City on South Platte charts ‘road ahead’
EVANS — Infrastructure improvements are top of mind these days in Evans, the growing city just south of Greeley.
The city’s infrastructure campaign, “The Road Ahead,” was created to help residents track and understand the major improvement efforts throughout Evans through its own YouTube channel. It’s working to get citizens involved in “Evans TV” and use it as part of its “Business Blast” economic-development outreach.
There’s a lot to keep track of, from expansion of its six-year-old wastewater treatment plant to a widening project along 37th Street that will extend into September and involves relocating some Atmos Energy gas lines. A delayed project to prevent flooding by constructing a stormwater drain under U.S. Highway 85 to the South Platte River is expected to be restarted in late summer, while a sewer line along Ashcroft Draw, upgrades to DaVinci Park and a waterline along State Farm Road are on the agenda.
The city also received a $500,000 Environmental Protection Agency brownfields grant to identify underutilized properties.”
Besides the city’s capital improvements, Lincoln, Nebraska-based Allo Communications LLC in May was to begin installing a fiber-optic network to Evans, where it will offer fiber-to-the-premises internet, phone and video services.
The city also received a $500,000 Environmental Protection Agency brownfields grant to identify underutilized properties.
All those improvements are needed to support continued growth in Evans, such as the 430-acre Tuscany subdivision and Greeley-based Baessler Homes’ Liberty Draw, which will add 357 single-family homes and 349 townhomes.
Founded in 1867, Evans was Weld County’s first town, incorporated before Nathan Meeker helped establish Greeley.
“In 1871 the St. Louis-Western Colony brought 400 people to settle the area,” according to the Evans Area Chamber of Commerce website. “Evans became a supply town and highway stop, known for its rowdy lifestyle in comparison to the temperance colony of Greeley. It was known as the ‘Queen City of the Platte.’ It was briefly the county seat of Weld County until a party of raiders from Greeley stole the county records and burned the courthouse.”
Today, Evans boasts a growing base of industry. It benefited from oil and gas exploration, with many energy producers and affiliated companies setting up shop in the city.
The city’s Parks Division oversees and maintains 12 developed parks and open space areas totaling more than 220 acres and more than 13 miles of mixed-use trails.
The 2013 flood heavily damaged or destroyed 200 homes in the Evans area, but Greeley-Weld Habitat for Humanity and Commonwealth Cos., with the help of a state disaster grant, partnered on two projects that would build 95 new affordable homes.
Despite Evans’ independence, the town has fostered good relations with its larger neighbor to the north. Both cities consummated a revenue-sharing agreement for a retail district in 1980 to resolve an annexation dispute. The two cities operate a joint bus system, Greeley-Evans Transit.
Evans’ school district merged with Greeley’s in 1962, establishing Greeley-Evans School District 6. Prairie Heights Middle School opened in September 2015. This newest addition to the district offers a unique design of grade “pods” to facilitate same-grade interaction and collaboration.