Millions of dollars needed to maintain parks and recreation spots in Pueblo

They are spots you can go to in Pueblo to enjoy, have fun and relax, but Pueblo’s Parks and Recreation Department said it needs millions of dollars in order to maintain and fix the popular areas in the future.

Pueblo Parks and Recreation Assistant Director Mike Sexton said there is much work to get done at the popular spots.

“We’ve got playgrounds that we need to remove that are not ADA accessible, we got sidewalk repairs, basketball court repairs , tennis court repairs, a lot of turf repairs, if it’s mowing and taking care of a park our guys do a great job, but they are only limited to what the funds are to make it available to them,” he said.

The department’s budget is a little more than $4 million a year.

Sexton said 80 percent of the parks in Pueblo have old infrastructure with irrigation that is failing. The department said it will need about $14 million to repair them, but the parks aren’t the only things on the budget.

“The pools are all old. All but one of them has a new bathhouse, but the pools are 40- to 50-years-old. The average life is about 20- to 25-years-old,” he said.

The department is also understaffed.

“A community our size has about 87 full-time staff, we only have 27,” Sexton said.

But the city is applying for grants to fulfill the department’s needs.

“Most of our capital projects come from lottery funds but we only have a certain amount in that pool that are allocated, after that we go with Community Development Block Grants,” Sexton said.

Pedro Acosta has been going to parks in Pueblo for more than 15 years.

He said it’s important to maintain the parks for people to enjoy in the future.

“It means a lot to us, it really means a lot. It’s really heartfelt here,” Acosta said.

If you want to volunteer to help fix or maintain the parks you can call the Pueblo Parks and Recreation Department at 553-2790.