Behind the Scenery
Bringing the Colorado Experience to You
Thanks for stopping by the newest edition to the Parks, Open Space, & Cultural Arts website, Behind the Scenery. This space is dedicated to keeping Adams County residents updated on all the exciting things we are working on in the Parks, Open Space & Cultural Arts department. You may have heard about our community events like the Adams County Fair, our beautiful art projects, or our trails and open space properties, but we want to take a look Behind the Scenery of what we are planning next and highlight some of the work our staff do on a daily basis for our residents. This page showcases those projects and more as we work hard to significantly enhance quality of life, enrich communities, and INSPIRE!
We will update this page monthly to keep you in the know. Thanks for taking a look Behind the Scenery!
Cultural Arts
Adams County’s Cultural Arts division creates opportunities for every resident to engage with the arts. Here’s a look at how our Cultural Arts division is connecting our community with arts and culture.
Poet Laureate Aerik Francis is in Conversation with Adams County, and you can be a part of it all with workshops, performances, open mics, and other great events. Learn all about what’s coming up here.
Master wood carver, Bongo Love, installed a beautiful new phoenix sculpture at the Adams Hollow Disc Golf Course and asked the community to name the bird in flight. We received 20 unique name suggestions, and after all the votes have been tallied, the winner is: Eternal Rise!
As part of the Percentage for the Arts Program, which dedicates 2% of construction costs on eligible capital projects to bringing arts and culture to Adams County residents, public art is in the process of being installed along the newly reconstructed Pecos Street! But, the process is more complex than you’d imagine. A Call for Artists was put out to the public, asking for qualified candidates to submit a proposal with their vision for artwork along Pecos Street. The Call for Artists for Pecos St. Median Public Art is closed, and the jury is now in session! We received an incredible response from artists, and the unique selection panel will determine the best artist(s) for the job. Interested in being on an artist selection panel? Learn more and apply here.
Stay tuned to find out who wins the award to create a sculpture series along Pecos St. in southwest Adams County!
Planning, Design, and Construction
Anyone who has visited Riverdale Regional Park, Riverdale Golf Courses, or used a trail in the last few months has witnessed firsthand the work of the Planning, Design, and Construction team. Their work focuses on creating safe, accessible, and efficient spaces for the community to enjoy, whether it be on the trail system or while attending Pride, Stars & Stripes, the Adams County Fair, or Festival Latino.
Trail users have likely noticed the new signage installation that was completed in early 2026. 175 new wayfinding signs were installed throughout the system, allowing users to more easily find rules and regulations, call for help in case of an emergency, and navigate the system for a seamless experience. Trails are color-coded, and mile marker signs were installed so trail users can easily share their information with first responders in the event of an emergency.
At Riverdale Regional Park, the Planning, Design, & Construction team is managing improvements to the Adams County Fairgrounds, and saw a major accomplishment in December 2025 when two new barns, part of the Riverdale Regional Park Improvements, were completed and put to use just in time for the National Western Stock Show. The barns are 312’x75’, and are built with modern safety standards and architecture that allows for safer and more efficient set-up for users.
Just outside the Adams County Fairgrounds, the Planning, Design, & Construction team oversaw the completion of two irrigation projects; one project at the Riverdale Dunes Golf Course and the other at the Riverdale Animal Shelter. These irrigation projects included two new systems that will gain efficiency and savings in water and electricity, with automatic control gauges that adjust to actual watering needs and allow for precise management. At the golf course, there is a savings of 200,000-400,000 gallons of water each night, and the Animal Shelter irrigation system project created a water source of its own instead of competing with the needs of facility operations.
Looking forward, more improvements are on the way. Renovations to the Riverdale Golf Course Club House are expected to be completed with enhanced restaurant, pro shop, banquet hall, and restroom facilities, and the installation of a larger outdoor patio with a fire pit. Progress is continuing on the improvements at Riverdale Regional Park with the construction of a third barn and outdoor covered arena, and work on the Brantner Gulch is providing a safer and more efficient naturalized waterway while simultaneously delivering a safer route for visitors at the park.
Parks Operations
The Parks Operations team manages parks, trails, and open spaces across Adams County. With the unseasonably warm weather, the Parks Operations team has been working to maintain our parks and open spaces so they remain clean, safe, and accessible for the public. Like many other public spaces, vandalism and graffiti is a challenge that the Parks Operations team deals with regularly, and the Adams County Veterans Memorial has been the target of vandalism. When the team notices vandalism in the system, they not only work to clean and restore the area, but they also think about ways to prevent the acts in the future. When a bench at the Veterans Memorial was vandalized, the Parks Operations team got to work and created a new bench design; one that is easier and cheaper to repair and replace. The first new bench was installed at the Veterans Memorial earlier this year.
The Parks Operations team acts as stewards of our parks and open spaces, and the work they do reflects their commitment to keeping our natural areas pristine. Teams completed prairie dog mitigation on approximately 16 acres of land at Elaine T. Valente Open Space, and as part of the rehabilitation of the ground will be reseeding with a native grass mix. As the reseeding nears completion, it will be finished will be completed with a wildflower grass mix to create an eight acre pollinator garden, which will be loaned to Adams County from the Eastern Adams County Water Conservation District/Agfinity.
Parks and open spaces are vital to the physical, emotional, and financial health of any community, and our Parks Operations staff make sure their work is done in a community-minded manner. They hosted yard waste, branch, and Christmas tree drop-offs for residents to dispose of yard waste to be recycled, and are planning to install recycling cans along the trail system so trail users will have the opportunity to responsibly discard recyclable materials.
The Parks Operations team will continue to work to conserve and maintain our parks and open spaces as they become more heavily utilized in the spring and summer months.
Business Administration
The Business Administration team plays a vital role in the Parks, Open Space & Cultural Arts department by fielding questions from residents, providing support for each division within the department, facilitating the Open Space Sales Tax Grant Program, and compiling data related to parks, open space, trails, and facilities in Adams County.
The Business Administration team is the customer service hub for all things Parks, Open Space & Cultural Arts, and since the start of 2026 has assisted over 80 walk-in residents and clients with questions about the department, answered hundreds of calls from residents, and managed the hiring process for a new Adams County Park Ranger, seasonal Parks Operations staff, and an addition to the Planning, Design, & Construction team.
The Business Administration team finalized the 30% shareback distribution for the Open Space Sales Tax, and rolled out a new Open Space Grant Application Process providing municipalities and non-profits a more efficient means of applying for Open Space Grant Funds to be put towards projects in the community that directly benefit Adams County residents through conservation and recreation opportunities.
Coming up, the Business Administration is gearing up for summer by onboarding six seasonal employees and one full-time employee to ensure our parks, trails, and open spaces are ready for summer, and is preparing for the Open Space Sales Tax Spring Grant Cycle.
Special Events
The Adams County Fair, Pride, Stars & Stripes, and Festival Latino draw over 200,000 visitors each year, but did you know that the Special Events team works year-round to manage pavilion rentals in our parks and quinceañeras, weddings, and just about every other event type in the facilities at Riverdale Regional Park?
Since January, the Special Events team has hosted over 215 events at Riverdale Regional Park, and there are no signs of slowing down. The 2026 reservation calendar has been fully booked for the last year! The Special Events team was excited to host guests of the 2026 National Western Stock Show, and the availability of two new barns on-grounds allowed for a record-breaking year for Stock Show stalling. Over the course of the National Western Stock Show, 747 cattle, 4 horses, and 5 goats called Riverdale Regional Park their home, for a total of 471 stalls rented, which brought in total revenue of over $17,185.
Looking ahead, some of the Special Events team’s favorite rentals are coming up, with the Terry All Dog Show in April taking advantage of the new barns, and over 1,500 guests (and their four-legged friends) will visit the grounds for the event. And, while summer may seem far away, our Special Events team has been working on their four core events for months: Pride, Stars & Stripes, the Adams County Fair, and Festival Latino. Stay tuned for exciting announcements on our website!
Riverdale Golf Courses
The Riverdale Golf Courses are excited to open the 2026 season with a facelift! Over the winter, the clubhouse received much needed major improvements and upgrades for the first time since it was built in 1985. New lighting, flooring, furniture, and restroom enhancements will greet our guests as they enter. The first phase of improvements also included new casework and a more efficient layout for the pro shop, a dressing room, and a larger bar, new coolers, display shelves, and improved sound mitigation to improve the guest experience. Outside the clubhouse, an expanded covered patio will allow more patrons to enjoy their time at the course, and a fire pit will add to the ambiance. Additional improvements like painting, window sealing, wi-fi, and plumbing upgrades will make the facility more efficient for the long term. The entire project is set to be completed by mid-May.
CSU Extension
Adams County’s CSU Extension team has been busy across the county, from 4-H programming at Riverdale Regional Park to classrooms visits in area schools, stops at Anythink Libraries, and working to educate residents on the drought caused by our unusually warm and dry winter. Adams County’s 4-H is one of the most robust programs in the state, with creative cooks contests, animal tag-ins taking place in the new barns at Riverdale Regional Park, and STEM, animal science, natural resources, and civic engagement programming taking place across the county.
The warm and dry weather this winter caused concern over drought conditions this spring and summer, and the CSU Extension team has been busy conducting interviews with local news outlets (the Coloradan, Denver 7, Denver Post) and in March, our Horticulture Specialist sat down for an interview on what Adams County residents can do to maintain their yards responsibly this summer. You can check that out here!
In our biggest news, Adams County CSU Extension has a new website! Stay up to date with all our programming at extension.colostate.edu/adams, or follow Adams County 4-H on Facebook and Instagram. Looking ahead, an exciting slate of community programming, in collaboration with the Adams County Parks Rangers, is on the horizon. Water-wise Garden Tours will be taking place all summer at Riverdale Regional Park’s xeriscape gardens, and a new archery range in conjunction with the Parks, Open Space & Cultural Arts department.