‘Northern Gateway’ has a changing face
WELLINGTON — The downtown district in Wellington is set to undergo a major renovation over the next couple years, thanks largely to more than $4.4 million in grant money awarded to the town by various state and federal agencies.
The Cleveland Avenue construction project will upgrade street infrastructure, stormwater drainage, pedestrian safety, lighting, parking and business access, according to the town. Adding ramps at all intersections in compliance with Americans with Disabilities Act standards will improve the overall accessibility downtown.
A 2020 study from SmartAsset ranked the city that bills itself as “Colorado’s Northern Gateway” the 10th most affordable place to live in Colorado. While many of its residents commute to Fort Collins to work or study, Wellington has been taking steps to become a destination in its own right.
The Wellington Board of Trustees cleared the way for dozens of businesses to occupy spaces with visibility along Interstate 25.”
Founded in 1902 and incorporated three years later, the town was named for C.L. Wellington, an employee of the Colorado and Southern Railroad. Extending the rail line was vital because the only other way to get the area’s beet crop to the sugar mill in Fort Collins was via horse-drawn vehicles on unpaved roads.
Wellington remained a small town through most of the 20th century. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Byron “Whizzer” White lived in Wellington as a child and returned often for his high school reunions.
Remains of a woolly mammoth were discovered by a construction crew while digging foundations for new homes. The subdivision where they were found named a street Mammoth Circle.
The town took on the role of a bedroom community for Fort Collins in the 1990s, and its population grew steadily. As Wellington developed employment opportunities of its own, home sales began to spike, especially in the Sage Meadows and Harvest Village neighborhoods.
The Wellington Board of Trustees cleared the way for dozens of businesses to occupy spaces with visibility along Interstate 25.
More contentious was planning commissioners’ approval of the site plan for a 35-acre asphalt mixing plant on industrial-zoned land on the town’s north side, the last approval that developers need before applying for a building permit. Windsor-based Connell Resources Inc. wants to move asphalt operations to Wellington after closing its plant southeast of the intersection of Interstate 25 and Harmony Road in Timnath. An affiliated company, Connell LLC, plans to redevelop that site as part of the proposed 240-acre Ladera residential and commercial district.
However, some neighbors appealed the planners’ approval, citing what they called setback violations, an incomplete site plan and issues with dispersion of emissions. The proposed plant would be adjacent to the Buffalo Creek neighborhood and the undeveloped Sundance subdivision.
The town has developed a 10-year municipal water efficiency plan, launched a pedestrian-safety project, brought its first economic-development director and added murals to the downtown area as part of its beautification program.