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New Park, Funded By Lottery Grant, 'Bringing People Together'

BRECKENRIDGE, Colo. (CBS4) - Breckenridge is home to a new park built with an unusual design in River Park. It's already getting a lot of attention from residents and tourists.

The icy blue and white tower shot up from the Blue River like a castle in the sky, and it's all part of Breckenridge's newest park.

River Park (kroschel)
(credit: CBS)

Nancy O'Neill and her family visiting from southern California spotted the park from the bike path.

"They are asking me if we can move here, the house next door to this park, that's how much they love this," O'Neill said.

The eye-catching park in Breckenridge offers outdoor recreation to local families and tourists alike.

River Park's play area uses natural features, landscape and vegetation, giving children easy access to nature and the outdoors. The playground is artfully designed with woodcarvings, nature-based play structures.

The park also provides picnic areas, pavilion, restrooms, and ADA-accessible fishing.

Although Breckenridge has a population of 4,700 residents, there are more than three million visitors each year, making River Park both a neighborhood jewel and a destination spot, according to open parks director Anne Murphy.

River Park 2 (kroschel)
(credit: CBS)

"It's connecting our neighborhoods and bringing people together," she said.

The park is within walking distance of several schools, the Breckenridge Recreation Center, and several hundred workforce housing units.

The Colorado Lottery chipped in to help pay for the new park. Phase 1 of the $1.6 million project, completed last year, was made possible with a lottery-funded Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO) grant. Another $350,000 GOCO grant is earmarked for Phase 2.

A new bike and pedestrian bridge connects to a recreation path that sees 20,000 users in the summer season alone.

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