Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) welcomed residents and visitors to its new Gunnison service center on Dec. 3. The 6,800-square-foot office is located at 200 S. Spruce St. adjacent to the wildlife agency’s former location on New York Avenue.
“It’s exciting to get into our new building and to be able to welcome our customers and members of the public to this new space,” CPW Area Wildlife Manager Brandon Diamond said in a press release on Tuesday. “We’ve looked forward to getting moved in here for quite some time. The new building will allow us to more effectively serve all of our customer needs and accommodate our growing staff.”
Construction began in August 2023 and took slightly longer than expected. Upon the completion of the roof on the new office, it showed “deficiencies,” said CPW spokesperson John Livingston. The initial subcontractor made panel replacements and repairs, but an inspection still showed that the roof was out of compliance. To ensure its longevity, a new contractor replaced the entire roof this fall, Livingston said.
Busy year round, CPW’s Gunnison Wildlife Service Center provides snowmobile, boat and OHV registrations and service to hunters and other recreationalists. The Gunnison office, or “Area 16,” stretches into Lake City, Crested Butte and almost to Montrose, as well as the area between Paonia and Cedaredge, and all the way to the southern half of Grand Mesa.
The new service center has a larger and improved public entry area, expanded office space, a conference room for meetings and hunter education classes and a designated area for checking and testing wildlife. The project also included the realignment of Spruce Street, which serves as the gateway to the fairgrounds and the Fred Field Center, and a new adjacent sidewalk.
According to Gunnison administrative assistant Caroline Czenkusch, it is still unclear whether CPW will continue to repurpose the old offices or level it and make space for a new building.
(Bella Biondini can be contacted at 970.641.1414 or bella@gunnisontimes.com.)
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