Friends Park, animal shelter mark community highlights

It wasn’t a slow year for community news here in the San Luis Valley in 2021. It kicked off

in January when the producers of the television show “World’s Greatest!” announced they selected the San Luis Valley REC and Ciello to be part of the television series.

The episode focused on the group’s efforts to be involved in the community through youth camps and community partnerships, as well as being active in providing infrastructure, fiber optics and broadband services to  Colorado.

In March, Dumb Friends League San Luis Valley Animal Center officially opened its doors. The non-profit facility now provides a place to house and take care of, and adopt out lost, stray, neglected and abused dogs and cats. The facility, the first outside the Metro-Denver area, also offers spay or neuter surgery, age-appropriate vaccines and microchipping with any adoption. The animals that come in that aren’t adopted locally will be transferred to areas with adoption opportunities.

May saw the announcement that the Boys and Girls Club of the San Luis Valley received three grants that helped bring together the opening of The Club, a new teen center that went in the building that used to house Body Tune Up on State Street. The front room is a public arcade which will employ teen members, while the back area is a homework and relaxation space for the teen members of the Boys and Girls Club. The grand opening for the arcade, named No Limit Arcade, took place on October 8.

The Alamosa community was able to enjoy another park at the beginning of the summer, when Friends Park officially opened with a ribbon cutting. The park located east of the Boys and Girls Club in Alamosa features some new equipment, with plans for benches, shade coverings and fencing in the works.

2021 also saw Care and Share of Colorado purchasing the old Budweiser building west of Alamosa with plans to expand its food delivery services throughout Southern Colorado. Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control moved from the Budweiser building to the former location of Sierra Vista Lumber.

Even though the new Ski Hi Park building was able to welcome back the oldest professional rodeo in Colorado in July, work continues on the convention center portion of the complex and donations are still needed to complete it.


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