![]() Stapleton has other parks either built or under construction that it will soon turn over to Denver Parks and Rec that will also be protected. The parcel was partially funded by Forest City, the master developer for the Stapleton neighborhood. In the most recent round, designated by City Council in November, one highlight is the 44-acre Prairie Uplands, a new park near East 35th Avenue and Dayton Street in Stapleton. “We’re a landlocked city and space is precious and we all know what the value of parkland is.”ĭenver has had eight rounds of designation since 2013 and is working on the ninth that will include parts of Overland Park and Aqua Golf in southwest Denver as well as other parcels. “I believe all of us have the same goal in mind and that is to get as much parkland designated as possible,” Rust said. Jay Rust, a member of the INC parks committee and now a member of the city’s Parks and Recreation Advisory Board, has praised the process and credited Gilmore for leading the effort to protect more parkland. Gilmore meets with the INC subcommittee three or four times per year and credits them with encouraging parks and rec to consider parcels of land not previously pursued. “As a parks department, we need to be aware of opportunities to create parkland however we can do it.” “Our mayor has been a true advocate of parks,” Gilmore said. Gilmore credited Mayor Michael Hancock’s administration for its desire to protect parkland. ![]() We are anxious to continue the process.”ĭenver Parks and Recreation deputy director Scott Gilmore has been spearheading the effort to allocate parkland and has worked closely with the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board and the INC subcommittee during the designation process. “I think they have made a good-faith effort. “I think it’s been one of the silver linings that came out of Hentzell Park discussion,” said Brad Cameron, a member of a parks designation subcommittee in the Inter-Neighborhood Cooperation, a nonprofit advocate for neighborhood organizations. Since the Hampden Heights Open Space situation - most of what remains has been set aside as part of Hentzell Park - the process has been positive according to some park advocates who have worked with the city on designations during the past three-plus years. The policy had been used as draft since the administration of former Mayor John Hickenlooper but wasn’t formally adopted until now. The most recent round of designations earmarked just less than 200 acres of parkland and the parks department also officially adopted a parks designation policy, per the suggestion of city auditor Timothy O’Brien. Denver Parks and Recreation was formed in 1956, and the city’s eligible parkland was designated at that time. Since 2013, Denver has designated more than 1,000 acres, nearly double the amount of land that has been allocated in the past 56 years. While many park advocates were upset over the move and a lawsuit was filed to try to stop the swap, the city has worked to set aside as much parkland as possible in the past three years. Designating a park means the city can’t sell, trade or do anything to change the status of the land without a vote of the people. When the city traded an 11.5-acre piece of land in the Hampden Heights Open Space in southeast Denver to Denver Public Schools to build a school, many thought the city was trading parkland, but later learned that the land had never been designated. The difference between an open space and a park in Denver may not make a lot of difference to anyone who uses it, but it can have a substantial impact on the land’s future, as many learned in 2013. Digital Replica Edition Home Page Close Menu
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |