The newest building in the Summit County Commons outside Frisco celebrated its grand opening Friday, Aug. 29. Summit County Rescue Group welcomed visitors to tour the facility and meet its members at its new facility.

The volunteer group moved into the space in January, according to Ben Butler, a Summit County Rescue Group mission coordinator. The group has been putting finishing touches on the facility “so that it looks finished” for the public, Butler said.

“We have been using it,” Butler said. “It’s been an awesome facility to train out of, it’s been awesome to have our meetings here. We’ve run a couple search and rescue incidents out of this building, and it’s worked out pretty well for us so far.”

The process of building the new facility started in 2019, and construction started in 2023, according to a news release. The group’s old facility had previously been a road and bridge department building, Butler said.

Butler said the old facility had four garage bays and classroom training space that only fit around 20 people. The group has had between 65 and 75 members “for quite a while,” he added.

“It was on the top level,” Butler said about the classroom. “We would have folks on the staircase who couldn’t even see a presentation that was going on, but they were so involved with search and rescue that they would listen to the presentations.”

The new facility has a training space for up to 60 members at a time, as well as the capability to record training sessions for members that miss any, Butler said. It also has enough space for all of the group’s equipment.

Butler said the old facility did not have space for all the group’s vehicles, meaning the group had to store equipment in other locations around the county.

“We would switch out vehicles depending on the season,” Butler said. 

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The old facility also did not have heating or insulation for a while, Butler said, meaning cold weather would affect vehicle maintenance, equipment lifespan and more.

“We said this earlier, and it was no joke,” Butler said. “We would literally have to chip out the garage doors in order to get them open so we could get our vehicles out.”

In the new facility, Butler said the group has three “on-road” vehicles; several ATVs and utility task vehicles, some of which can switch between tires and snow tracks depending on the season; and trailers to haul equipment. 

An indoor rope rescue training facility will allow the group to practice their skills any time of the year, Butler said.

“That’s going to be so huge for us as we continue to progress, as we look at new techniques, as we practice new techniques, all in the support of helping folks who need the help,” Butler said.

Running incidents out of the facility will provide more reliable communication compared to running them out of the field where cell service may be spotty. Butler said the reliability will make the group’s work safer and more efficient.

Funding for the new facility, which the group shares with the Sheriff’s Office’s special operations and water rescue units, came from fundraising and county and federal funds. The group’s news release stated more than 2,300 individual donors gave to the project.

A representative from the office of U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse attended the grand opening, as Neguse helped secure $500,000 in federal funds for the project. Summit County’s state-level representatives, Colorado House Speaker Julie McCluskie and state Sen. Dylan Roberts, attended as well.

The donations and turnout at the grand opening showed how much the community cares about the rescue group, Butler said.

“We feel so lucky to have that support, to have these relationships,” Butler said. “That’s what makes us successful, the support of our community, and we’re really lucky to be a part of it.”