Colorado Parks and Wildlife is seeking public comment on a proposal to build a two-story 9,600-square-foot regional office along the Animas River, at the site of the Durango Fish Hatchery and Durango Wildlife Museum.
The original hatchery building, located on a 9-acre property at 151 E. 16th St. in Durango that now houses the wildlife museum will, remain intact, although the building designed as the hatchery manager’s home is slated for demolition.
All customer service will be provided out of the CPW office at 415 Turner Drive beginning March 3.
Construction is anticipated to begin this spring and the new office is tentatively scheduled to open in summer 2026.
The new facility has been in the works for 40 years, said CPW spokesman John Livingston. Currently, 16 full-time staff (plus seasonal hires) work out of offices and makeshift workspaces in hallways located in the 1,000-square-foot wildlife office on the site, which was originally built as the hatchery manager’s home. Seventeen regional staff members moved to a facility at Bodo State Wildlife Area in 2004, which has only 12 parking spaces.
“The new facility will provide a single location with adequate office space for the current staff for CPW operations in the Durango area, alleviating public confusion of multiple locations and allowing for a more efficient work environment while reducing the need to rent meeting space at locations around town,” CPW’s website on the project states.
Given that 60% of the project – which will cost no more than $6.5 million – is being funded through a grant from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, the agencies are in the process of writing an environmental assessment. (The grant was exempt from the recent federal funding freeze.) Southwest Region Project Manager Nathanael Bokelman said he hopes to have a draft of that assessment released to the public for comment mid-March.
CPW is working with the State Historic Preservation Office to preserve historic elements of the first state-run hatchery, which will not be altered and continues to produce a variety of trout that are stocked in waterways throughout the state.
Although the new building and expanded parking will increase the amount of development on the property, it will take place on previously disturbed ground and the new building will be further from the river than the existing one.
“We're a natural resources agency, and we want to make sure things look and are presented in the way that are consistent with not only protection for our natural resources, but the way you like to have things look in a natural setting,” Livingston said.
He likened the development to the Durango Public Library and Durango Fire Protection District’s new station, both of which sit on the banks of the Animas River.
The development will be reviewed by the city of Durango’s planning department and is classified as a minor site plan review, meaning it will not require approval of Durango City Council. CPW is accepting comments on the building on a webpage dedicated to the project at bit.ly/3CPXIzX through March 6.
rschafir@durangoherald.com
