GLENWOOD SPRINGS ” A whitewater park proposed for Glen­wood Springs got a boost Tuesday from the Garfield County commissioners.

Backers of the park asked for $200,000. The commissioners, without budgeting for the expense, gave $100,000.

The commissioners did attach a condi­tion to the gift, however.

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“We want the city to have all the lia­bility,” said assistant county attorney Car­olyn Dahlgren. “We’re not designing or building or maintaining [the park].”

Glenwood Springs has committed $300,000 to the project and the Hot Springs Lodge and Pool, $20,000. The group will also apply for a Great Outdoors Colorado grant for $200,000, to meet the estimated $800,000 cost of building the water feature in West Glenwood.

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Future plans also call for landscaping, a bike path and parking. That phase is expected to cost $560,000, said river engineer Jason Carey, who is working up the plans for the park.

Carey said parks in towns such as Vail and Breckenridge and the city of Golden have been economic boons. With its annu­al Teva Mountain Games at its whitewater park, “Vail claims a $2 million revenue in one weekend,” Carey said.

He said Glenwood Springs may host a similar event in August. With consis­tent flows in the Colorado because of the senior water right used to operate the Shoshone hydroelectric plant in Glenwood Canyon and water needed to meet senior calls in the Grand Valley for irrigation, “I would guess this park has the opportunity to be even more suc­cessful than any of the other parks,” Carey said.