Fort Collins council advances $72.5 million Southeast Community Center funding package

The Fort Collins City Council voted 7-0 Tuesday to approve a consent agenda that included first-reading approval of Ordinance No. 070, 2026, advancing a $72,539,000 financing package for the Southeast Community Center. The ordinance appropriates anticipated revenue from debt issuance and the Poudre Public Library District, along with unanticipated state grant money and prior-year reserves in the 2050 Parks and Recreation Fund. The funding is intended to support design and construction of the new community recreation center in southeast Fort Collins.

Agenda materials describe the project as a LEED Gold facility. The center is planned as a partnership involving the city and the library district, and council members later referenced it as one of the city's major recent capital milestones.

The ordinance moved forward without separate debate because it was included on the consent calendar, which council approved in a single vote after no one pulled the item for individual discussion.

In council reports later in the meeting, Councilmember Josh Fudge pointed to the project's recent groundbreaking and said the Southeast Community Center has been in process for about 11 years. He thanked voters for approving funding for the project and said it "is going to be a great building, a great facility for the south part of the city."

Fudge said the center is a partnership between the city, the Poudre School District and the library district, which he said "saves taxpayer dollars and brings a lot of services together." Mayor Emily Francis also cited the groundbreaking among the city's recent events, underscoring the project's visibility as construction moves ahead.

Because Tuesday's action was a first reading, the ordinance must return to council for a later vote before it can be finally adopted.