DENVER — In the next couple of years, Denver will have six new parks in its neighborhoods.
It's all funded by a sales tax increase, approved by voters in 2018. For the last five years, it has collected about $40 million, according to Denver Parks and Recreation. Recently, that number grew to $50 million per year.
"Our city is getting denser and we need to continue to acquire more park land so that we have enough park space for everyone," said Jolon Clark, executive director of Denver Parks and Recreation.
He said all of that money will be used to acquire land, build new parks, as well as maintain and invest in existing parks. This includes the city's mountain parks and trail systems.
So far, six new parks have been designated across the city, from Westwood, to Globeville, to Green Valley Ranch, and other neighborhoods in-between.
- 47th Avenue and Telluride Street
- Construction begins in 2025. Opening in 2026.
- Features: large new playground, trails that connect to regional system, basketball court, interactive water feature, community garden
- East Iliff Avenue and South Bellaire Street
- Construction begins 2025. Opening in 2026.
- Features: playground, sports courts, demonstration gardens, community event space
- Proposal to name the park, "Bethesda Park"
- Kittridge Steet and East Bolling Drive
- Construction to begin later this year. Denver Parks and Recreation will take ownership of the park once construction is complete.
- Features: community playground, basketball courts, two athletic fields, big walking loop, food forest managed by Denver Urban Gardens
- 44th Avenue and Pearl Street
- Purchase and sale agreement for $1,205,000 was recently approved by city council. An additional $295,000 was also approved for immediate property improvements and to conduct a vision plan.
- West Kentucky Avenue and South Irving Street
- Skate park in Westwood already open.
- 10th Avenue and Alcott Street
- Construction begins this year. Opening in 2026.
- Features: large park along South Platte River, community gathering space, community gardens.
Most of the parks are still in the design phase or construction is just starting. Half of them are scheduled to open in 2026.
Clark said they're prioritizing areas that need parks the most. Like in Westwood, where a new skate park on West Kentucky Avenue and South Irving Street is already open.
"We look at, do you have a park that you can get to easily, but then also how much park space do you have? How many amenities do you have?" he said. "Is it just a park that has a basketball hoop or does it have other things so that everybody in the community has something that they look forward to that they can go to the park and have an enjoyable experience?"
The community had its input on the design, and there are still some finishing touches left. The park is across the street from a middle school. Clark said it cost about $1.3 million to build and the land was acquired from Xcel Energy. The property used to be a power substation.
"We’re looking at how do we get creative? There aren’t a lot of spaces where there’s just open space," said Clark. "In the city, we have to really look at how do we repurpose land that was used for something else and so sometimes there’s environmental cleanup that goes into that.”
He said in addition to new parks, you may also notice upgrades in existing parks across the city.
"In parks where playgrounds were kind of falling apart, where benches were falling apart, we're reinvesting at a level that we never had the ability to," he said. "Some of the stuff you don't even see, like irrigation systems that were 50 years old and wasting a ton of water and we're saving millions of gallons of water by upgrading those systems."
Clark said the goal is for each Denver citizen to be able to walk or roll to a high-quality park in ten minutes and these new parks begin to close that gap.
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