Riparian Park honored by Lottery

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ALAMOSA — Alamosa’s Riparian Park was recently recognized as one of 11 projects to receive the Colorado Lottery Starburst Award for excellence in the use of Lottery funds for community and conservation projects in 2020. Nearly $5 million in Lottery funds are represented in these 11 projects.

Winning projects were chosen from across the state based on the creativity of the project, economic and social impact on the community, and whether the project achieved its goal. A result of a two-year effort by Western Rivers Conservancy, the City of Alamosa, GOCO and other partners, the 203-acre City of Alamosa Riparian Park was completed late 2019.

The project conserves a mile of the Rio Grande River and creates new opportunities for recreation along its banks. The largest funder of the project, GOCO, ranked Alamosa Riparian Park as its number-one Open Space Project in 2018 and provided $695,000 for the city to purchase the land. In addition, CTF gave $20,000 to the project. Lottery proceeds are distributed statewide through grants via Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO), the Conservation Trust Fund (CTF), Colorado Parks & Wildlife, and Building Excellent Schools Today (BEST).

“With so many projects funded with Lottery dollars, it’s sometimes easy to forget all the different types of outdoor projects that result from Lottery revenue,” said Tom Seaver, director of the Colorado Lottery. “This year’s Starburst Awards showcase the diverse uses of Lottery money -- ballfields, bike parks, playgrounds, riparian zones, and of course, massive land purchases. These Starburst awards demonstrate just a fraction of the ways Lottery dollars are going to work wherever and however Coloradans like to play.”

Submissions include programs and projects such as parks, playgrounds, outdoor recreation facilities, land conservation, trail enhancement, open space acquisition, wildlife natural resource preservation, and public school improvements.


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