EAGLE, Colorado — For years, downvalley residents have known that the athletic field complex in Eagle was destined to move. The questions have been what will the new complex look like and when it will happen.

On Tuesday, the Eagle County commissioners signed off on a design that begins to answer those questions.

During a Tuesday work session, the commissioners directed staff to move forward with the alternative already selected by the Western Eagle County Metropolitan Recreation District Board of Directors as the preferred design. The layout is the less expensive of two designs, and it includes five baseball/softball diamonds, including one “championship” field that can accommodate senior boys baseball games. Additionally, the layout provides space for two full-size soccer fields. Parking, an access road, batting cages, lighting and a 1,200-square-foot restroom/concessions building are included in the plan. The design calls for natural grass fields, but there is a provision that would allow for placement of artificial turf.

In contrast, the more expensive alternative called for all artificial turf fields and a larger layout that featured six and possibly seven baseball diamonds that could be converted into three soccer fields.

The relocation will be financed by LaFarge NA because the company wants to mine gravel that is located underneath the current fairgrounds fields complex. Eagle County has committed to waive royalty fees from each ton of material extracted from under the current fields, and LaFarge has committed to up-front funding to pay for moving the complex. Firm cost estimates for the new facility have not yet been developed, which is one of the reasons why the county commissioners were asked to select a preferred alternative, but the project is expected to cost in the neighborhood of $4 million. With the alternative identified, the project team will now proceed with utility planning and complex engineering.

Rick Ullom, project manager for Eagle County, said the general difference between the two designs was that the chosen option, Option B, was centered around accommodating existing and future WECMRD programs. The option that was not selection, Option A, was designed more as a “tourism-based” model that could accommodate large tournament events.

However, Ullom also said the Option B plan had better opportunities for phased development and could be expanded if the need arises.

Commissioner Sara Fisher said without cost information, it was difficult for her to select the right field alignment for the community.

Commissioner Peter Ruyon said that the WECMRD board, the entity that will be responsible for the eventual operation of the complex, unanimously favored Option B.

“I don't know if additional information would make be feel strongly enough to go against the recommendation of WECMRD,” Runyon said. “I don't think either Option A or B is clearly superior to the other, and I would defer to the experts.”

Runyon asked if any of the work planned during the next 18 months would preclude one design or the other. Ullom said that the two alternatives feature very different utility layouts, and the reason for selecting the preferred layout was to confine planning costs to the design that would actually be built. Ullom also said that there is a possibility for the utility work to begin as soon as this fall.

“It's an opportunity for people to have work in a slow economy,” he said.

With Commissioner Jon Stavney absent, Runyon and Fisher voiced their support for the Option B layout and the design team, which includes Ullom and WECMRD Director Steve Russell, as well as representatives from the design group Davis Partnership Architects and preconstruction services provider RA Nelson.