The southeast neighborhood I represent is poised to play a key role in the hot topic of a $27.7 million investment toward a stadium for Olympic City USA. City for Champions (C4C) funding has been appropriated for the Gateway Visitors Center at the Air Force Academy, the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs William J. Hybl Sports Medicine and Performance Center and the downtown U.S. Olympic Museum.

The energy and momentum for revitalization is building in the southeast. Residents know something big and wonderful is on the brink for epic change.

Why the southeast? We are a diverse, hard-working and resilient community with residents who are proud of their neighborhood. There’s no doubt we’re the underdog, and we’re ready to bust out. It is time to realize our talents and gifts. Too often, others wrongly perpetuate a stereotypical narrative about the southeast. Give us the freedom to tell our inspiring story.

Our location is prime. We are between the airport and downtown, which is just a few miles in both directions. There will be at least six entry and exit points for the stadium; Powers and Academy (both in either northbound or southbound directions), the Martin Luther King Jr. Byway and I-25. The Mission Trace area is situated in such a way to accommodate a stadium, as are a couple of other southeast locations.

This is unlike a downtown location, where I-25 would bear the entire stress of stadium traffic and downtown side streets would be overburdened. Don’t get me started on the parking situation. In the southeast, we’ll have the acreage for ample parking space. Instead of taking green space away from downtown, placing the stadium in the southeast – where there’s plenty of room – will allow us to add greenspace. Moreover, transit will be boosted with high frequency and fluidity from the airport to the stadium and the stadium to downtown. The options are abundant.

Even better, there is likely to be less pushback from residents in southeast Springs when the stadium is here. We want this stadium to be part of our southeast story. In addition to the traditional hot dogs and hamburgers, we may offer the experience of southeast culinary delights from Thai Lily Cuisine & Yakitori 8, Julie’s Kitchen, Southern Pride Take Out and Catering, Mi Viejo San Jan and El Poblano.

Let’s get bang for our buck by coupling the existing state funding grant with credits and incentives from being a designated federal opportunity zone. You can bet the southeast will rise to the occasion with a dynamic workforce in place to utilize these resources. This is not only responsible, but it gives many residents the liberty to grab new opportunities.

This leads to another truly exciting prospect of this project: job-building capacity. There is a reason our YMCA on Jet Wing is the only branch that has not been vandalized to date.

Councilman Merv Bennett often tells the story of how unemployed local residents noticed workers from elsewhere were employed here. The contractors and subcontractors agreed to hire local workers from within a three mile-radius, which turned out to be more than 60 percent of the workforce.

As a result, the southeast YMCA is fiercely protected. From their schoolyards, young children proudly point to the Y and jubilantly share that their parents built the facility. Imagine this result for our new stadium.

This is a win for the owner of the stadium, the developers, District 4 residents and, most importantly, the city of Colorado Springs. It’s time to make a bold investment in the southeast.

We make things happen here. Put a stadium in our neighborhood.

I encourage all to join this call to action by visiting the C4C website and submitting your comments at www.cityforchampions.com/commentsquestions

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Yolanda Avila is the Colorado Springs City Council representative from District 4.