College and community come together to celebrate the new Durango Softball Complex

Fort Lewis College and the City of Durango celebrated another successful partnership with the dedication of the Durango Softball Complex on Friday, June 1. The new complex is a beautiful new resource for the community, as well as the home of the Skyhawk Softball team.

The softball facility joins a growing list of FLC-Durango partnerships that have created opportunities that benefit both campus and the community, including the Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis College and the Smith Sports Complex. Opened in 2016, the Smith Sports Complex converted open space on the corner of campus to sports fields and facilities that see a great deal of use. The College and the City have also come together to build new tennis courts next to the Smith Sports Complex. 

In addition to the City of Durango and Fort Lewis College, a number of other organizations contributed to the softball complex and tennis courts, including Great Outdoors Colorado, the State of Colorado Department of Local Affairs, the Colorado Lottery Conservation Trust Fund, the Durango Community Tennis Association, and the Fort Lewis College Foundation.

Fort Lewis College President Dene Thomas often discusses an FLC philosophy of helping people have “active minds in active bodies.” That philosophy is prevalent throughout the Durango community, with events such as the recent Iron Horse Bicycle Classic illustrating the appetite that the people of this area have for outdoor recreation and sport.

“I am, in terms of the College and its cooperation and partnership with the City, one of the luckiest of presidents anywhere because the City appreciates us and we appreciate the City,” said President Thomas.

Fort Lewis College and Durango have enjoyed a long relationship dating back to when the College moved to town in the 1950s, and the relationship extends beyond facilities. Durango has long been a strong selling point for Fort Lewis College to offer to prospective students and their families. In turn, FLC students make up a significant portion of Durango’s workforce and customer base. In 2012, a FLC report estimated that the College offers an economic impact of over $150 million to the region. 

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