City Park Loop Shelved For Good
Plans To Move To a More ‘Welcoming’ Denver Neighborhood Cheered
By Cara DeGette
After months of criticism, the Denver parks department has permanently halted plans to build a $5 million, 13-acre regional activity and play attraction – at least in City Park.
Lauri Dannemiller, manager of the parks department, announced the city is taking its “Loop” project to an another yet-to-be identified area of Denver – one which she described “shares our vision for re-imagining play and promoting a healthy, active lifestyle.”
The decision, announced at a March 22 meeting at the zoo, was followed by cheers from a crowd of about 150, many of whom sported “Stop City Loop” stickers. An organized citizens group of the same name has been battling the plan for months, saying the high-use regional attraction would have a negative impact on surrounding neighborhoods, and would destroy the natural beauty of the park.
“It is clear to me that our goals for this project simply don’t align with the needs and wants of this community,” Dannemiller said in a prepared statement.
The existing Dustin Redd playground at the park, which is in need of extensive improvements, will receive “necessary safety repairs” in the short term, Dannemiller said. Longer term, the equipment will need to be replaced. “We are looking at an overall timeline of 3-5 more years for the existing playground,” she said.
City Park Loop opponent Carla Slatt Burns said she was encouraged that other parts of the city are being considered, and suggested Green Valley Ranch and Montbello to the northeast, or Harvey Park in southwest Denver. “Let’s spread the wealth,” she said.
Matt Saks, who lives in Park Hill, says he is happy that Denver abandoned City Park for the loop, but says the experience left him “dissatisfied and wary of future proposals by the parks department.” And, Saks and others expressed criticism over that it would take up to five years to make substantive improvements to the existing playground.
“They have agreed that the Dustin Redd playground is dangerous and decaying, and so if that’s the case it’s logical to make improvements right now,” Saks said. “Is this punitive? Yes.”
Denver City Councilman Albus Brooks – who had been supportive of the Loop in City Park – says he is satisfied with the outcome, as it has raised the profile of the project overall. In an interview with the Greater Park Hill News, Brooks said he plans to “let the dust settle” and, perhaps at the end of summer begin pushing to identify funds to fast-track improvements at the current playground.
“The parks department deserves credit for stopping the project in City Park,” Brooks said.
Read more about the original plans for City Park Loop, including criticism over the city’s process, in the December issue of the Greater Park Hill News, online at greaterparkhill.org.