by Bob Reece
CUCHARA/LA VETA- Representatives of the Cuchara Valley Recreational Metropolitan District and the Cuchara Valley Recreation Foundation will be on hand to present their comprehensive plans for the Cuchara Mountain Resort at two community meetings scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 26 in Cuchara and La Veta.
The community meetings will be held in Cuchara at the Cuchara Recreation Hall at 10 this morning, and at the La Veta Community Center on E. Ryus Avenue at 4:30 this afternoon. The public is encouraged to attend either meeting, get more information about plans for the resort and ask questions of the organizers.
When fully built out, the resort will host a number of year round attractions, including a mountain coaster, a tubing hill and a zip line course. A 10-acre lake will be created at the base, to provide water for snow making in winter and recreational uses in both winter and summer. Other amenities will include a full-service restaurant; a convention center to host corporate events, conferences and other meetings; and a 72-room hotel to be built next to the convention center. Videos of mountain coasters, tubing and ziplines can be found online at http://www.cucharavalley.org.
The Cuchara Valley Recreational Metropolitan District (CVRMD) is being formed to purchase the property, authorize and administer the bond issue and oversee the construction of the resort. A Metropolitan District is a governing body, similar in scope to the Cucharas Sanitation and Water District, with a Board of Directors and a defined area of authority. In this case, the Metropolitan District is essentially, the 225 acres being sought in the purchase.
The Cuchara Valley Recreational Foundation (CVRF), is the non-profit organization that will operate the day-to-day business of the resort. The Foundation came together earlier this year to develop the economic business model that will allow the resort to serve the greater community in a philanthropic manner.
Because the model is based on Return on Community, rather than a Return on Investment, the Foundation will be able to take profits of the resort and reinvest them into the communities of southern Colorado.
For example, the Foundation might develop a program that brings kids and teens from communities throughout southern Colorado to participate in educational, recreational and outdoor programs at the resort at no cost to their parents. Or funding might be provided to organizations in the area such as the library system and schools or provided for community beautification.
The purchase agreement was signed on Aug. 14 between property owner, Michael Balloun of Arlington, Texas and Bruce Cantrell of Cuchara, representing the Cuchara Valley Recreation Metropolitan District.
