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Steamboat Springs — The Steamboat Springs Parks, Open Space and Recreational Services Department received a $500,000 state grant Tuesday to help remodel its offices and expand facilities by about 7,000 square feet.

Deputy City Manager Wendy Dubord described the need for the renovation as "very significant."

"The building dates back to the early '80s," she said of the department's Howelsen Parkway site. "You can imagine how our staff has expanded over the last 20 years."

The grant, awarded by the state's Local Government Energy and Mineral Impact Assistance Fund, will cover part of a $3.6 million project to expand and upgrade the department's primary building.

Included in that project will be additional office and equipment storage space, amenities such as locker space for employees, a new mechanical system and repairs to the roof.

Anne Small, the city's purchasing and risk manager, said the current building is crowded with administrative offices, all of the department's recreational equipment and up to 35 employees seasonally.

The upgrades are long overdue, Small said, for a building that was last expanded in 1991 and originally housed the city's public works shop in the 1960s. Along with space to store and repair large items such as snow groomers - which for now have to be transported to the current public works shop on Critter Court - the renovations will replace the building's heating and ventilation systems.

"We want to provide (parks and recreation employees) : a normal place to operate in a much more efficient manner," Small said. "The folks that work over there are finally going to have a stable environment as far as heating and ventilation."

The city is in the process of looking for a general contractor for the project and hopes to have someone on board by the middle of December, Small said. The proposal will go to the Steamboat Springs Planning Commission on Dec. 13. Small said the city hopes to break ground in the spring.

The Energy Impact assistance program helps Colorado communities affected by the impact of energy and mineral exploration. It is funded by the state's severance tax on energy and by federal government royalties related to mining and drilling of minerals and fuels on federally owned land.

On Monday, the Hayden Police Department received an Energy Impact grant of $800,000 to build a new police station.