Durango completes its most expensive construction project
Santa Rita water facility produces cleaner water with less energy
With the snap of oversize scissors Wednesday at Santa Rita Park, the city of Durango signaled the completion of its most expensive construction project ever.
More than 50 residents, city employees and former and current city councilors cheered as Mayor Melissa Youssef cut a ribbon at the Santa Rita Wastewater Reclamation Facility, ending a yearslong, $58.3 million and voter-approved construction project.
“This is a very big deal,” Youssef said into a microphone. “This is a service project that needed to be done.”
The new treatment facility increased the city’s capacity to treat wastewater by 30%, said Interim City Manager Amber Blake. City staff operated the plant during construction, a feat Blake commended.
On an average day, the new plant can treat 3.26 million gallons of wastewater, said Patrick Radabaugh, senior assistant with the firm that designed the plant.
The facility has the capacity to serve more than 30,000 residents and uses less energy than the previous plant to produce a cleaner final product, he said.
Read the complete article on the Durango Herald at: https://durangoherald.com/articles/305289-durango-completes-its-most-expensive-construction-project