Fort Lupton tries to maintain balance

Forces of growth swirl around the south Weld town

While growth explodes around it, the southern Weld County city of Fort Lupton is striving to keep its balance.

Until the mid-’90s, Fort Lupton grew relatively slowly, nourished by an economy based on agriculture and the volatile oil and gas industry. The town’s population didn’t pass 5,000 until 1990.

But in the last half dozen years, things started to change dramatically in southwest Weld County, as a prosperous state and national economy fueled unprecedented growth in the region.

While other nearby towns — Brighton, Frederick, Firestone, Dacono and others — aggressively sought to expand,…