Weidner Field: Downtown's New Crown Jewel by Colorado Springs Gazette, LLC

• May 2021

WEIDNER FIELD

Crown Downtown’s new

Jewel Page 5

season? g AThebreakout Switchbacks have a lot to be excited about as the 2021 United Soccer League Championship season gets revved up. Page 12

up, fans g Heads What fans can expect attending

various Weidner Field events, in terms of COVID-19 protocols and more. Page 10

cultural scene g Dynamic Public art at Weidner Field contributes to Colorado Springs neighborhood. Page 18

My City.

My Team.

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Get them before they sell out! www.switchbacksfc.com 719-368-8480 SCAN TO BUY NOW! 2

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U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Museum Colorado Springs, CO

Photo Credit: Jason O’Rear

Switchbacks FC Downtown Stadium Colorado Springs, CO

Pikes Peak Visitor Center Pikes Peak, CO

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WEIDNER FIELD Downtown Colorado Springs and the Beautiful Game

A match made in heaven EDITOR

VINCE BZDEK vince.bzdek@gazette.com/636-0273

It’s fitting, I think, that Colorado Springs, aka “Little London,” — with its Italianate resort hotel, its Alp-like mountains, and its international passel of Olympic athletes running about — has embraced that most worldly of sports, soccer, in its new downtown stadium. The Springs, don’t you know, is a worldly kind of place. William J. Palmer, who wanted to bring sophistication to what was previously thought of as the “wild west,” would be especially proud to see “The Beautiful Game” take center stage in the city he founded, I think. A pair of facts for you soon-to-be-budding soccer fans at Weidner Field, new home of the Switchbacks: The most watched Super Bowl in history was viewed by 114 million people. The last World Cup was viewed by ... wait for it … 4 billion people. That’s more than half the world’s population. Europeans scoff when we Americans declare our football teams World Champs when really, only one country is actually playing that kind of football. In the most recent World Cup, on the other hand, 211 countries participated in the qualifying rounds. What the rest of the world calls football is literally played in every country on the planet. I’ve heard people say that America has never embraced soccer fully, but that’s just not true for America’s kids. There are about 3 million children playing the sport in America right now, so who knows what the future holds as parents fret about head injuries from that other kind of football. When I lived in Washington, D.C., I kind of got caught up in the game because we had a championship team in our midst, D.C. United. And I tell you, it was the fans at those games that

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JERILEE BENNETT, THE GAZETTE

Thomas MacClaren’s Matthew Zimmer controls the ball May 1 during the Class 2A boys’ state soccer championships at Weidner Field. were the real show. The stands were international, multicultural bacchanalias of song-singing, vuvuzela-blowing, flag-waving, flare-burning, cannon-firing crazies. And then of course, when your team scores, you must scream “GOOOOOOOOALL” at the top of your lungs, sustaining the “O” sound for a good two to three minutes. If fans here are anything like soccer fans elsewhere around the globe, Weidner Field is going to be loud. So yeah, I think Colorado Springs and “The Beautiful Game” are a match made in heaven. And why is it called the Beautiful Game, you ask? Fortunately, we have a former professional soccer player right on staff who can answer that question. “Beyond the sporting aspects, soccer is the Beautiful Game because it’s THE universal language,” says Pat Poblete, our legislative reporter and former goalkeeper for FC Tucson. It’s “the thing that brings people across the globe to-

Sunday, May 16, 2021

gether regardless of race, class, religion, nationality, gender, sexual orientation and so on.” I asked Pat what new Colorado Springs fans might find appealing about soccer versus other American sports like baseball and football. “I think particularly for American fans, the way soccer leagues around the globe are organized really represents the American Dream, whereas somewhat ironically, the way a lot of American sports leagues operate is somewhat socialist in nature,” Poblete said. “In soccer, you can be a small neighborhood club and if you work hard enough, develop players and win matches, you can rise through the ranks via promotion from lower leagues and eventually find yourself competing against the big boys.” It’s a planetwide Hoosiers, in other words. I asked Pat: Is that why soccer fans around the world are so insanely passionate?

“Much more so than in most American sports, the teams are truly representatives of the cities and neighborhoods that they’re based in,” said Poblete. “These aren’t franchises that can be picked up and relocated by a billionaire owner a la the Las Vegas Raiders or the Oklahoma City Thunder. They’re community institutions, oftentimes founded more than 100 years ago and as such share the values of their communities. To put it shortly, the clubs and their supporters share a common DNA.” So really, our new downtown stadium gives us a chance to join a great global pageant, and maybe, just maybe, starting today, we begin to establish our own 100-year song-singing, vuvuzela-blowing, flag-waving, flare-burning, cannon-firing tradition. All together now: “GOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOALLL!!” Vince Bzdek is the editor of the Colorado Springs Gazette.

WEIDNER FIELD

Downtown’s field of dreams

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Proud Partners Of The Switchbacks!

Weidner Field expected to boost economic development in downtown Colorado Springs BY RICH LADEN

parcel at Sahwatch and Cimarron streets in southwest downtown. The Colorado Springs Switchbacks, Weidner Field’s anchor tenant, will host their first regular-season game Friday as a member of the USL Championship professional men’s soccer league. With 8,000 seats for soccer and professional, college, high school and Olympic sports, Weidner Field also will have room

level of vibrancy to downtown and I have reason to believe that’s going to happen,” eidner Field, Colorado Suthers said of Weidner Field. Springs’ new multiuse sta“It’s no Mile High Stadium, but it is a dium, debuts this week with beautiful stadium that is going to be fanexpectations that it will help tastic for not only professional soccer, but fuel a downtown developa lot of other sporting events,” he said. ment boom. “We’re already going to have some profesAt one point, though, it was close to besional lacrosse there this summer. Suming a downtown bust. mer concerts. I just think that it’s going In February 2017, Springs to bring people downtown. Mayor John Suthers deIt’s going to be fantastic clared a downtown sports for the restaurant industry and event center — an downtown. People are goearlier version of Weidner ing to eat downtown, park Field — all but dead. Four in downtown garages and years earlier, city officials walk to the stadium.” and community leaders It’s a stadium that almost had proposed the venue as didn’t happen, however. one of four City for ChamIn 2013, city officials and pions projects designed to community leaders propromote state and local posed the City for Chamtourism. pions tourism projects — a Colorado economic dedowntown U.S. Olympic velopment officials agreed & Paralympic Museum, a to earmark tens of millions sports medicine and perof dollars in state funding formance center at the to help pay for City for University of Colorado at Champions, whose projColorado Springs, an Air ects still would require Force Academy visitors additional financing to becenter and the sports and come a reality. event center, which origiBut the sports and event nally was envisioned as a center foundered. It lacked minor league baseball staa convenient and accessidium. ble downtown site. More Later that year, the Colimportantly, it needed milorado Economic Devellions more in funding and opment Commission apSuthers rejected the use of proved up to $120 million CHRISTIAN MURDOCK, THE GAZETTE in state sales tax rebates local taxpayer money to bridge that gap, which left Fans watch as the Switchbacks FC warm up before their exhibition game against Orange County on over 30 years to help pay the sports and event cen- April 24 at Weidner Field in Colorado Springs. for the projects. ter’s future in doubt. The Olympic & Paralym“This was the project that I was least for roughly 15,000 people to attend con- new development in the area because of pic Museum and what is now the William optimistic about,” he said. certs, graduations and other events. the stadium — from spending at restau- J. Hybl Sports Medicine and Performance Fast forward to this week. The funding shortfall that almost de- rants and bars, to construction of apart- Center opened last year, while construcOn Friday, city officials and communi- railed the project was erased by the ments and hotels, to the makeover of tion is targeted to begin this summer on ty leaders will open Weidner Field, a $47 Ragain family that owns the Switch- aging buildings dotting southwest down- the Air Force Academy visitors center. million multipurpose outdoor stadium backs and Weidner Apartment Homes of town’s landscape. But the initial idea of a downtown that evolved from the sports and event suburban Seattle, whose founder, Dean “I have long believed that a downtown SEE STADIUM • PAGE 7 center concept and was built on a vacant Weidner, grew up in Colorado Springs stadium could introduce a whole new

rich.laden@gazette.com

and heads one of the nation’s largest multifamily housing companies. Together, they partnered to pay roughly two-thirds of the cost for what would become Weidner Field. Now, downtown backers expect Weidner Field to deliver a big return on that public-private investment. They anticipate hundreds of millions of dollars worth of economic activity and

Sunday, May 16, 2021

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Sunday, May 16, 2021

WEIDNER FIELD STADIUM FROM PAGE 5

baseball stadium for the then-Colorado Springs Sky Sox was rejected by fans who preferred the team’s longtime northeast-side venue. City officials then revamped the facility into a multiuse sports and event center that could house the Switchbacks and other events. Besides funding issues, its location also was problematic. At one point, the Switchbacks’ ownership and downtown hotelier Perry Sanders Jr. proposed putting it in Antlers Park, west of The Antlers’ hotel. Suthers and others opposed the idea, saying it would shoehorn the facility into a too-small city park that also had restrictions on its land use. By early 2018, the vacant CityGate property on downtown’s south edge, which the city had declared blighted years earlier, emerged as a site for the sports and event center. And in July of that year, city officials and community leaders announced they had a deal with the Switchbacks and Colorado College. The single sports and event center was split into two venues — the multiuse stadium on the CityGate site and the 3,500-seat indoor Robson Arena to be built on Colorado College’s campus just north of downtown, which would become home to the school’s hockey program. Weidner Field was funded with about $13 million in state sales tax funds; the Switchbacks and Weidner Apartment Homes agreed to pay most of the remainder of the project’s cost, which was originally $20 million, then about $35 million and finally $47 million. Colorado College’s arena price tag of about $50 million is being funded with $9.2 million in state money, private donations and a gift of $12 million by namesake Edward J. Robson, a 1954 graduate and former member of the school’s hockey team. Both projects, downtown boosters say, will add to the area’s development renaissance over the last several years. From 2013 to 2020, downtown investments — projects completed, under construction or announced — totaled an estimated $1.7 billion, according to the Downtown Partnership advocacy group. Among those projects: • Four hotels — the Hilton Garden Inn, Kinship Landing, Hyatt Place and a dual-branded Marriott — have opened or launched construction. • More than 400 apartments have been built, opened and rented at 333 ECO, The Mae on Cascade, Blue Dot Place and Casa Mundi, while Pikes Peak Plaza, Elan

Pikes Peak and the 322 Vermijo Apartments are under construction and will add nearly 700 more units. Thousands of additional apartments are on the drawing board. • Aging buildings along North and South Tejon Street, East Pikes Peak Avenue and Sierra Madre Street have been renovated or are poised to be transformed into restaurants, nightclubs, event centers and other gathering places. Weidner Field, in particular, has the potential to help downtown build on that momentum, say area supporters. Some even liken it to Coors Field, which served as a redevelopment catalyst in Denver’s Lower Downtown, known as LoDo. Coors Field, though, is much larger at more than 50,000 seats and was built for Major League Baseball’s Colorado Rockies, who play at least 81 home games every year. Coors Field also was constructed in a densely packed urban area of Denver’s downtown, whose aging buildings and warehouses were ripe for redevelopment. Since Coors Field opened in 1995, many LoDo buildings were renovated into stores, restaurants, bars, lofts and apartments, while developers also brought new construction to the area. Still, a people-generating stadium that’s introduced into a downtown setting — even if it’s a smaller venue — is likely to spur nearby development, said Brian Lewandowski, executive director of the Business Research Division at the University of Colorado at Boulder’s Leeds School of Business. “That cornerstone can lead to a lot of

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Proud Partners Of The Switchbacks! redevelopment,” said Lewandowski, who spoke in general terms because he lacked details about Weidner Field and downtown Colorado Springs redevelopment efforts. “And it’s part of the redevelopment. And it’s part of why people end up moving there. It’s part of why those bars and restaurants aren’t only filled because of the stadium, but they’re now filled because of the broader redevelopment around the stadium. “The placemaking that a stadium can have is a really important component that can be a catalyst for a lot of economic growth,” Lewandowski said. “It’s not solely responsible for it, but it’s a reason for the new businesses, the new restaurants, the new bars, the new tenants, the new residents. There is a catalyzing piece there. I say that because we need to take a look beyond just what happens within the stadium and understand what’s happening around the stadium.” Around Weidner Field, new construction and redevelopment projects already are being planned, including a massive investment by Weidner Apartment

CHRISTIAN MURDOCK, THE GAZETTE

Crews made some finishing touches on April 19 as the city prepared for the opening of the Switchbacks FC’s new home — Weidner Field in downtown Colorado Springs.

Homes. The privately held company, ranked by an apartment industry group last year as the nation’s 14th largest owner of multifamily units, has purchased nearly 11 acres on the stadium’s south, southwest and west sides. Over the next nine years, Weider officials say the company plans to develop almost 1,200 market-rate apartments at a price tag of more than $400 million. Weidner expects to start construction in the summer on a 408-unit building on the stadium’s south side, which would open in 2024, according to plans the company recently presented to city officials. Construction of a second, 360-unit building southwest of the venue would begin in 2023 and open four years later. A third, 413-unit building directly west of the stadium would launch in 2025 and open by 2030. Combined, the buildings also would have 37,104 square feet of first-floor retail space and on-site parking to accommodate 2,222 vehicles. Apartments developed around the stadium would be Weidner’s first investment in the Springs downtown; it has 18 projects and more than 2,900 units in suburban areas of the Springs. Founder Dean Weidner, who graduated from Wasson High School and learned about the apartment industry by performing maintenance on family owned rentals as he grew up in the Springs, has had a “simmering interest” in downtown for more than 30 years, vice president Greg Cerbana recently told the Colorado Springs Urban Renewal Authority. Weidner’s interest was piqued in recent years by the City for Champions initiative and efforts to redevelop downtown’s blighted southwest side, Cerbana said. The company is seeking an urban renewal designation to cover its project, which would allow increased property and sales tax revenues generated by the new apartments to be used for on-site street, utility and other public improvements. Nor’wood Development Group, one of the Springs’ largest real estate companies whose projects citywide include offices, SEE STADIUM • PAGE 8

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WEIDNER FIELD STADIUM FROM PAGE 7

shopping centers, apartments and residential subdivisions, has been interested in southwest downtown for roughly 20 years. Over that span, it has purchased multiple parcels in the area, including several directly across Cimarron Street from Weidner Field. The company has proposed offices, a luxury hotel, retail and other projects on its property, where the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Museum — also a City for Champions project — opened last summer and is envisioned as another southwest downtown anchor that will spur new development. Even before Weidner Field was completed, however, Nor’wood began to receive calls on the availability of its property across the street, said Jeff Finn, a company senior vice president. “It’s absolutely a catalyst,” he said. “We have not really been in marketing mode on our properties across the street from the stadium because we’ve been working on our own stuff. But I’m consistently re-

ceiving unsolicited interest in those properties of ours that really line Cimarron.” That interest has come from local restaurants and retailers, but also from some in Denver, Finn said. Several Denver-area restaurants have expanded to the Springs downtown in recent years, including the Denver Biscuit Co., Dos Santos Tacos, Jax Fish House & Oyster Bar and the recently opened White Pie Pizzeria. Restaurant locations near Weidner Field — similar to being around Coors Field in Denver’s Lower Downtown or people-generating venues in other cities — provide sports fans and concert goers with places to go before and after an event, Finn said. “Going to the game with food and beverage and a sporting or entertainment experience and then having the ability to then go out afterwards and really extend the evening, that really is going to be a game changer,” he said. Once that game or concert finishes, downtown visitors who’ve come from outlying and suburban areas might drive back home, said Susan Edmondson, president and CEO of the Downtown Partnership.

But for downtown residents, Weidner Field will provide another amenity to enhance their urban lifestyle, where they can stroll past bars, restaurants and other attractions before or after an event, she said. “A downtown environment is different because it’s walkable,” Edmondson said. “Before or after the event, particularly think about after the event, you’re getting in your car. At that point you’re already almost, in your mind, headed home instead of to somewhere else. Whereas, when you’re in a walkable urban environment, it just makes it more of an experience to tack on that pre- or postgame activity. We always feel like, once someone steps back in their car, we’ve kind of lost them.” Downtown residents and visitors increasingly eat and drink in the so-called New South End, a multiblock area southeast of Vermijo and Cascade avenues and a few blocks east of the Weidner Field site. Now, New South End businesses are gearing up for even more customers because of the stadium. “We are all pretty busy already down here, but it will bring even more people and business to this area and not just

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on game nights, but also when there are concerts and other events,” said Drew Shader, owner of the Atomic Cowboy bar, Fat Sully’s Pizza and Denver Biscuit Co in the 500 block of South Tejon Street, known as the Trolley Block because it once housed a trolley car barn. The Warehouse, a 24-year-old upscale restaurant across Sahwatch Street from the stadium, might be the best-positioned restaurant or bar that could benefit from Weidner Field. Co-owner James Africano isn’t sure what to expect when the stadium opens. He’s both excited and a little apprehensive, in part, because he’s not sure where stadium-goers will park. “It will change the neighborhood dramatically for 25 to 30 days a year, both good and bad,” Africano said “You’re bringing a few thousand people into a neighborhood with not a lot of parking. If we get 1% of the crowd, that would be a great night for us. The question I have is how many of those people are looking for an upper-end restaurant and where do they park?” Still, Africano added, “the visibility for us will be huge. We are super excited to have the Switchbacks as our neighbors.”

WEIDNER FIELD

‘An urban

experience’

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Proud Partners Of The Switchbacks!

Existing dispersed parking to serve Weidner Field, no designated spots just for stadium BY MARY SHINN

mary.shinn@gazette.com

Thousands of new parking spots did not go in as part of Weidner Field, but the city of Colorado Springs is confident existing parking downtown will be plenty to serve the new stadium. Switchbacks club President Nick Ragain said he didn’t want the stadium to be an island surrounded by a sea of parking and instead hopes that fans will take advantage of the existing parking around downtown, that is within walking distance for most fans. “The vision has always been to be an urban environment and foster more of an urban experience,” he said. He is hopeful that fans will want to take part in the downtown offerings and visit restaurants and shops before and after games. Scott Lee, parking enterprise director, said he expects the dispersed parking will help alleviate traffic after games because fans will be headed to different parking areas instead of pouring out of one central location.

CHANCEY BUSH, THE GAZETTE

Pedestrians walk past a vacant parking meter on West Pikes Peak Avenue in Colorado Springs on April 28. Weidner Field does not have dedicated parking or valet parking. Residents will need to park at meters or in downtown parking garages. The team expects existing parking garages, surface lots and metered street

parking will provide 5,000 open parking spaces on any night for the 8,000-seat

stadium, according to its website. At least initially, game attendance will be capped at 4,000 attendees, leaving potentially more spaces available. The stadium doesn’t offer valet parking yet, but it could in the future by renting out a few surface lots near the venue, Ragain said. For now, fans can drop off members of their party at the stadium along south Sierra Madre Street before parking. Most of the city’s street parking can be managed through a phone app, allowing fans to add time as needed, Lee said. Meter rates vary based on how close they are to the downtown core. Meters north of Vermijo Street and bounded by Nevada Avenue on the east and Cascade Avenue to the west are $1.50 per hour, meters farther out are $1.25 per hour and those on the periphery are $1 an hour. The city and El Paso County parking garages charge $1 an hour as well. For cyclists, the stadium will offer locked and fenced storage for bikes for a small fee.

KICKING UP THE PAST DOWNTOWN COLORADO SPRINGS STADIUM SITE HAS LENGTHY HISTORY OF INDUSTRIAL USES The site of Weidner Field, the new multiuse stadium southwest of Sahwatch and Cimarron streets in downtown Colorado Springs, has a varied history of owners and uses that dates back more than a century. An early Colorado Springs iron fence manufacturer, Hassell Iron Works, operated a foundry on the site in the late 1880s, according to Gazette archives. Hassell also was a supplier to the Denver Equipment Co., which purchased Hassell in 1941. Denver Equipment also operated a foundry on the site, where metals were melted and molded. Pumps and liquid-solid separating devices for the sand, gravel and chemical industries also were manufactured there. Denver Equipment was sold several times

over the years — to Pittsburgh-based Joy Manufacturing in 1967, to a group of local and Texas investors in 1989, to Svedala Industries of Sweden in 1992 and to Finnish manufacturer Metso Minerals in 2000. Metso, which carried on the production of pumps and liquid-solid separating devices, closed its plant on the site in 2003. It sold the land three years later for $6 million to a partnership of Springs real estate firm Griffis/Blessing and Dallas businessman Ray Washburne. In 2007, the Colorado Springs City Council designated 19.2 acres in southwest downtown, including the stadium site, as an urban renewal district. Griffis/Blessing and Washburne envisioned a mixed-use retail, office and residential project called CityGate on the

property; the project, however, never took off in the wake of the Great Recession. The property was sold to a company controlled by local businessman and philanthropist Phil Lane and is now owned by Switchbacks Entertainment, owner of the Colorado Springs Switchbacks soccer team, the stadium’s primary tenant. Weidner Apartment Homes, the suburban-Seattle multifamily developer and owner that partnered with the Switchbacks ownership to fund about two-thirds of the stadium’s $47 million cost, has purchased several parcels to the south, southwest and west of the venue. The company says it plans nearly 1,200 apartments over roughly the next decade on its land around the stadium.

Neighborhoods near the stadium, meanwhile, are a mix of industrial, retail and other businesses and nonprofits. Colorado Springs Utilities’ Martin Drake coal-fired power plant, which is slated to close in the next few years, sits west of Weidner Field; the Salvation Army’s shelter for homeless families, known as the Montgomery Center, operates about 1½ blocks to the south on Sierra Madre Street; and The Warehouse Restaurant and an ANB Bank stand east of the stadium. The U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Museum opened in July two blocks north of the stadium, while downtown’s New South End — a thriving restaurant and bar district — is two blocks east. WAYNE HEILMAN, THE GAZETTE

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WEIDNER FIELD Fans in a COVID-19 world Here’s what to expect at new venue BY JESSICA SNOUWAERT

jessica.snouwaert@gazette.com

NCAA Division II Men’s and Women’s Soccer Championships. Chiquis Rivera. Premier Lacrosse League. Justin Moore. Colorado Springs Switchbacks Football Club. These are just a few of the games and concert headliners Colorado Springs fans can look forward to at Weidner Field this year. The 8,000-seat stadium will celebrate its grand opening May 21 with a Colorado Springs Switchbacks home game after constructing the stadium during the pandemic. But the team and stadium’s leaders are not worried about COVID-19 dampening what they say will be energetic season. “We feel really confident, real comfortable, you know, with the kind of environment, the safe environment that we’re creating,” Nick Ragain, the club’s president, said. “So we certainly feel that we have a great environment for the fans to

come and watch a game in a safe place.” Crews clean the stadium regularly, automatic dispensers supply hand sanitizer, and masks are required in the venue, Nick Ragain said. Fans can expect a nearly touchless experience in the stadium with automatic bathrooms, digital tickets and phone apps to order and pay for food, said James Ragain, the club’s executive vice president. “When you get to the venue to when you leave, you basically don’t touch anything except your seat or any food or merchandise purchase,” James Ragain said. Glass doors in club areas, concession stands and ticket areas allow for natural light and fresh air to pour into the stadium’s indoor spaces. “We’re an outdoor venue,” Nick Ragain said. “Even our indoor spaces open to the outdoors.” The season opener will operate at 50% capacity, a maximum of 4,000 people,

congratulations on the opening of WEIDNER field!

Encore Electric is proud to be part of the project team.

CHRISTIAN MURDOCK, THE GAZETTE

Switchbacks fans cheer for their team April 24 after they enter Weidner Field for its debut exhibition match. Nick Ragain said. Seating plans allow for social distancing. After May, the club will monitor the COVID-19 situation in Colorado and decide the level of capacity to allow in the stadium, James Ragain said. The stadium’s seating was also designed for different levels of access, from standing-room-only areas located behind the goals, to pricier club areas like the Phil Long Club where fans can sit in a section beside the players and gain access to the walkout corridor where the team accesses the locker room, Cody Costra, the club’s communication manager, said.

“That space is gonna be so high energy,” Nick Ragain said. The Founders VIP Club includes an all you can eat and drink buffet and the top floor, which houses the Sky Club, provides a bird’s-eye-like view of the stadium along with windows facing the mountains, Costra said. Switchbacks games will also feature fireworks, light shows that sync to the stadium’s sound system and locally sourced food with the stadium’s 6035 Hospitality catering, Costra said. “People are gonna love it,” Nick Ragain said.

4 COOL FACTS ABOUT WEIDNER FIELD SCULPTURE

Anyone who enters the stadium is greeted by a sculpture known as “The Epicenter.” Commissioned by Dean Weidner and brought to fruition by a host of artists, the sculpture weighs 164,000 pounds and cost $4.5 million, a Weidner Apartment Homes news release announced. It includes a silver colored sphere surrounded by two sliver rings that resembles the planet Saturn. The rings signify the Olympic rings, a reminder that Colorado Springs is Olympic City USA, the release said. Since Weidner Field is home to the Colorado Springs Switchbacks, anyone who enters through the front of the stadium will walk through a switchback that rounds the sculpture, Cody Costra, the club’s communications manager, said.

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All the light fixtures are LED, Nick Ragain, the club’s president, said. The use of LED lights allows the stadium to host light shows and sync the lighting to music. “The Epicenter” alone is lit with 1,350 individual LED pixels, the release said. Unlike fluorescent lighting, which creates intermittent dark images when shooting action at fast frame rates, LED lighting enhance photography

and videos shot inside the stadium by providing constant light without flickering, Nick Ragain said.

ALTITUDE

The stadium sits at 6,035 feet above sea-level making it the highest elevation stadium of any home team in the American professional system, James Ragain, executive vice president for the Switchbacks, said.

TURF

Weidner Field is the first artificial turf field approved for use by the Federation Internationale de Football Association, Nick Ragain said. The turf is made of a combination of cork and coconut husk that allows for the ball to roll and bounce more naturally. Unlike rubber, turf the “corkanut” turf does not heat up to extreme temperatures in the sun. Similar to grass, the turf must be watered regularly. The use of coconut husk in the turf combination prevents the turf from floating when wet, Nick Ragain said. “It’s a very high tech, artificial turf field,” James Ragain said. “The most natural-feeling field to professional soccer players that are available in the world.” JESSICA SNOUWAERT, THE GAZETTE

WEIDNER FIELD

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Boulevard Park was home to the Colorado Springs Millionaires, a Class A minor league baseball team, from 1902 to 1905.

Proud Partners Of The Switchbacks! FILE PHOTO

A rich history of sport BY O’DELL ISAAC

odell.isaac@gazette.com

Colorado Springs’ new downtown arena, Weidner Field, and the Ed Robson Arena, which is scheduled to open on the Colorado College campus later this year, are the latest additions to a vast history of Colorado Springs sports venues reaching back to the early 20th century. Nearly 100 years before the Colorado Rockies laced up their cleats in Denver, Boulevard Park was the home stadium of the Colorado Springs Millionaires of the Class A Western League. The city’s first professional baseball team played at Boulevard Park from 1902 to 1905, when the Millionaires moved south midseason and became the Pueblo Indians.

In the 1920s, Broadmoor Hotel founder Spencer Penrose organized the Broadmoor Polo Association, a league that played matches on the hotel grounds. Several matches were heralded on the pages of The Gazette, then the Gazette-Telegraph: “Star Polo Players Who Will Get Into First Game of Season on Broadmoor Field Today,” read a headline in the June 21, 1925, issue. An avid sportsman, Penrose was also responsible for several competitive events in the Pikes Peak region, some of which — like the International Hill Climb and the Pikes Peak or Bust Rodeo — endure today, more than 80 years after his death. Memorial Park was the home of the first iteration of the Colorado Springs Sky Sox

Weidner Field latest addition to long line of Colorado Springs venues

in the 1950s. The Chicago White Sox affiliate played at the ballpark, later named Spurgeon Field, from 1950 to 1958 and sent a number of players to the major leagues. The Sky Sox, reborn in 1988 to the Triple-A Pacific Coast League, played at Sky Sox Stadium — now UCHealth Park — until a move to San Antonio in 2019. In 1938, Penrose and Broadmoor co-owner Charles Tutt Jr. converted an equestrian area on the hotel grounds into an ice skating arena called The Broadmoor Ice Palace. The Palace became the home of The Broadmoor Skating Club, as well as the Tigers’ hockey program. In the 1960s, figure skater Peggy Fleming trained at The Broadmoor before going on to win an Olympic gold medal in 1968.

The latest Broadmoor World Arena opened in 1998. Air Force’s Falcon Stadium opened in 1962. Will Rogers Stadium, also built on the grounds of The Broadmoor, was home to a regular-season National Football League game in 1939, when the Philadelphia Eagles squared off against the Cleveland Rams (now the Los Angeles Rams). The next regular-season professional football game in Colorado wouldn’t happen for another 21 years, when the Denver Broncos hosted the Boston Patriots in the inaugural matchup of the now-defunct American Football League.

Going Corkonuts Weidner Field has unique playing surface made from coconut fiber, cork infill BY DANNY SUMMERS

danny.summers@gazette.com

The synthetic playing field at the new $46 million Weidner Field is unlike anything most soccer players and fans have ever seen. Installed by the South Carolina company Sprinturf in early March at a cost of $750,000, the infill material is called Corkonut. It is a coconut fiber and cork infill made by Greenway. The turf looks like natural grass. Switchbacks coach Brendan Burke said it plays much better than a standard synthetic turf field, which uses

infill materials such as crumb rubber. “It gives you a very predictable playing surface,” Burke said. “Sometimes when you’re on natural grass, if it’s wet or if it’s chewed up a little bit the ball can get bouncy. This turf we have is going to give you the same play every time.” Burke added that his team could have an advantage with the familiarity of the turf since it plays half of its games at Weidner Field. “Certainly in games where passing and technical ability is a big factor in the game,” he said.

CHRISTIAN MURDOCK, THE GAZETTE

The synthetic turf at Weidner Field is called Corkonut. It is a coconut fiber and cork infill.

Switchbacks defender Jordan Burke has been with the club since its inaugural season in 2015. He had never played on Corkonut before this season. “Compared to regular turf it’s night and day,” he said. “The ball rolls perfectly. It feels good on your body. When you come to training it’s a pleasure because this plays like a grass field.”

Doug Fitzgerald and Danny Summers contributed to this story.

According to Switchbacks president Nick Ragain, Weidner Field is the first approved FIFA Corkonut field on the planet. “With all the events that are planned here, we knew we had a need for synthetic,” Ragain said. “This turf is amazing. And it stays cool. But we still have to water it a couple of times a month.” Most synthetic turf fields get dry and heat up when temperatures rise. “If it’s 100 degrees outside, the turf on a standard synthetic turf field could be 150 degrees,” Ragain said. “Our turf will stay cool and it will stay together better.” With 8,000 spectator seats for sporting events (expandable to 15,000), Weidner Field will host Olympic/Paralympic-related events, other athletic games and tournaments, concerts and camps.

Sunday, May 16, 2021

THE GAZETTE

WEIDNER FIELD

Poised for breakout season Switchbacks have undergone a major overhaul as they break in their new home

BY DANNY SUMMERS

danny.summers@gazette.com

The Colorado Springs Switchbacks have a lot to be excited about as the 2021 United Soccer League Championship season gets revved up. The team is playing in a swanky new downtown stadium as part of the City for Champions project. New coach Brendan Burke brings an eastcoast tenacity to a team that is infused with many new faces. “We’ve set a high bar for ourselves and I don’t think that’s ever existed before,” Burke said. “And that’s a big deal. It’s taken a lot of work to get here, but we’re really just getting started.” Among the familiar faces back with the club are defender Jordan Burt (in his seventh season with the team and part of the inaugural 2015 Switchbacks), forward Austin Dewing (an Air Academy High School and Air Force Academy alum) and midfielder Rony Argueta (in his sixth season with the club). Most of the team is new to town. “We definitely made the team younger this year, on purpose,” Burke said. “We wanted to be a little more athletic and be able to get around and play at a higher intensity. When you’re trying to play that high-intensity style the fans become like another player on the field.” Among the notable new additions to the pitch are midfielder Jose Torres (a former member of the United States men’s national team who spent his entire career playing in Liga MX, the top division in Mexico), forward Hadji Barry (a Guinean international star who was selected 13th overall in the 2016 MLS SuperDraft), defender Jimmy Ockford (a former Championship all-league selection who previously played for Burke) and forward Michee Ngalina (a Congolese forward who also played for Burke).

THE GAZETTE

Switchbacks midfielder Beverly Makangila, left, is a native of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and one of the many new faces on the team this season.

PHOTOS BY CHRISTIAN MURDOCK, THE GAZETTE

At 33, midfielder Jose Torres is the oldest player on the Switchbacks. His wealth of experience includes starting for the United States in a World Cup game. “Certainly we have a number of players that have accomplished a lot already in their career, and in Michee’s case, very early on their career, only being 21 now,” Burke said. “This is a brand new Switchbacks. You can’t change everything overnight. We didn’t have to change everything. That’s why guys like Jordan, with the right mentality, work great and are still around. Anybody we kept around we felt could still contribute with what we’re trying to accomplish with the new

Sunday, May 16, 2021

identity of the team.”

THE COACH

Burke, 38, brings a wealth of playing and coaching experience to the club. During his playing career, he was mostly a center back for several teams in the Premier Development League before beginning his coaching career at age 25. Burke was born and raised in Massachusetts and spent his entire playing and coaching career in the East before

being named the third coach in Switchbacks history lain December. He has successfully transferred his workmanlike tenacity as a player into a successful coaching career, His record with three teams is 119-88-54 (.575 winning percentage). He believes his club should take advantage of playing half of its matches at 6,000-feet above sea level. “It’s a distinct advantage if we manage it properly,” he said. “If we can keep the pace of the game fast, teams will wear down. It’s science. “Your VO2 max only is what it is when you’re coming from sea level and there’s a 15 to 20% advantage to be had if you’re at peak fitness. Anyone who’s not prepared will pay for it when they come in here.”

LOCAL HERO

Dewing is a fan favorite with his own cheering section and

an emerging star. Now in his third season with the side, he recorded two assists in 352 minutes of play during the shortened 2020 season. Dewing grew up in Monument and attended nearby Air Academy High School. In 2014 he led the Kadets to a 20-0 record and the Class 4A state championship. He then took his talents up the road to the Air Force Academy, where he was a four-year starter for the Falcons. Dewing joined the Switchbacks midway through the 2019 season. He has appeared in 27 matches with the club heading into this season. “I am grateful for the opportunity to play here in Colorado Springs,” Dewing said. “It never gets old. Each year we’re all striving to get a little bit better as a team, and me personally. SEE TEAM • PAGE 13

WEIDNER FIELD TEAM FROM PAGE 12

To be the local guy and to have that community and have those bonds, it just gets stronger and stronger. I’m thankful for it.”

LOOKING AHEAD

The USL Championship features 31 teams across four divisions and two conferences. The 32-game regular-season schedule will be played over 27 weeks. The divisions are aligned across the country as the Atlantic, Central, Mountain and Pacific Divisions. The Atlantic and Central Division make up the Eastern Conference, while the Mountain and Pacific Divisions make up the Western Conference. The Switchbacks play in the Mountain Division of the Mountain Conference with Austin Bold FC, El Paso Locomotive FC, New Mexico United, Real Monarchs SLC, Rio Grande Valley SC and San Antonio FC. During the regular season, each team will play its division opponents four times — twice home, twice away. In the Mountain Division, the remaining eight games will be played against regional or cross-conference opponents. El Paso Locomotive FC was back-toback Western Conference finalists in 2019 and 2020. The Switchbacks have not made the postseason since 2016. Weidner Field has a soccer seating capacity of 8,000. Club president Nick Ragain said seating will be limited, at least in the early going, due to COVID restrictions. “We’ll probably be at about 50 percent capacity for a while,” he said. Burke believes that the stadium will give his team that all important “12th man” when it is as near or full capacity. “It’s going to get very loud in here and that will give us a lot of energy,” he said. “It’s going to play to our advantage.” The Switchbacks will play in three nationally televised games on ESPN networks in 2021. The first will be on ESPN2 at Weidner Field on July 17 when the Switchbacks welcome San Antonio FC. The second is Aug. 10 in Tennessee when the Switchbacks take on Memphis 901 FC on ESPN Deportes. The third will take place at Weidner Field on Sept. 8 when Real Monarchs SLC for a match on ESPN Deportes. Switchbacks regular season and playoff games will stream live on ESPN+.

MEET THE SWITCHBACKS ROSTER AND BIOS 2021

Name: Sean Melvin Jersey number: 1 Position: Goalkeeper Age: 26 Height: 6-4 Country: Canada About Melvin: Melvin is in his second season with the Switchbacks. He played three college seasons with the University of North Carolina-Wilmington Seahawks from 2013-15. While there, Melvin played in 2013–2014 with the Vancouver Whitecaps FC U-23 in the Premier Development League. In 2015, he was loaned to Calgary Foothills in the United States League PDL where he became the No. 1 starter until returning to UNC-Wilmington for their 2015 season. Melvin signed his first professional contract with Whitecaps FC 2 of the USL in February 2016. He joined the USL Championship side with the Switchbacks in January 2020 and started 11 games. Name: Austin Dewing Jersey number: 3 Position: Forward Age: 24 Height: 5-8 Country: United States About Dewing: Dewing is in his third season with the Switchbacks. He is a graduate of nearby Air Academy High School, where he led the Kadets to the 2014 Class 4A state title and a 20-0 record. He also was a threeyear starter on the school’s baseball team. Dewing graduated from the Air Force Academy, where he was a four-year starter on the soccer team. He made 78 appearances, scoring 29 goals and tallying 19 assists. While at college, Dewing also appeared for the USL PDL team Colorado Pride Switchbacks U23 team during their 2018 season. He made his professional debut when he joined the USL Championship side Switchbacks in June 2019. He has appeared in 27 matches with the Switchbacks. Name: Matt Mahoney Jersey number: 5 Position: Defender Age: 26 Height: 5-11 Country: United States About Mahoney: This is Mahoney’s first season with the Switchbacks. He played four years of college soccer at Temple University between 2013 and 2016, where he made 78 appearances, scoring five goals and tallying three assists. Mahoney also played with the PDL side Jersey Express during his time at college. He signed with the USL side Bethlehem Steel in March 2017. He played with the Sacramento Republic in 2019-20. Name: Rony Argueta Jersey number: 6 Position: Midfielder Age: 30 Height: 5-8 Country: United States About Argueta: Argueta is in his sixth season with the Switchbacks. He has played with the team every year, with the exception of 2018 when he was with Fresno FC. Argueta has appeared in 46 matches and scored one goal with the Switchbacks. He turned professional in 2015 when he signed with the Switchbacks. In his first

season, he made 24 appearances and scored twice. He was re-signed for the following season and won the Back Chat Supporters 2016 Young Player of the Season award. He also played for the Switchbacks in 2017 and rejoined them in 2019 after one season with USL side Fresno FC. Name: Jose Francisco Torres Jersey number: 7 Position: Midfielder Age: 33 Height: 5-5 Country: United States About Torres: Torres is in his first season with the Switchbacks. He has played with the U.S. national team. After his sophomore year of high school, he was recruited and signed by Mexican club Pachuca. He played for them from 2006-13. He appeared in all three matches at the 2008 FIFA Club World Cup for Pachuca, starting twice. In November 2012, he was transferred to Tigres UANL and played for them through 2019. He is popularly known by his nickname, “Gringo.” Name: Zach Zandi Jersey number: 8 Position: Midfielder Age: 24 Height: 5-6 Country: United States About Zandi: Zandi is in his first season with the Switchbacks. He played college soccer for Villanova University. In four seasons he made 63 appearances, scored 14 goals and provided 10 assists, leading the team with seven goals scored in 2018. He joined Reading United in 2016 while in college where he made 24 appearances. He was acquired by Philadelphia Union in 2019 and made his club debut for the then Bethlehem Steel. He joined the Switchbacks in December. His sister, Sydney Zandi, plays college soccer for the University of Virginia and has played for the United States women’s national U-17, -18 and -19 soccer teams. His father, Karl Zandi, played college soccer. Name: Hadji Barry Jersey number: 10 Position: Forward Age: 28 Height: 6-2 Country: Guinea About Barry: Barry is in his first season with the Switchbacks. After four college seasons at the University of Central Florida, he was selected 13th overall in the 2016 MLS SuperDraft by Orlando City. In December 2018, Barry joined Israel Premier League side Irono Kirvat Shmona on a 2½-year deal. He rejoined the USL Championship by signing with the Ottawa Fury in July 2019 and moved to USL Championship side North Carolina FC in January 2020. Barry signed with the Switchbacks in January 2021. Name: Michee Ngalina Jersey number: 11 Position: Forward Age: 21 Height: 5-11 Country: Congo About Ngalina: Ngalina is in his first season with the Switchbacks. He spent time with the Florida-based Montverde Academy before going on trial at USL side Bethlehem Steel in 2018. In May 2019, Ngalina signed with

INJURED? WE’RE IN YOUR CORNER

Proud Partners Of The Switchbacks! MLS Philadelphia Union and was released by Philadelphia following its 2020 season. He signed with the Switchbacks in December 2020. Name: Lamar Batista Jersey number: 14 Position: Defender Age: 23 Height: 6-5 Country: United States About Batista: Batista is in his first season with the Switchbacks. he played one season of college soccer for UC Santa Barbara in 2016. He signed with the United Soccer League side Portland Timbers 2 in March 2017. In February 2019, Batista signed with the MLS Los Angeles FC and spent the majority of the season on loan to the Phoenix Rising FC in the USL Championship and FC Tucson in USL League One. He played for North Texas SC in the USL League One in 2020. Name: Philip Mayaka Jersey number: 20 Position: Midfielder Age: 20 Height: 5-7 Country: Kenya About Mayaka: Mayaka was selected third overall in the 2021 MLS SuperDraft out of Clemson University. In 2019, he was named the ACC Freshman of the Year and was a semifinalist for the MAC Hermann Trophy, awarded annually to the top men’s and women’s college soccer players. He was a key part of Clemson’s 2020 ACC Tournament championship squad. Name: Dillon Serna Jersey number: 23 Position: Midfielder Age: 27 Height: 5-7 Country: United States About Serna: Serna is in his first season with the Switchbacks. He joined the U.S. Soccer Development Academy with the Colorado Rapids’ academy in 2009. After graduating from Horizon High School in Thornton, he played one year of college soccer for the University of Arizona. He signed with the Rapids as a homegrown player in January 2013. Serna made his MLS debut in a 3–0 loss to the Vancouver Whitecaps in the 2013 regular season finale. He scored his first professional MLS goal on April 26, 2014, in a 4–1 loss to the Seattle Sounders. He played with the Rapids through 2019 and appeared in 105 matches, scoring nine goals. In 2020, the MLS veteran signed with USL Championship side Sporting Kansas City II. Name: Bienvenue Kanakimana Jersey number: 25 Position: Forward Age: 21 Height: 5-9 Country: Burundi About Kanakimana: Kanakimana is his first season with the Switchbacks after playing primarily in his home country of Burundi since 2018. In 2019, he was loaned to the USL Championships Atlanta United II for the remainder of the season. Kanakimana played professionally in Austria and China in 2020. In September 2019, Kanakimana was called into the Burundi national team for its 2022 World Cup qualifiers against Tanzania. Name: Sebastian Anderson Jersey number: 27 Position: Defender Age: 18 Height: 5-9 Country: United States About Anderson: Anderson is in his

first season with the Switchbacks on loan from the MLS Colorado Rapids. He appeared in six games for the Rapids in 2019 and scored one goal. He was previously on loan to the Switchbacks in 2019 and 2020. Anderson played for Real Colorado’s academy from 2012 to 2017. He joined the Rapids Academy in 2017. On April 3, 2019, Anderson signed a homegrown player contract with the Rapids, becoming the youngest homegrown signing in club history. Anderson has played for both the United States U-15 national team and United States U-17 national team and was a member of the 2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup team in Brazil. Name: Abraham Rodriguez Jersey number: 28 Position: Goalkeeper Age: 18 Height: 5-9 Country: United States About Rodriguez: Rodriguez returns to the Switchbacks for his third season. He appeared in 21 USL Championship games over the previous two years. The Colorado Rapids Homegrown product made his Switchbacks’ debut March 30, 2019, against Phoenix Rising. In that match, Rodriguez made 11 saves, including a penalty, and was named the USL Championship Player of the Week, becoming the second-youngest player to earn the award. The 18-year-old from Thornton also earned recognition as one of the USL Championship’s top 20 U-20 in 2019. Name: Matt Hundley Jersey number: 29 Position: Forward Age: 20 Height: 5-10 Country: United States About Hundley: Hundley is back for his second stint with the Switchbacks after joining the club on loan in 2019 from the MLS Colorado Rapids. He made 29 appearances for the Switchbacks in 2019 and scored one goal. A graduate of Arapahoe High School in Centennial, he spent the 2020 season on loan to Memphis 901 FC in the USL Championship, scoring two goals in 10 appearances. Hundley was the 10th Rapids Academy product to sign a Homegrown contract with the Colorado Rapids in January 2019. He played one season of college soccer for UCLA in 2018, scoring five goals in 19 matches. Name: Andrew Pannenberg Jersey number: 30 Position: Goalkeeper Age: 22 Height: 6-3 Country: United States About Pannenberg: Pannenberg was the 49th overall selection in the 2021 MLS SuperDraft. He was the second goalkeeper taken in the draft. He played three seasons at Wake Forest University, recording 79 saves and 13 clean sheets in 32 appearances for the Demon Deacons. Name: Deshane Beckford Jersey number: 31 Position: Forward Age: 22 Height: 5-9 Country: Jamaica About Beckford: Beckford is on loan to the Switchbacks from Montego Bay United. He began his career with Montego Bay of the Red Stripe Premier League in Jamaica and scored three goals in 11 appearances during the 2018-19 season. He spent 2019 and 2020 with Rio Grande Valley FC after joining

Sunday, May 16, 2021

the Toros on loan in late 2019. In 22 USL Championship games, he has recorded three goals and an assist. The winger joined the Jamaican U-23 squad at the 2019 Pan American Games where he scored three goals in three matches. Name: Michael Edwards Jersey number: 34 Position: Defender Age: 20 Height: 6-3 Country: United States About Edwards: Edwards is in his first season with the Switchbacks after being on loan from the MLS Colorado Rapids. He came to the Switchbacks from German side VFL Wolfsburg after Colorado acquired his Homegrown Priority from D.C. United. He made 14 appearances for Wolfsburg’s U-19s before being promoted to Wolfsburg II in the Regionalliga Nord, the German fourth tier, in July 2019. Edwards made 17 appearances for the reserve side, all of them starts, and also trained with Wolfsburg’s Bundesliga squad during his time with the club. Name: Jordan Burt Jersey number: 44 Position: Defender Age: 30 Height: 6-1 Country: United States About Burt: Burt, along with Argueta, are the only players on the Switchbacks from the club’s inaugural 2015 squad. Burt has made the most appearances in club history with 155 and is three goals shy of the franchise record for most goals with the club in all competitions with 27. He is the team captain. Burt played five years of college soccer for Butler University from 2009-13. While at college, he appeared for various USL PDL clubs, including Real Colorado Foxes. In 2014, he signed with the North American Soccer League club Carolina RailHawks, where he appeared in seven matches. Name: Tristan Hodge Jersey number: 55 Position: Defender Age: 26 Height: 6-0 Country: Trinidad and Tobago About Hodge: Hodge is in his first season with the Switchbacks. From 2015-21, he was with W Connection Football Club, a club from Trinidad and Tobago which plays in the TT Pro League. After two seasons on loan to USL Championship side Memphis 901 FC, Hodge moved permanently to the Switchbacks in January of this year. Name: Andre Lewis Jersey number: 77 Position: Midfielder Age: 26 Height: 5-10½ Country: Jamaica About Lewis: Lewis is in his second season with the Switchbacks, having appeared in 11 matches in 2020. Lewis began his career with Cavalier and later played for Jamaican club Portmore United before being spotted by MLS scouts and was entered in the 2014 MLS SuperDraft, where he was selected in the first round (seventh overall) by the Vancouver Whitecaps FC. He was loaned to Vancouver’s USL Pro affiliate Charleston Battery. He has played in 128 professional games and was a member of Jamaica’s senior national team versus Honduras in February 2017.

DANNY SUMMERS, THE GAZETTE

THE GAZETTE

WEIDNER FIELD SWITCHBACKS SCHEDULE MAY

May 1 (Saturday): Away Opponent: San Antonio FC When: 6:30 p.m. May 14 (Friday): Away Opponent: Sporting Kansas City II When: 6 p.m. May 21 (Friday): Home Opponent: New Mexico United When: 7 p.m.

JUNE

June 5 (Saturday): Home Opponent: San Antonio FC When: 6 p.m. June 12 (Saturday): Away Opponent: El Paso Locomotive FC When: 7:30 p.m. June 16 (Wednesday): Home Opponent: Tacoma Defiance When: 7 p.m. June 22 (Tuesday): Away Opponent: Austin Bold FC When: 7 p.m. June 25 (Friday): Home Opponent: New Mexico United

When: 7 p.m. JULY

July 1 (Thursday): Home Opponent: Orange County FC When: 7 p.m. July 4 (Sunday): Home Opponent: Real Monarchs SLC When: 6:30 p.m. July 9 (Friday): Away Opponent: New Mexico United When: 7:30 p.m. July 17 (Saturday): Home Opponent: San Antonio FC When: 12 p.m. July 23 (Friday): Home Opponent: Louisville City FC When: 7 p.m. July 31 (Saturday): Away Opponent: Loudon United FC When: 5 p.m.

AUGUST

Aug. 4 (Wednesday): Away Opponent: Austin Bold FC When: 7 p.m. Aug. 7 (Saturday): Home Opponent: Hartford Athletic

When: 7 p.m. Aug. 10 (Tuesday): Away Opponent: Memphis 901 FC When: 6 p.m. Aug. 14 (Saturday): Away Opponent: Rio Grande Valley FC When: 6 p.m. Aug. 21 (Saturday): Away Opponent: Charlotte Independence When: 5 p.m. Aug. 28 (Saturday): Home Opponent: Austin Bold FC When: 7 p.m. SEPTEMBER

Sept. 4 (Saturday): Away Opponent: New Mexico United When: 7:30 p.m. Sept. 8 (Wednesday): Home Opponent: Real Monarchs SLC When: 7 p.m. Sept. 11 (Saturday): Home Opponent: Rio Grande Valley FC When: 7 p.m. Sept. 15 (Wednesday): Home Opponent: El Paso Locomotive FC When: 7 p.m.

Sept. 18 (Saturday): Away Opponent: Rio Grande Valley FC When: 6 p.m. Sept. 25 (Saturday): Home Opponent: Austin Bold FC When: 6 p.m. OCTOBER

Oct. 2 (Saturday): Home Opponent: El Paso Locomotive FC When: 6 p.m. Oct. 8 (Friday): Away Opponent: Real Monarchs SLC When: 7 p.m. Oct. 13 (Wednesday): Away Opponent: El Paso Locomotive FC When: 7 p.m. Oct. 16 (Saturday): Home Opponent: Rio Grande Valley FC When: 6 p.m. Oct. 22 (Friday): Away Opponent: Real Monarchs SLC When: 7 p.m. Oct. 30 (Saturday): Away Opponent: San Antonio FC When: 6:30 p.m. Note: all games on 1300 AM, all home games on Fox 21

COURTESY OF THE COLORADO SPRINGS SWITCHBACKS FC

Switchbacks midfielder Jose Torres is in his first season with the team.

WELCOMING ANOTHER WORLD-CLASS FACILITY TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD!

4 Minute Walk East from Weidner Field | 514 S Tejon Street 14

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Sunday, May 16, 2021

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WEIDNER FIELD D2 soccer finals to be here Switchbacks, Rapids forge ties BY DANNY SUMMERS

danny.summers@gazette.com

Weidner Field will be the host site of the NCAA Division II men’s and women’s national soccer championships, Dec. 9-11. It is the first time in nearly 15 years that Colorado Springs will host NCAA championships of any kind. The original announcement was made in September 2019 by Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference officials in conjunction with the Colorado Springs Sports Corp. and the Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC. The bid was secured in large part when the city of Colorado Springs announced plans to build the new 8,000-seat downtown stadium known as Weidner Field. The Switchbacks christened the $30 million facility April 24 with a friendly against Orange County SC. “We’re excited about hosting what should be a great event,” said Switchbacks club president Nick Ragain. “This is a great facility and I think a lot of people will be very impressed.”

Weidner Field was originally planned to open in 2020, but delays moved the opening to this spring. Funding was secured without the use of city tax money, according to Colorado Springs mayor John Suthers. “Without this stadium, we would not be poised to welcome an event of this caliber to our city,” the mayor said of the NCAA championships. There were no NCAA soccer championships in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Tampa, Fla., was supposed to be the host city. The 2019 championships were held in Pittsburgh. The University of Colorado at Colorado Springs women’s team advanced to the national semifinals in 2017 when the event was held in Kansas City. Weidner Field will also be the host site for a Premier Lacrosse League five-game weekend series July 30 to Aug. 1. The most recent NCAA championship event in the Pikes Peak region was the 2006 rifle championships hosted by the Air Force Academy.

Pikes Peak Rush Under New Management Pikes Peak Rush Under New Management

BY DANNY SUMMERS

danny.summers@gazette.com

The Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC and Colorado Rapids are in the final year of their partnership. The agreement, which has been in place since October 2018, allows the Major League Soccer’s Rapids to provide, or loan, the Switchbacks four to five players per season for the entirety of the campaign. The Switchbacks are a member of the United Soccer League Championship, the second tier of the American soccer pyramid. Both organizations are separate. “There can still be short-term loans throughout the season as well if the Rapids ever wanted to get a player some game time,” Switchbacks media relations director Cody Costra said. “The affiliation also allows the Switchbacks to use some of the Rapids scouting networks in order to find more players.” In March, the Rapids sent five players to the Switchbacks: goalkeeper Abraham Rodriguez, defenders Sebastian

Anderson and Michael Edwards, midfielder Philip Mayaka and forward Matt Hundley. Under the terms of the loan agreement, the Rapids retain the right to recall the players at any point during the remainder of the MLS regular season, subject to all MLS roster compliance guidelines. On April 24, the Rapids recalled Anderson. Rodriguez, Anderson and Hundley came up through the Rapids Academy and signed Homegrown contracts with the organization. Mayaka was the Rapids’ first pick (third-overall selection) in the 2021 MLS SuperDraft. Similar to baseball and hockey, much of what happens for non-major league sports teams is dependent on the needs of the big club. Thus, if the Rapids are healthy and winning, the Switchbacks will likely get a fluid stream of high-level players. If the Rapids have depleted talent, the Switchbacks might not get the same caliber of players.

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE COLORADO SPRINGS SWITCHBACKS ON THE OPENING OF WEIDNER FIELD!

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THE GAZETTE

WEIDNER FIELD

Food for game day — and beyond BY TERESA FARNEY

teresa.farney@gazette.com

hen the season starts at Weidner Field downtown, fans won’t have to worry about noshing options. Between Levy Restaurants and independent vendors, there will be plenty of options. In addition to regular seating, the new stadium will have three clubs with separately priced seating, each with its own food options. Ticket holders to the Field Club will have seats on the ground floor, opening to the field, and will be able to see the team as it enters to play. The Founders Club is on the second floor, with an open-air view of the playing field; it seats about 700. The premium Sky Club has a 240-person capacity and is on the third floor, with sweeping views of Pikes Peak on the west side of the room and view of the

GETTY IMAGES

soccer field on the east side of the room. Another option for dining during

This isn’t just a museum. This is the home of greatness. Take part. Get tickets at usopm.org. 16

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Sunday, May 16, 2021

the games is in several cabanas. Half of them are for 22 people, and half for 12 people. Food packages for each size group are available, or attendees can order off an a la carte menu. Food for cabanas is for preordering before game day. Amy Parrott is the executive chef for the Colorado Springs Switchbacks team. With more than a dozen years as an executive chef for Levy Restaurants, she has run the dining operations at stadiums across the country. We recently toured Weidner’s massive kitchen and got a look at what’s planned. Hungry fans with tickets for the Field Club and The Founders Club will have accesses to a full bar and grab-and-go food such as salads and fruits. The Sky Club will have a Chef ’s Table buffet, full bar and table seating. This won’t be an ordinary buffet, though. “I’m planning to have an heirloom tomato carving station with fresh mozzarella and basil and flambé doughnuts for dessert with hot sauce,” Parrott gave as examples. Levy Restaurants makes an effort to source local foods when possible. For instance, for Parrott’s green chili burger, she will get peppers from Pueblo’s Di Santi Farms and Milberger Farms. Of course, there will be hot dogs. “Our hot dogs will always be all-beef Ball Park links,” she said. “For brats, I am going to use Continental Sausage out of Denver.” Ordering and paying can be done by phone and is available to all ticket

holders. “You won’t have to leave your seat,” she said. “You can place your order, pay for it, and runners will bring your food to you.” General-seating ticket holders will find food at four portable stations located at bars for Coors Beer, New Belgium Beer Garden, Bristol Beer Co. and White Claw Hard Seltzer. There’s a pizza oven near Coors Beer, and there are independent food vendors at the north end of the field. “We’ve got Cowgirl Kettle Corn and Cool Beads,” she said. “Cool Beads are like Dippin’ Dots ice cream. There will be about four different venders, including one that makes a walking burrito. It’s all the burrito fillings in a bowl.” So fear not, there is something for everyone to eat while watching the soccer game or attending other events at Weidner Field. Looking for a space to have a party, wedding, fundraiser or other celebrations? The stadium offers functional spaces for banquets, receptions, meetings and conferences. Parrott and her culinary team will be there to assist with your catering needs.

“You won’t have to leave your seat. You can place your order, pay for it, and runners will bring your food to you.”

Amy Parrott, executive chef for Colorado Springs Switchbacks team

ALWAYS IN YOUR CORNER Congratulations To Our Members Switchbacks FC, Weidner Apartment Homes, GE Johnson, LNBusiness Consulting, and Springs Fabrication

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Image Courtesy of Switchbacks FC Sunday, May 16, 2021

THE GAZETTE

Public

Art

Weidner Field art enhances neighborhood

CHRISTIAN MURDOCK, THE GAZETTE

Joel Currey, center, and Patrick Curley, right, help unveil 10 LeRoy Neiman pieces of art on the side of the new Weidner Field on April 2 in downtown Colorado Springs. The sports-oriented artwork by the internationally known artist was given to the city as a gift from the LeRoy Neiman Foundation and Weidner Apartment Homes. The grand opening of the new soccer stadium and home of the Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC is May 21.

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Sunday, May 16, 2021

WEIDNER FIELD NE

OUTS UB TRY L C R E S SOCC

! y a d o t p u n Sig W

R ADO W COLO

SPRING

E N a s ’ T her e

B U L C R E C C SO in town!

CHRISTIAN MURDOCK, THE GAZETTE

People snap pictures of the “Epicenter” sculpture April 23 at Weidner Field before the $4.5 million sculpture at the entrance to the soccer stadium was unveiled to an invited crowd.

STORY BY JENNIFER MULSON jen.mulson@gazette.com

ublic art is a boon to a neighborhood and a city. The works are a gift to the city from Springs native and Wasson High School graduate Dean Weidner, founder of Weidner Apartment Homes, which also holds naming rights to the stadium and is a part-owner of the Switchbacks and the venue. “The stadium has large walls that could be terrible or a magnet for graffiti,” said Greg Cerbana, Weidner’s vice president of public relations. “As a formerly blighted area of the city it was important for us to add to the culture there, not only commercial activity, but open spaces the public can come and enjoy.” According to the nonprofit Americans for the Arts, public art is essential when a city wants to make economic progress. Data proves active and dynamic cultural scenes are more attractive to people and businesses. And strong

public art also can help a city stand out, giving its community a stronger sense of place and identity. “Public art can create civic icons,” reported the organization on its website, “but it also can transform our playgrounds, train stations, traffic circles, hospitals, water treatment facilities and airports into more vibrant expressions of human imagination.” Being as the Springs is Olympic City, USA, Weidner Apartment Homes saw an opportunity to partner with the LeRoy Neiman Foundation. Neiman was the official artist for five Olympic Games, where he painted top athletes competing in their events. Among the stadium’s murals are homages to skiing, tennis, the ‘84 Olympics, cycling, running, swimming, track and, of course, soccer. “What better way to use the side of a stadium than to celebrate

sports and its different flavors?” Cerbana said. “It’s a really good cross section of images that represent Neiman’s work.” Towering over the murals is the 35-foot tall “Epicenter.” It weighs more than 164,000 pounds, stretches more than 65 feet in diameter and has multicolor LED lights inset into its rings that will flash at strategic moments. Weidner asked the sculpture’s development team to be forward-thinking and consider the anticipated growth of the Springs, along with the city’s focus on U.S. Space Command, the military and the Olympics. The public art piece was designed and manufactured locally at Springs Fabrication, the company responsible for “Continuum,” the Julie Penrose fountain in America the Beautiful Park. “The word he used was aspirational,” Cerbana SEE ART • PAGE 20

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THE GAZETTE

WEIDNER FIELD ART FROM PAGE 19

said. “What he saw on the horizon for Colorado Springs was unlimited potential. He wanted people to see what the Springs has to offer.” Stepping stones on the sidewalk out front were designed to give people different heights to take photos of themselves, and a gently sloping sidewalk that mimics a switchback, which you might find on a hiking trail, will assist those with disabilities when they enter the stadium. “We believe this will be one of the premier places in Colorado Springs where visitors will want to come and look at and engage,” Cerbana said.

CHRISTIAN MURDOCK, THE GAZETTE

The 35-foot-tall, 65-foot-diameter “Epicenter” sculpture stands at the entrance to Weidner Field on April 23.

William J. Hybl Sports Medicine and Performance Center

Colorado Springs Switchbacks

WHERE YOUR BEST BREAKS THROUGH. No matter your age or activity level, our world-class performance specialists are here to help you maximize your potential. Call 719.776.4295 to learn more.

H Y B LC E N T E R .O R G Centura Health does not discriminate against any person on the basis of race, color, national origin, disability, age, sex, religion, creed, ancestry, sexual orientation, and marital status in admission, treatment, or participation in its programs, services and activities, or in employment. For further information about this policy contact Centura Health’s Office of the General Counsel at 1-303-673-8166 (TTY: 711). Copyright © Centura Health, 2021. ATENCIÓN: Si habla español, tiene a su disposición servicios gratuitos de asistencia lingüística. Llame al 1-303-673-8166 (TTY: 711). CHÚ Ý: Nếu bạn nói Tiếng Việt, có các dịch vụ hỗ trợ ngôn ngữ miễn phí dành cho bạn. Gọi số 1-303-673-8166 (TTY: 711).

THE GAZETTE

Sunday, May 16, 2021

The 35-foot-tall, 65-foot-diameter “Epicenter” sculpture is unveiled April 23. The $4.5 million sculpture at the entrance to the soccer stadium weighs 164,000 pounds and was designed by the local firm Springs Fabrication.

Guests tour the new Weidner Field on April 23 in downtown Colorado Springs.

CHRISTIAN MURDOCK, THE GAZETTE

LIVE WHERE THE SWITCHBACKS CALL HOME

Retreat at Austin Bluffs

Elements at Briargate

Weidner is proud to partner with the Switchbacks on their 2021 run for the Cup!

Welcome Home! Colorado.Weidner.com Sunday, May 16, 2021

THE GAZETTE

WEIDNER FIELD

Switchbacks store has what you need Shop at Weidner Field BY DANNY SUMMERS

danny.summers@gazette.com

The Colorado Springs Switchbacks Team Store is now in the same site as the team’s dazzling new downtown home. Located at 111 W. Cimarron St., near Sierra Madre Street, the store offers a wide selection of soccer merchandise, new Switchbacks team jerseys, Switchbacks stuffed bears, hats, scarfs, vuvuzelas, the plastic horns that make soccer’s distinctive sound, and other

SWITCH GEAR

cool team swag. Custom jerseys can be ordered. The store is a leading top-of-the-line merchandise supply shop for the rabid fan to the curious onlooker and everyone in between. “It’s nice having the team store in the same location as the stadium,” said Switchbacks spokesman Cody Costra. “I think you’re going to see a lot more fans wearing Switchbacks gear.” The store is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. It is also open on game days. Call 719-368-8480 for more information. STORE HOURS

Address: 111 W. Cimarron St., Colorado Springs, CO 80903 (downtown at the corner of Cimarron Street and Sierra Madre Street) Phone: 719-368-8480

Monday: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The drawstring Switchbacks bag is $15 at the Weidner Field store.

dreams are a

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THE GAZETTE

PHOTOS FROM WEIDNERFIELD.COM

Switchback stuffed bears are $18 each at the Switchbacks store at Weidner Field.

Sunday, May 16, 2021

Switchbacks hats are $25 at the store at Weidner Field.

WEIDNER FIELD

Stadium deemed among best music venues BY AMANDA HANCOCK

amanda.hancock@gazette.com

With the opening of the Switchbacks stadium, downtown Colorado Springs is also scoring a new music venue. And this stadium’s capacity for concerts is triple that of the former Weidner Field, setting the space up to fill a hole in the landscape of local music venues. Without coronavirus restrictions, the downtown stadium can host as many as 15,000 people compared to 5,000 people at the former location. That’s a larger capacity than The Broadmoor World Arena and the kind of number that can draw big-name artists, says executive vice president James Ragain. “I think it’s huge for the community,” he said. “It puts the Springs on the map as far as where artists want to go.” The venue’s first big concert will feature country stars Justin Moore and Chris Janson on May 29 and will be limited to 50% capacity. Ragain said a few more concerts will be announced this season. In future years, he expects the stadium to host at least one concert per month from May to September. Ragain, who is responsible for booking, says live music has been an integral part of the stadium’s business plan. “Part of it is we have this new expensive stadium,” he said. “The idea is, ‘Let’s make more money so we can pay back everybody and do well and keep doing well.’” The idea is also to bring top entertainers to town. And, in doing so, build up the local music scene. “I think the Springs loses so many entertainment dollars to Denver,” Ragain said. “It’s important we keep entertainment dollars here.” The new stadium will follow the momentum of its previous location, which hosted acts such as Granger Smith and Scotty McCreery. “A big part of is genre,” he said. “We’re hitting it hard with country. They’re easy to work with and a lot less expensive.” He’s also booking Latin artists and some in the pop or rock genres. Affordability is important. For example, tickets for the upcoming Justin Moore concert start at $15. “With the size of our venue, we have

COURTESY PHOTO

Country singer Justin Moore will perform at Weidner Field on May 29. the volume so we can drive down ticket prices,” Ragain said. “And we can still get well-known artists.” Because they can move the stage based on concert capacity, Ragain says the stadium will always be able to offer an “intimate experience.” And there are multiple seating options, including a pit directly in front of the stage, indoor VIP areas, general admission floor sections and stadium seats. Upon arrival, Ragain says concert-goers can expect ease and efficiency. Part of the venue’s state-of-the-art technology includes touchless and cashless transactions for tickets and concessions. “The best part is the beer is accessible,” Ragain said. Cans of beer, for example, will be available at several grab-and-go stations. Patrons will be able to order food and drinks via an app on their

phones. So far, Ragain’s biggest issue has been losing artists to bigger cities or other venues. “What I hope in the future is artists can play at Red Rocks or Seven Peaks Festival and then play here,” he said. “I believe our market will be supportive enough that we can do that. If we can become our own kind of destination, then we can bring in really great concerts.” The outdoor soccer stadium has something special going for it. “We’re really on the steps of Pikes Peak,” Ragain said. “You have this amazing mountain view.” And, you’re within steps of the heart of Colorado Springs. “People will want to go to dinner before the event and after the event go the bars,” Ragain said. “It’s that downtown experience that will make this successful and a place people want to go.”

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE

Kelly Lynn Janson, left, and Chris Janson arrive at the 51st annual Academy of Country Music Awards at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on April 3, 2016, in Las Vegas. Janson will perform at Weidner Field on May 29. Sunday, May 16, 2021

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www.olsonph.com 24

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Sunday, May 16, 2021

PROUD FOUNDING SPONSOR OF THE SWITCHBACKS AND WEIDNER FIELD