about $500,000 per year on renting office spaces at the Tamarac building in Woodland Park and their health department office in Divide. The new building project would then eliminate the cost on rent so that the funds could be used to properly maintain the assets the county has.
The new building is planned for the south side of the parking lot at the Hayden Divide Park. The playground that currently sits in the location will be removed as it is quite outdated. A new playground will then be built in the location of one of the baseball fields.
The recent ground-breaking ceremony marked the start of the first phase of the construction process. First, construction crews will take out the playground and do some demolition to prepare the site. Then, basic infrastructure will be set for the building before construction on the structure will begin.
The design for the building has not yet been completed, but county government department directors have started the process. According to Teller County Administrator Ross Herzog, the building will be one story and encompass 18,000 square feet.
The new facility will have access from both Hwy. 24 and Hwy. 67. The new facility will put all of the county offices, which are currently in Woodland Park and Divide into one central location. This will provide easier access. However, the county seat will remain in Cripple Creek, and most of those offices won’t relocate. In addition, no changes will occur with the Centennial Building, which sports many county meetings, including regular commissioner sessions.
Eliminating Rent Cited as Top Priority
During the ground-breaking ceremony, the commissioners and key Teller officials discussed the history of the project. According to County Commission Chairman Dan Williams, eliminating rent for the county government was a primary goal.
“To be transparent, we actually tried to buy Tamarac (the building where county offices are currently located in Woodland Park),” Williams said. “We had a good plan in terms of what that would look like. But then we couldn’t come to a deal. It was really disappointing.”
The county commissioners then switched gears to figuring out how to build a new facility, with funds the county has been saving for more than decade. But that idea came with one setback: The county’s wastewater system needed to be upgraded in order for a new facility to be built in Divide.
As a result, in order for the new Divide facility plan to move forward, the wastewater system needed to be addressed. Once the county formulated a plan to upgrade the water system, the new infrastructure would be able to handle both the new county building and future developments that are planned in Divide.
Divide was chosen for the location of the new building due to its central location in the county. “Will there be people in Woodland Park who will say, ‘Man, I now have to drive seven miles?’” Williams said. “I would say to them, ‘yes.’ There were people in Florissant who were driving 19 miles to get to Woodland Park.”
Center Will Come Equipped with New Community Room
Although the design for the new building has not yet been completed, the county commissioners asked the department heads that they consider including a community room in the facility. Currently, the sheriff’s office is utilized for community meeting when major events like wildfires occur within the county. In the future, the Teller County building will have a room that can hold at least 200 people to give the public information when the need arises.
County Commissioner Erik Stone agreed that a new building was on the minds of commissioners when they first took their seats in 2021. Stone said that he noticed a design for a county building in Divide dating back to 1999.
“One of the first questions I asked when I came in as county commissioner was, ‘Is that still a viable plan?’” Stone said.
The county building construction will continue for the next several months with the demolition of the park starting first. Next, the county will be bringing dirt from the Teller County Fairgrounds to lay the foundation of the pad with the design process happening at the same time. Construction of the facility is slated to be completed by the end of 2026.
