The Lone Mesa Colorado Parks and Wildlife center in Dolores will move into an office to be built at Mancos State Park.
The 600-square-foot facility will house administrative offices for Lone Mesa and Mancos state parks and include a new entry station for Mancos State Park.
A new aquatic nuisance inspection station, road improvement and realignment, and relocation of a restroom facility are also part of the improvement plan. The new facility will have a drive-thru service window and a small retail store with local outdoor books and maps. The new office will offer state park passes, fishing and hunting licenses and plus OHV, snowmobile and boat registration.
Project cost is estimated at $300,000, and construction is expected to be complete by summer of 2019.
CPW’s Lone Mesa State Park office has been at 1321 Railroad Ave. in Dolores since 2001. But to save costs and improve efficiency, it is moving to the new centralized office.
“The move is bittersweet, and it will be difficult to leave Dolores,” said Scot Elder, park manager for Lone Mesa and Mancos state parks. “But the new consolidated office is more practical and will offer all the same services.”
The new facility also will be open year-round, Elder said. It will be timber frame construction with an outdoor-themed timber exterior.
Mancos State Park has needed an improved administrative facility, Elder said, and is currently using small seasonal entrance stations to handle increasing visitation.
By consolidating the offices, he can focus on working out of Mancos and Lone Mesa State Park locations, and the agency will save the money to rent the Dolores facility.
The Lone Mesa State Park Office in Dolores will still provide services on an appointment basis until the new office is open. Services and passes are also available online at cpw.state.co.us
Lone Mesa State Park, 23 miles north of Dolores, is closed to general public access while development and management planning is in progress. However, a special use permit program allows limited public hunting during the big game seasons, as the 11,760-acre park includes elk, deer and bear habitat.
jmimiaga@the-journal.com