Please vote YES on the Rifle Recreation and Community Center. I believe that the community as a whole will benefit from a facility like this even if the whole community doesn’t utilize the actual structure.

I was recently a food vendor at a CrossFit Competition in Glenwood Springs at the Recreation Center (kudos to Thad and Mckenzie for putting on a fantastic event). As I observed throughout the day, there were so many parts of the community that benefited financially from this one-day event at the rec center. The competition brought teams from all over Colorado (up to 300 people attended). Those people spent money in Glenwood on dining, gas, lodging, groceries and services.

It was also great exposure for Glenwood Springs to maybe in the future bring some people back to the city to stay and play; I went to dinner that evening and saw the competitors all over downtown. Other vendors such as a chiropractor attended the event, and got their names out in the community.

This whole event just made me realize that if you can bring that much money into a community in one short day, why wouldn’t we want a facility in Rifle that can do the same? I don’t see anything wrong with wanting a better quality of life in our great little town. The experience that day just made me realize that the potential we have to stimulate the economy with a recreation and community center.

It’s about the bigger picture, not just if you are a person who works out or swims or has children. We as a town have outgrown our current facilities and it’s time to build the future, for not just our children, but for the community as a whole. I am very proud to call Rifle my home, and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for this beautiful little place.

I urge everyone who plans on voting to please educate yourself and read the facts before you send in your ballot.

Elissa Nye

Rifle