New sports center marks the start of Brickyard redevelopment in Castle Rock

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After years of planning, a new sports center will open in Castle Rock, bringing more indoor recreational activities for its growing population and economic opportunities to the town.

“Our rec centers are busted at the seams and I think there’s a lot of people who want it every single day,” Jeff Smullen, assistant parks and recreation director, said. “It’s great that everyone wants to go, but we need this.”

Located in the Brickyard development — the former Acme Brick Factory off of Prairie Hawk Drive — the 145,000-square-foot Castle Rock Sports Center will address a long-identified community need for additional recreation space.

The town has not constructed a new gymnasium or competitive pool since 1988, when the town only had about 8,000 residents.

Over the years, the town has opened two recreation centers, a development which Castle Rock Mayor Jason Gray said has been able to work because of the amount of open space and parks the town has. However, there has been a need for an additional facility.

Beginning in 2021, the town’s Parks and Recreation department initiated an Indoor Recreation Feasibility Study and public engagement to collect input from residents. Through surveys, open houses and stakeholder meetings, preferred locations, features and desired amenities were identified.

As a way to complement the youth-focused Miller Activity Complex and other traditional recreation options in the town, the study identified the community’s need to have a potential facility focus on fitness and sports development, according to the town.

“We try to provide something for everyone in the rec facilities,” Smullen said.

What to expect from the sports center

Sitting on a 10.1-acre project site, the Castle Rock Sports Center will include amenities that are lacking in the town, Smullen said.

The sports center will feature two competitive gymnasiums for basketball, pickleball and volleyball, a 25-yard-by-25-yard meter pool and warm-up pool, an indoor walking track and modern locker rooms.

Additionally, guests can expect to see an indoor fitness area with free weights, specialized equipment, exercise rooms and a spinning studio.

The facility also features a child watch area, meeting and party rooms.

“It’s a great place to host a basketball party or a volleyball party or anything else you can dream about here,” Smullen said.

The project will also include a new mile-long trail that will link the Brickyard redevelopment area to downtown Castle Rock and Philip S. Miller Park.

Additionally, the new sports center will have easy access as it is about a mile from the Plum Creek interchange with I-25 and the Wolfensberger interchange, Smullen said, and it will be in close proximity to other recreation centers.

“All of our rec center facilities are very central in terms of driving distance in Castle Rock so that everybody in Castle Rock can get to those easily,” Smullen said. “They’re fundamentally different, so there’s a reason to go to each one.”

Similar to the other recreation centers in the town, the Castle Rock Sports Center will also have a membership.

The construction of the sports center is in partnership between the Town of Castle Rock, Confluence Companies and Saunders Construction and is expected to be complete by summer 2027.

It is estimated to cost approximately $75 million and will be funded through growth-related revenues such as impact fees and future sales and lodging taxes generated by the Brickyard redevelopment.

“It’s funded so that people that already live here don’t have to continue to pay for new improvements,” Gray said.

Part of the Brickyard redevelopment

After the town issued a Request for Proposals seeking a partner that could contribute land and advance the project, Confluence Companies responded with a proposal to build the sports center in the Brickyard redevelopment.

The Brickyard, which is characterized as Castle Rock’s new lifestyle district, is a 31-acre mixed-use project that aims to revitalize an abandoned industrial property.

“It’s the right spot and the right time,” Gray said. “We’re going to see some economic boost from this area. It’ll be its own little mini town center.”

Over the course of the three-phase development, eight buildings will be constructed to provide commercial and residential opportunities, including the sports center.

According to the town, the redevelopment will include about 384 new multifamily residences, a 123-room boutique hotel with conference space and 260,000 square feet of retail, office and entertainment space, including six restaurants.

“These projects work together,” Smullen said. “If you come here for a tournament… or you’re here to work out, you can head out right across the street, there’ll be restaurants, there’ll be things happening over there, so great complementary uses that are all connected.”

By Haley Lena – Reporter, Castle Rock News-Press