Inside Arvada

Inside Apex Park and Recreation District

• City of Arvada • Episode 49

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Katie Groke and Monica Bowser from Apex Park and Recreation District join us to talk about the various facilities and programs offered by Apex. They explain how Apex and the City of Arvada often work together, and how our two organizations also serve separate roles for the community. 

Included in this episode: 

  • All about Apex Park and Recreation District, including funding, district boundaries and leadership
  • What services the City provides (parks, trails and outdoor recreation) vs. what Apex provides (recreation centers and programming)
  • The Apex Activated podcast that Katie and Monica host 
  • A quick rundown of Apex facilities and programming highlights including camps, leagues, classes, and active adult options 
  • Puzzle Hustle explained and why it has a fan culture 
  • New and upcoming projects like the outdoor archery range at the Apex Center
  • How a 1999 IGA signed between Apex and the City established how the two organization work together 

News and upcoming events:

Visit us at arvadaco.gov/podcast or email us at podcast@arvada.org.

Welcome And Guest Introductions

SPEAKER_00

Hello and welcome to Inside Arvada, the official podcast of the City of Arvada. I'm Sean Starr, one of your co-hosts. Thank you so much for listening to today's episode. And we have a really fun one on deck with our friends from the uh Apex Park and Recreation District, Katie Groke and Monica Bowser. Katie is the director of community services and has been with Apex for nearly 10 years. She was born and raised in Arvada. She's a soccer player, married with two kids, and took a non-traditional route to her career in Parks and Rec. I guess maybe we'll find out a little bit later what that means. Monica is the community services and marketing manager for Apex. She's been with Apex for four years. She was also born and raised here in Arvada. She's married to a fellow Apex employee with two kids. Even one of her kids works for Apex as well. So she's Apex through and through. And she is a new grandma. As always, I'm joined by my co-host, Katie Patterson. Hi, Katie.

SPEAKER_06

Hey, Sean. Yeah, I'm really excited for Katie and Monica to be here. Thanks for joining us today.

SPEAKER_04

Are you regretting the decision to have us on a side? No, no. I mean, just we're like, okay. We already said. I promise I won't cuss. That's gonna be a big one. It's gonna be a big one. We'll work on it. We'll work on it. Okay. We're gonna do it. Yeah, it'll be fun. It's gonna be a fun time. Okay.

How Katie And Monica Found Apex

SPEAKER_06

So you all are gonna help explain a little bit more about Apex programming, all that jazz, um, and your podcast. You also have Apex activated. So before we get there, tell us a little bit more about each of yourselves and what you do.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, so Monica and I just love working at Apex. We have so much fun together. Um, so yeah, I'm born and raised call uh Arvada native. I graduated from Arvada West High School. I played soccer, went to the University of Wyoming and played soccer. I don't play anymore. We tried to play at Apex, the field house. And when one of my girlfriends uh tore her Achilles, I was like, and we're done. We played through pregnancies, we played through, and I was like, and we're done. So we haven't played for a few years now, but um so yeah, we yeah, uh we joke that the community services department at Apex is a little bit of everything. Um, but it does include marketing and the Apex Activated podcast, which we love doing. Um, but I did take a non-traditional route to parks and recreation. Like parks and recreation is like a really um tight-knit community and industry. And some people were like lifeguards at 16 and now are retiring from the industry, and like others kind of like pop in and out. So I um have a background in community organizing and I kind of came from the advocacy world um and stumbled upon parks and recreation. It's been so fun, and Apex, it's been kind of nice to come home and be at Apex. So it's been fun.

SPEAKER_01

Uh, same here. I took a very non-traditional route. I spent most of my career at Jeff CO Public Schools. Uh, loved it, loved being with the kids. I think the thing that drew me to Apex was community. The schools was all about community, Apex was community, and I wanted to try something creative and fun. And the position came open with Katie and I applied. And I love, I say I get to do the fun in Apex for our community. They all get to do fun, they do the sports, but I get to do like the marketing, the social media. Um, we call it the hype club. So we hype up our staff members, and really it's just all the things that I would want in a job is what I get to do. Very cool, very fun.

SPEAKER_06

Promoting all of the fun things. It's like Sean's job. He gets all the fun things. Yes, yeah. John, cheers.

SPEAKER_00

Yes, all the serious stuff.

The Apex Activated Podcast Origin

SPEAKER_05

Yeah, oh yeah, yeah, yeah. Yes. Yep, yeah, yep.

SPEAKER_00

As we mentioned, you have a podcast as well. I think you were before us, maybe by like maybe a few months or something like that. We didn't copy you, it was just an idea that we had kind of brewing.

SPEAKER_04

But yeah, oh, you can copy us as well.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, and so this is kind of like another cross-up for crossover episode that we're doing. Tell us about Apex Activated, how you can listen to it, what sort of guests you have on, and the format. Um, hint it's a little bit uh looser than our sort of traditional format here computer.

SPEAKER_01

We're pretty cash, we're pretty cash. We uh started Apex Activated about two years ago. Um I my mom works for Ramos Law, and we went and visited one day, and they showed us their podcast studio, and I was like, you should interview my boss. She's really great, she has a fun background. So Katie went on the podcast. I went with her, and we got in the car after, and she's like, I've always wanted to do a podcast. I'm like, okay, what are we doing? Let's do it then. So we met with the guys at Ramos. They taught us everything we know, which was basically here's an Amazon list of what to buy. And we proposed it to Jeff Glenn, and he was so excited. And he was like, Yeah, I've always wanted you guys to do a podcast, and this is great, and approved it. We started it, and it's been kind of just this like train that has been going.

SPEAKER_04

We joke that it's the Parks and Recreation Podcast. It has nothing to do with parks and recreation.

SPEAKER_01

Right. When we started, we were like, we're gonna interview all parks and rec people and get the word out. And really what we came to find out is everybody has a story and they all just want to tell it. And so we've expanded it to we've had the mayor on, we had an influencer on, we've had staff on. We just anyone and everyone, you want to tell your story, come on and tell it.

SPEAKER_04

It's been fun to like when we're in the public, like running across someone or like meeting someone that has a cool story and we're like, do you want to talk about it? Yeah. And then we found that people just don't get asked to tell their story very often. So when they're given the opportunity to share their experience, it like opens this floodgate. And it's been really fun because you would never know about people's history or their past or what they're currently doing if you don't ask. And so it's been it's been fun, but it is funny because there are other parks and recreation podcasts that are really like talk about the industry and like trends, and we're like, tell us about where you're from.

SPEAKER_03

Right, tell us about your boyfriend, tell us about your boyfriend.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, like we're we're so yeah, and we cry a lot on the podcast. She means monitoring. I cry for Katie. Yeah. Uh-huh. Yeah. There's just the people's stories are so and I love hearing them and hearing where they came from. And we did a crossover with Reckless podcast, and it was so funny because they had all these questions about Apex, and we were like, Really? No, we're just saying those. We're actually gonna talk about like tell us about your wives and why you, how do you guys know each other? And what do you do on the weekends? I don't think they knew what hit them.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah. But also it all goes back to parks and recreation. Like, what did you do as a kid? Like, did you play sports when you were a kid, or did you go to your rec center, or did you do you have a favorite park now with your dog or your kids? And it always goes back to at some point in their lives, they've had a positive experience with whatever their version of parks and recreation is. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06

And what a like a different spin on what is inherently parks and recreation and community building, right? Like you're just doing community building through that podcast. Two pieces of pot over here.

SPEAKER_01

100%. 100%. 100%. One of the questions we ask, we ask uh four questions, same questions to every guest at the end of our podcast. One of them is what is the last thing you did for yourself? And it's the hardest question for everybody. Yeah. But it always is like, oh, well, I took a workout class, or oh, I did this for myself. So again, it brings you back to community and personality.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I really enjoyed the episodes like with some of the folks that work with the city, right? Like the mayor and learning kind of some of her story and even Jeff Glenn.

SPEAKER_04

She has the most fascinating childhood. Like, who knew she has all this movie memory in her basement? I'm like, I still haven't seen it, but I gotta go see it.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I think formal council member um was on there as well. And so it's just certainly room for both podcasts in the community here. And so for any of our listeners who haven't checked it out, we highly encourage you to subscribe and and follow along and stay with you. It's a journey. Yeah.

What Apex Is And How It’s Funded

SPEAKER_06

Yeah, yeah. We love it. Okay, so let's talk a little bit more about Apex. We've talked about it before on the show, like the differences between the city and Apex, some a lot of overlap in some of the things that we do. But but what is Apex? How are you different from the city? How do we work together?

SPEAKER_04

Yeah. Well, first and foremost, we love working with you guys. We have such a historical relationship, and it's it's in every facet, it's been we love it. Um so Apex is a special district. So we are um partly funded by property taxes, partly funded by user fees. Um we're not the city, we're not the county, we're our own thing. We report up to an elected board just like a city council. Um they are elected, and so um we are quasi-governmental, is what they consider us, but um we are the provider of the active recreation in the city of Arvada and unincorporated Jefferson County. Um, so we do spill over into parts that aren't within the city limits. Um, and we've always said like super uh handshake agreement with the city, like you all do passive recreation and we do active recreation. So the way that we look at it is that you all manage most of the green spaces and the outdoor like trails and parks and things like that, and we um operate the rec centers and the more programming side of recreation in the city of Arvada. And it's always worked. We were, you know, we were founded, uh this is our 70th year, so we're gonna celebrate our 70th birthday in November. So excited. So fun.

SPEAKER_01

Just some big things planned.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah. So we were founded by a group of citizens that wanted a swimming pool because there was a drowning in the creek, and so um they created this special district, and that's that's our history.

SPEAKER_02

I did not know that.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00

I feel like Hillary, we had Hillary on Rosa's. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think I'm pronouncing her name correctly. Um and then she mentioned that. That's how it was founded.

SPEAKER_02

So you're also spoiling one of my trivia questions, but we'll go to that.

SPEAKER_05

Oh yay! Okay, okay, okay.

SPEAKER_04

Um, so yeah, so we love working with you all. It's been it's been so fun, and um I think it works for the citizens. And most of the we joke, we joke, especially in communications, like people don't really understand that we're separate, and that's okay because that means that we're getting, you know, they're getting everything that they need, and absolutely. We know who to call if they call one of us and it's not us.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. And so the door is always open. Well, and we worked so well together and sit on so many committees together, which is what I love because it's such a great partnership. You and I sit on Caps Cancel together, and it's great to be able to like bounce ideas off each other and like, okay, how can we help as a partner together?

SPEAKER_06

Yeah, it's being able to kind of see the it's like the little fingers going out, right? And yeah, like, oh, opportunity, or they're doing this really well. Let's try it here. Yeah, or we can actually support that with this resource from the city, that sort of stuff is like you don't make those connections if we aren't having good partnerships. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04

And we're it's all interconnected physically too, which is also really cool. Like the trails connect to the facilities, connect to the sidewalks, connect to the streets, to the neighborhoods. Like it's all we're so physically connected that it works.

A Tour Of Apex Facilities

SPEAKER_00

To the community, it doesn't matter who's managing what facility, right? They just want good opportunities and good services. So tell us a little bit more about all the great facilities that Apex has to offer. I think a lot of folks are probably most familiar with Apex Center there off uh 72nd in Alkire, you know, the two hockey rinks and the giant indoor uh pool and a climbing wall. But there are several other facilities as well throughout the city that folks can check out. Tell us about the facilities, maybe some of the unique amenities that have that some of them have as well.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, so it um it's funny that you say so. We do consider the Apex Center is our flagship center. It's kind of what we're known for, but we do operate 12 facilities in the city of Arvada. Um so we have we always joke that if Apex, if you need it, Apex offers it. So we have a tennis center, we have pools, we have ice arenas, we have art rooms, we have a gymnastics gym, we have, you know, like a warm water pool, we have obviously we have fitness centers, we have fitness classes. Um we have a sauna. If you didn't know, we have a racquet, racquetball, racquetball and fitness. So Rackaball and Fitness Center is the best kept secret in Narvada. Yeah, yeah. I always, it's the staff's favorite gym because it's so quiet. But if you ever wanted a quiet workout space, it has sauna. And there's also racaball courts. There's a sauna in there? Yeah. In the logger rooms. Yeah. It's like 64th and ward-ish. It's like across it's across the street from Fremont. Yeah. Um, so yeah, like if you want it, Apex offers it.

SPEAKER_06

Yeah. That's amazing. Yeah. Yeah. I uh go to the outdoor pools in the summer, and Fitz is my Oh, Fitz is one of my favorites because of the garage door that opens up.

SPEAKER_01

It's great, it's beautiful. Overlooking the park there. And now we are leasing Fitzmorris Elementary for our camp. So it's great.

SPEAKER_06

It's always busy, activated. Yes, activating the community.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, we're offering the Les Mills classes at FitzMorris now, too. So if you wanted to try a new fitness class, Fitzmorse is where it's at. It's really cool. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06

Um, I've seen those offered, but I don't know what they are.

SPEAKER_04

It's like Body Pump and I can remember that my lot of HIIT classes that you would like to think of.

Programs From Camps To Puzzle Hustle

SPEAKER_06

Yes, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yep. Yeah. Okay. Well, that's a great segue. What tell us more about some of the different programming that you all offer? Because you do camps, you talked about like there's so much, there's always so much going on. What are maybe like some silence right now or this summer?

SPEAKER_01

We have camps, whether it be summer camp, spring break camp, we have our EDU classes, which are like kids cooking class, silly science, um Lego, uh YouTube, all kinds of fun things for kids. We also have our active adult programming off of 66th and Wadsworth there. I just went there for the first time and I was like, this is huge and amazing. This is huge.

SPEAKER_06

That's another hidden gem.

SPEAKER_01

You don't think it looks big. Pool table, the gym, community space. Puzzles there. Yeah, we have our puzzle hustle that we offer.

SPEAKER_00

That was the one I wanted to ask you about because is that a trivia question?

SPEAKER_01

Did we just both look in? Okay, okay.

SPEAKER_00

I think that's like one of the ones that people may not know about that looks really fun. I've seen some of the videos.

SPEAKER_04

Puzzle hustle is very big right now. It's very big.

SPEAKER_01

We sell t-shirt.

SPEAKER_04

Yes, it's time.

SPEAKER_01

They finish in like 30 minutes.

SPEAKER_04

It's purpose. It's a would you? Yes. Because you think that you would, and then you're not. No, I'm pretty sure. We're okay. We went to the very first one. I'll try it. And we we didn't even finish the one. No, it was terrible.

SPEAKER_01

How big are the puzzles? 500 piece. 30 minutes. 30 minutes. These puzzlers, they do a tailgate beforehand. They dress up all the same. They eat up and parking. Like um stilts to put on their table.

SPEAKER_04

Like they have a kit.

SPEAKER_01

Like it's it's very cameras so they can film themselves to get better the next time. They have lights. They watch them. They rewatch. Yes. They have lights that they put on so they can see it. They have like code words when they all switch so you'll hear them. How many four to a team? This is a future Olympic. No, no. A lot of them do it so then they can go to nationals.

SPEAKER_04

Also, we are practiced for the actual competitions. Yes. And if you start watching puzzling videos, your algorithm will be all puzzled. All puzzling.

SPEAKER_01

We spell t-shirts now. Yeah, t-shirt, we spelled it.

SPEAKER_00

We need like a rec league division, though, for like beginners who aren't going to be able to do that. We have beginners, so you come come to this. It's so much fun. Yes, perfect.

SPEAKER_01

It's one of our favorite events. And I think V, who started an event last year, she was like, okay, puzzle hustle. And now it's one of her favorites. Yeah. Like she she loves it. So we have that. We have crafting, we have glass class, we have pottery. I mean, you name it, we have it. I say the only thing we don't offer is shuffleboard, and that's my 2026 goal is to get shuffleboard.

SPEAKER_04

And we the only thing we don't have. Yes. And we did, I should let the folks know if you are a resident of Apex or not. We did just launch our new registration system through Rec Technologies. So if you haven't yet claimed your account, claim your account. And we are making it even easier to register for these classes. So it's super easy to get online and see what we offer and register. And it's all mobile, yeah. It's on the phone and everything.

SPEAKER_01

We have a cornhole league, we have volleyball leagues, adult leagues, kids' leagues. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Speaking of residents of Orvada, because those folks do pay into the property tax and help fund you, they get discounts on everything, right? On single use and passes.

SPEAKER_04

Almost all of our programming or drop-in admissions is we have resident and non-resident rates.

New Amenities And Trail Connections

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, tell us about maybe some future projects that folks can look forward to. What's kind of on top that um people can get excited about? Maybe some recently completed ones that um have gone over well initially.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, so we're so excited. Um we just recently completed our archery range. So it's behind the Apex Center. It's an outdoor archery range, year-round outdoor archery range. So um, if you haven't yet tried the archery range, come out. We're offering like beginner lessons, drop-in, advanced lessons, everything. So the archer ring is is really cool. I still consider AAC, which was our partnership with you all in the school district. I still consider that to be new. Um, but we have a lot going on. I think there's a lot going on on the horizon.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, new programs coming all the time. One program that I always mention because I don't think a lot of people know about it, yet it sells out every year, is our therapeutic rec musical. They have started practicing for that already. We have a therapeutic rec um program, and they put on a holiday musical every year, and it's the best way to kick off your holidays. It's so amazing. We had it at A West this year, and it was magical. It's very funny.

SPEAKER_06

And it's like a play, or okay, yeah. It's really cool. Yeah. It's really neat. Cool. I didn't know about that one.

SPEAKER_00

I had some friends check out the Archery Range and they said it was amazing. Yeah, they were fits a need that was really uh needed in the community.

SPEAKER_04

It's like the little project that could, it was like our pre-COVID project that got put on hold because of COVID. So to see it actually come to fruition was was really fun for us. It's great.

SPEAKER_06

Can you just like drop in and go do archery?

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, so I should I should say um my mom, Marian, we talk about Marianne a lot. Marianne's like, how do I find the hours? I was like, okay, it's under the Apex Center on our website. So it is a feature of the Apex Center, and all of the hours and programming are listed under the archery range, under the Apex Center.

SPEAKER_06

I would want to take a class, but I was like, if you already knew what you were doing, could you just kind of do offer drop-in?

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, cool. And Kelly is amazing. She's our rec coordinator who runs it. She is great.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04

The other cool thing that's coming up that's pretty cool for residents is that we are working, we got a grant from Jefferson County Open Space, and we are connecting the 72nd to the Ralston Creek Trail through our um parking lot. So there will now be a safe way to walk from the neighborhoods near the Apex Center to the trail. Cool. Right now there's no connection, which is really weird. When the Apex Center was built, none of the neighborhoods existed. And so now you'll be able to safely walk from the neighborhoods to the skate park or to Ralston Creek Trail or to our front door. You won't have to walk through the parking lot anymore. Very cool. So that will be cool. And then we're adding probably next year a new trail out in our area of unincorporated Jefferson County. Um, we have a park, Lori Dana Miller Park. We'll now have a trailhead with a trail over there that will connect to Van Bibber and Ralston Creek through the Fairmount Trail.

SPEAKER_06

Cool. Which is really neat. Can you kind of orient on where that is?

SPEAKER_04

Yeah. So go to um go to your part, Sunrise Ridge Park, which is like 60th and southwest part of the city, right? Yes. Oh, I'm sorry, between Arvada and Golden is like this unincorporated park. Okay. And if you go to Sunrise Ridge Park at like 60th and Easley, that's easy, right? Yeah, easily. And you go west on 60th, that will run you right into the park. Um, the firehouse is right there. It used to be Fairmount, now it's Arvada Fire. The the firehouse is right there. It's right, that's the area. You can't miss it.

SPEAKER_00

I was gonna say city does mostly parks, but there's like two exceptions, right? There's that one, and then Seacrest has its own like park.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, so see, so yeah, so our that's the fun thing about our relationship is like sometimes like you own it and we operate it. Sometimes we own it, sometimes we're leasing it from you. Seacrest is something that we own 100%, is our uh property. So Seacrest Park is owned and operated by the uh Apex Park and Recreation District. And then some of the parks over in unincorporated Jefferson County that the city isn't it's not within the city limits. So we have Apple Meadows Park, Lori Dana Miller Park. Um oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_00

Apple Meadows is the one I was thinking of. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04

Apple Meadows, yeah. It's that is the coolest park. Um, like if you didn't know it was there, it's like super hidden, but it's pretty big. And the Van Bibber trail runs through it completely, which is really neat. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06

I need to go explore that. It's kind of a black hole for me over there a little bit.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, you would not know it's there. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Cool. I have to shout out one more program that is coming up that I'm super excited about, and I completely forgot we didn't talk about this. Uh, we are doing a special event in the summer at Seacrest Outdoor Pool, and it's gonna be build your own boat races. So it'll be teams and they will build their own cardboard boats and they have to paddle across and back. Oh, that's okay. It's not like a motor engineer. No, no, no. They have to build their own boat out of cardboard and it's like cardboard derby, but cardboard boats. Yes. Yeah, so I'm super excited about that. We cannot wait. That's one that we're really from. Yeah, we'd love to get a team from the city to build a boat.

SPEAKER_06

Yeah. Okay, but like children go in the boats, right? No.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, no, no. It could be adults. It can be adults. We built one just to test it out. If you would think we built one to test it out, and we had one of our lifeguards get in it, and she wrote across AAC and back, and it did not sink. It was great. Okay. Are we talking about Samara? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. A lot of duct tape. Yeah. Yeah. So I I mean, City of Arvada. If you want to hear it.

SPEAKER_00

When is that again?

SPEAKER_01

Uh I'll have to look up the date. It is in the summer.

SPEAKER_00

I'll let you guys know.

Misconceptions And How To Navigate

SPEAKER_06

Yeah. Very fun. Okay. So before we go into trivia, last question is always kind of like what we've talked about a lot of misconceptions, but any other info or misconceptions you want to clear up for folks.

SPEAKER_04

I think it's just like who does what. Um not that we ever care that people call the wrong place because we'll get them to the right place, but it's just like the who does what and um the your taxes really are separate. Um, you know, we don't get funding from the city and Apex doesn't fund the city in any way. So it is it is separate and it is contributing to the overall experience for residents.

SPEAKER_06

Yeah. Yeah. And I know like for the like city owned facilities, it's always like, but we need Apex signage to be the focus here because like that's who you go to when you want to access programming for this facility. Like it doesn't make sense for us to be like, but we own it. Like who cares? Yeah. It's always hard when you're building it because you're like, but no, but I'm like, you have to think about it operationally.

SPEAKER_04

And like who's making the phone call from the case?

SPEAKER_06

From a community member perspective. We don't want a bunch of calls to the city about what the operating hours are for the tennis center or the A.

SPEAKER_04

Or why there isn't enough toilet paper in the back. Right, right, right. Like we got you. Like we got you. Sean, we'll take you back. We'll take that. The other two thing, too, is which we I haven't mentioned and I feel terrible about it, but there are three golf courses in the city of Arvada, which I think we're so lucky as residents that we have that much access. Two are owned by the City of Arvada, one is owned by Apex. So Indian Tree is Apex's, and Westwoods and Lake Arbor are the cities. Um so there are a lot of opportunities, and they're all like kind of like different levels, different uh topography. Yeah. Uh um on how you I'm not a big golfer, but um, so there are a lot of opportunities for that too for the residents.

SPEAKER_06

Yeah, I'm not a big golfer either, but my husband is, and so I've done the par three nine hole at Indian Tree is a good starter. Yes.

SPEAKER_03

I like to ride in the cart.

SPEAKER_01

Me too. I drive and I put. I don't even put. I just like to drive and take pictures of people. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Nice.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. Yeah. I think another misconception is that we are not just Apex Center, that we have the 12 facilities total. Yeah, that's it. And we're they're all part of us. Because you'll hear people, we do an active adult information session where we tell them everything we do, and they'll say, Oh, I didn't know Fitzmorris was Apex. I didn't know. So yeah, we're all one. We're all one. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, we have the uh country's most popular disc golf course here at Memorial Park. I think Indian Trees Par three might be the most popular par three golf course in the entire country because I live right there every time I drive by. There's just a lot of people. Oh, it's past.

SPEAKER_01

It's so great. And if you haven't been in and tried the tacos in the clubhouse from Diane, you're missing out. The clubhouse is a little hidden jelly. Yeah, it's a little hidden. Yeah, green chili.

SPEAKER_06

Like they've done like murder mystery dinners, which are.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, we do murder mystery there, yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06

I thought about going recently.

SPEAKER_04

It's so fun.

SPEAKER_06

It sounds fun.

SPEAKER_04

Have you do you like escape rooms and stuff? Yeah.

SPEAKER_06

It's kind of like that. It's kind of like that puzzle-y type stuff. Yep, yeah. Yes.

SPEAKER_04

Yep. Cool.

Trivia And Arvada Recreation History

SPEAKER_00

Awesome. All right. So we're ready for trivia. Oh, we're ripping your screen.

SPEAKER_04

I feel like what if like you also should know that Apex employees are notorious for being super competitive.

SPEAKER_03

And like everything is like a game. I'm like, we're gonna win! So what we do is. So now I am not as competitive. I'm like this one. It's like everyone needs a ribbon. Everyone needs a ribbon.

SPEAKER_00

What we usually do is we say, if you know the answer, let the other people guess so that we can laugh at that.

SPEAKER_04

Oh, so I can play it off like I do know the answer. Oh, let's do it. I'll let somebody else have fun. Okay.

SPEAKER_00

Normally Katie and I sit across from each other, but don't let me know.

SPEAKER_04

There we go.

SPEAKER_00

Okay. Uh what year was Apex Park and Recreation District founded? 1947, 1956, 1972, or 1987?

SPEAKER_04

Uh well, I know. Yeah, well, it's 56. Yeah, 1956. Okay. I gave it away. I'm so sorry. No, that's okay.

SPEAKER_05

November 13th.

SPEAKER_04

It's a cool it's cool though, because yes, November 13th. And it's cool because this year is the 250, 150. Oh, there you go. And then last year the chamber was 100. It's like a cool few years of birthdays for our battery.

SPEAKER_00

At the time it was North Jeffko Metropolitan Recreation and Park District. Correct a bit of a mouthful there. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Imagine answering the phone somehow.

SPEAKER_04

Can I tell you a funny story about that too? Think speaking of misconceptions. And so when we we were always we growing up, I I was North Jeffko. Like I skated for North Jeff, I did gymnastics at North Jeff. Um and so when we built the Apex, we had changed the name to Apex and then built the Apex Center, thinking that it would clarify that we weren't Jefferson County because we were North Jeffko. Um and it we traded one problem for the other because now everybody only thinks we're the Apex Center and not the entire district. So all what is that saying? But we tried and it didn't work. Yeah. So we always say we're not the city, we're not the county because people thought we were always the county because we were Northchevko. Right.

SPEAKER_00

All right. Question number two. What year did the district change its name to Apex? Do you want options or do you want to guess?

SPEAKER_04

I already know the answer to that.

SPEAKER_00

I can give you some multiple choice. 1989, 1991, 2007, or 2005.

SPEAKER_06

Um 89.

SPEAKER_00

07. 07. Yep. It was aligned with the 100%.

SPEAKER_06

I was initially thinking early 2000s, and then I was like, no, maybe it was a really long time ago. Because something we talked about happened in the 80s. Some transition of parks, maybe.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, and the uh I think it was like a Jefferson County open space. There was like a bond, and that helped the city build a whole bunch of parks like an incredible amount in like a short amount of time. Yeah. Um, but going back to 91 is when it changed from North Jeffko Metropolitan Recreation and Park District to North Jeffco Park and Rec District. So you can kind of see the evolution to where you got to Apex.

SPEAKER_04

For our 70th birthday, we have like an image for all of the logos so people can share their stories about which one that they remembered and stuff, which is really neat.

SPEAKER_00

All right. Question number three. Um I had to reference the Arvada Historical Society's book, New Frontiers, which it goes, I you know, written by Kimberly Field. Lots of great nuggets in there. So you might know this one as well. But um the relationships between the two organizations maybe weren't so smooth for for a while there. Um there was a lot of duplication of funding and efforts and roles and responsibilities until there was an IGA signed that really clarified the roles between Apex and the city, recreation and parks was kind of the gist of it. What year was that IGA signed?

SPEAKER_04

Wait, do you have options with that too? Because I think if I had options, I would remember.

SPEAKER_00

Uh 1975, 1981, 1991, or 1999.

SPEAKER_04

Was it in 91? When was that first IGA?

SPEAKER_00

There's probably like dozens of IGA.

SPEAKER_04

Also, the original IGA is like 150 pages. We've since simplified it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Um I I know I'm not going to be right. I want to say 99, but it's because it's sticky in my head for something else that we talked about, but I don't think I'm right.

SPEAKER_04

I think it was 91 because it wasn't that close to the Apex Center opening. The Apex Center opened in 2000. But I could be wrong. Is it?

SPEAKER_00

The one I'm talking about is 99, and that's the one that the book references like this is when it like really did. Really did. Okay, okay.

SPEAKER_04

That makes sense because in 2000 was when the Apex Center opened. And they thought they needed to clarify. Yep. Okay.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. And so according to the book, Larry McGinley, um, he was a former city council member, former mayor. He also served as the president of the then North Jeffco Park and Recreation District Board. He was really key in facilitating that you know relationship, building and mending, and clarifying.

SPEAKER_04

So um what year did the skate park open? That's another misconception. Yes, yeah.

SPEAKER_00

I think it was like right around the Apex.

SPEAKER_04

Was it the same time? I should know that. I know because a lot of people think we also manage the skate park. And we don't. That is a city park. Um but we also along with the IGA, we help out with some of the maintenance over there. But um, we get a lot of skate park traffic into the ice arena.

SPEAKER_06

Yeah, I can imagine. Yeah.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah. I should know the answer to this. I think it was right around the same time.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04

Um because that's also a huge gem for the region. Oh. At the time it was the largest one. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

And uh it's too late now, but it was uh in the running for Best of Mile High Awards for Best Skate Park. We don't know the results yet by the time this podcast comes out, but it's up for that.

SPEAKER_04

And you guys, they've done some cool stuff in the last year or two of with like, didn't skateboarding magazine come out or something crazy?

SPEAKER_00

I'm sure because it is still one of the largest in the country.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, they came out for an event. Yeah, that's literally huge.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I'll be going to like the Apex Center at night, and that thing will be um yeah. So part of that 1999 IGA, there were some parks that Apex had run that got transferred over to the city, such as like uh Quaker Acres Park, Camille Schneider, Hackberry, Oak, Columbine, and then Exchange. The city agreed to provide North Jeff Co. with full-use leases for places like Lutz, Lake Arbor Community Center, Arvada Tennis Center, and Myers Pool.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah. That is one of the changes too in the recent years is that um you all owned and maintained the um fields and the sports complexes, and we uh programmed them, and now you all are doing all of that, and so we are just a user for a lot of the fields. But we do so much programming on your sports complexes. Yeah. So that was a change in the recent IT.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, like three years ago, maybe four years ago. Yep. So bonus question Ralston Central Park right down the road here. What was there before it was Ralston Central Park? I know.

SPEAKER_01

There was a pool.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, Fisher Pool. Fisher Pools.

SPEAKER_00

It was Fisher Pool, okay. And uh ice rink, too, right?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04

It was uh and well, Garrison Street Center was the building, and it was an ice arena, and then it was a gym, gymnastics gym, and then it was the indoor soccer field when it was no longer an ice arena. So I I can't remember the timing, but it we didn't need the ice arena anymore because of the Apex Center. And then when the field house, we knew that the Garrison Street Center would have to close because of the floodplain. Um, and so that's the impetus of building the field house at 58th and Kipling was to replace the soccer fields. And then the gymnastics gym went to Seacrest Recreation Center at 80th and Sims. That's where the gymnastics gym is now. And then the pool, which was kind of the last thing, was a agreement with the city as well. And that's was part of um the city helped invest in the Fitzmorris outdoor pool, was always the replacement for Fisher, even though it happened much later. Um, we always wanted to have another outdoor public pool in that neighborhood. So that's what that's why Fitzmorris, we got the pool of Fitzmorris. Gotcha. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

See how key the coordination is.

SPEAKER_04

And you know what's so funny for folks who've lived here forever. Um, there was like this out, like a like a building that wasn't connected to the pool or to Garrison Street. It was this little house. Yeah, and that was our pottery studio. Yep. So the pottery studio moved to Sim Street as well. So Sim Street got the art and the gymnastics, field house got soccer and the other indoor field sports, but all of that was replaced when it had to go away because of the flip lane.

SPEAKER_00

Exactly.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, it was a lot of people. The park is getting the splash pad, and we maintain the splash pad. Yeah, so we have to do that.

SPEAKER_00

I think that's gone back and forth. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You're welcome. We do pools. We do pools. Exactly. We give it to the experts for sure. So I think that's it.

SPEAKER_06

Awesome. Thank you all for coming on. What a fun conversation.

SPEAKER_03

Listen, wait, we didn't cuss.

SPEAKER_04

No, we kept it. We kept it to parks and recreation. We knew most of the things. I didn't even ask about their dogs or no, but we're gonna have them on ours.

SPEAKER_01

100%.

SPEAKER_02

Yes, and then we're gonna see. And then we'll go. Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_00

Wanted to also, like, if you want to plug, like obviously the the podcast is great if you want to kind of get the more in-depth, longer stories, but your social and your newsletter are great ways to stay in touch.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, yeah. If you aren't already getting the rundown, it's our every other week newsletter. It has all of our upcoming programming. Um yeah, Apex Activated is on anywhere you listen to um podcasts, and check out our website, apexprd.org, for all of our upcoming stuff. And social. We've got social.

SPEAKER_01

Always look at Instagram and Facebook. Awesome. Awesome. Thank you guys. It's so good to see you. So fun.

City News And Upcoming Events

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. And as a reminder, we love hearing from our guests. You can reach out using the uh link at the top of the episode and give us a text, or you can also email us at podcast at Arvada.org. We love hearing feedback from our listeners about what they enjoy, ideas for future episodes, and more. Uh, on to the news and events segment. We have the Arvada Blonde Reservoir opening up here on April 1st. That reservoir will be opened seven days a week from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Uh, and you can learn more and purchase your season passes at ArvadaCo.gov slash reservoir. And coming up on April 12th is the Arvada Kite Festival. That's from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Stenger Sports Complex. That's our flagship community event each spring that celebrates just community and being outside, flying kites, kids' activities, and more. You can learn more at arvataco.gov slash kitefestival. Katie, tell us about AskArvada.

Next Episode Tease And Fun Fact

SPEAKER_06

Yeah, so we updated our Ask Arvada system. That's the city's online system for submitting questions and reporting concerns. Um, you do have to register for an account now to be able to use that system. It's at ArvadaCo.gov slash askarvada. And there's also an app now. So that's a cool new feature that's available on that website as well. Uh and we had Rachel Stotz on last time from Resource Central. Those programs that we talked about are now available. So that's pre-order for the garden in the box. Applications for the lawn replacement program are open, and then the slow the flow sprinkler evaluations are starting up. And so those folk programs do fill up fast. So registering early is super important. The um there's two projects happening at Memorial Park at the same time, and so they are on distinct ends of the park, lots of parks still open. Um, but the police department is working on the construction of a police honor garden just on the west side of the park near the pavilion. Um, the pavilion will remain open, the playground will be open, but you will see some fencing and closed-off parking in that area. And then on the other side of the park on the east side, the um there's some work from the Stormwater Department to do improvements to the creek there. And they will have a section of the trail closed with detour signage on site, and then holes two and three of the disc golf course will be closed. Both projects expected to take a couple of months, um, likely into May or June for both of those. Thank you again to our guests today, Katie Groke and Monica Bowser from Apex. Be sure to listen to our next episode with Stephen Russell, our senior sustainability coordinator, who will be talking about the Climate and Sustainability Action Plan. Today's podcast was recorded and edited by Arvada Media Services.

SPEAKER_00

And today's fun fact is the Apex Park and Recreation District covers about 60 square miles, and by comparison, the city of Arvada is 39.5 square miles.

SPEAKER_05

Whoa!