A non-profit group hopes to build an outdoor public pool in Calhan using, in part, a $697,909 grant from Great Outdoors Colorado, officials said Thursday.

The aquatic center would be built on the El Paso County Fairgrounds and would feature lap lanes, slides, a current channel and pool house. Organizers hope to open the center in summer 2011.

With the grant, and another $25,000 grant from El Pomar Foundation, pool organizers have raised not quite half  the $1.8 million they estimate it will cost to build the facility, said Christine Fischer, project manager for Rural Colorado Community Development Inc., the non-profit organization working to build the aquatic center. The group would also operate and maintain it.

“People intentionally and proudly choose to live in rural areas, but you do sacrifice things by living there,” said Fischer, who lives in Calhan and grew up in a small town in northeastern Colorado. “For me, it’s important all of the children in the area have the opportunity to learn to swim.”

Pool organizers now plan to launch a fund-raising campaign to get donations, corporate sponsorships and grants.

“This is not an easy task for us, but this (grant) catapults us in the right direction,” she said.

The pool would be open Memorial Day through Labor Day, approximately, she said. El Paso County has agreed to allow the pool to be built on fairgrounds land if Rural Colorado Community Development raises all the money needed for the facility plus 30 percent of a year’s operating expenses, among other conditions. Organizers also must figure out where to locate the campers who now use that area during the county fair, Fischer said.

“We think it’s a great, great use of the land,” said El Paso County Commissioner Amy Lathen. “If they can make this work, we are thrilled to be partners with them. We’re really proud of the work they’ve done so far.”

Great Outdoors Colorado uses Colorado Lottery proceeds to award grants to local governments and land trusts and makes investments through the Colorado Division of Wildlife and Colorado State Parks.

A rendering of the Eastern Plains Family Aquatic Center. Photo by

atharrett