City staff outline irrigation, LED lighting and Phase 2A improvements at Prospector Park and Rodeo Grounds

Superintendent Dave Butler presented capital project timelines and scope for Prospector Park and the Rodeo Grounds, telling the commission the irrigation retrofit at Prospector will begin Sept. 1 and be completed in multiple 30-to-45-day phases to preserve scheduled programming. "We have already scheduled with our contractor to start, September 1 in this green phase down here," Butler said. "We think that'll take about 30 to 45 days to get through that section."

Butler also described a lighting retrofit at Prospector that will replace parking-lot fixtures with LED, dark-sky-compliant heads and add waist-high bollard lighting along a walkway between the new pickleball courts and multipurpose fields to improve pedestrian safety. On the Rodeo Grounds, Butler said the department is in contract negotiations for Phase 2A work that includes new perimeter fencing with card-reader access at several gates, a climate-controlled check-in and first-aid building, decorative entry monuments and a new SES electrical service to power additional RV and food-truck hookups. "This is just kind of an overall site plan of everything that's included in phase 2a," he said, describing the new check-in and first-aid spaces.

Staff answered commissioner questions about marquee programming, dark-sky compliance and refrigeration in the check-in building; Butler said marquee specifications and runtime programming are still to be determined and refrigeration would be part of the contractor's FF&E process. He also announced an open house for the Rodeo Grounds slated for Nov. 5 so stakeholders can preview the site once construction wraps. The commission did not take formal action on the projects during the meeting; staff said booking for available dates remains open and full facility bookings will pause while construction is underway.