News Analysis: ‘Victory For The People’
The Odds Seemed Impossible, But It Happened. The Park Hill Golf Course Is On Track To Become Denver’s Fourth-Largest Park
Story and photos by Cara DeGette
GPHN Editor
An eight-year struggle to protect the former Park Hill Golf Course from development ended last month, suddenly and, it appears, decisively.
At a Jan. 15 press conference on the grounds of the now-defunct golf course, Denver Mayor Mike Johnston announced the deal: Westside Investment Partners has agreed to swap the 155-acre property it’s owned for nearly six years at 35th and Colorado Boulevard for a 145-acre commercial piece of land owned by Denver just south of Denver International Airport.
There are numerous additional details, but the upshot is the golf course property will become the fourth largest park in the city. It is the largest acquisition of parkland since Washington Park was added more than a century ago.
“The last time this city opened a park of this size, people came to the press conference in a horse and buggy,” Johnston told the assembled group of citizens and open space activists, city officials and reporters. “They came here before the world had ever seen a world war — that is the scale of how long it’s been since folks have come together from different parts of the city with different beliefs and different backgrounds to be able to say, let’s deliver something historic.”
“This,” added Denver Parks and Recreation Director Jolon Clark, “is a big deal.”
What makes this big deal utterly remarkable is that, were it not for a grassroots group of open space advocates, the property would be — with the blessing and the direct help of a former mayor and City Hall — well on its way to becoming the city’s latest commercial and residential development project.
Westside’s money and power
Westside, a deep-pocketed developer based in Glendale, Colo. paid $24 million for the land in 2019. At that time, the closed golf course property was protected by a city-owned conservation easement, which was supposed to forever protect the land from development. Any development would require the city to agree to surrender the easement. And clearly, the developer thought their gamble would pay off.
Indeed, the mayor at the time, Michael B. Hancock, as well as a majority of the Denver City Council, offered full support for development. With its money and influence and the help of powerful lobbyists, Westside initially approached the protective conservation easement as an inconsequential hurdle — even Denver’s city attorney at the time took the position that a simple vote of the city council was enough to make the easement go away.
Enter Save Open Space Denver (SOS Denver). Led by Park Hill residents Woody Garnsey and Penfield Tate and supported by Wellington Webb — who had secured the conservation easement in 1997 when he was mayor — the grassroots citizen group mobilized. In 2021, SOS Denver sponsored a citywide initiative that would require a future citywide vote to remove the conservation easement.
By a 60-40 majority, Denver voters — including an overwhelming majority of Park Hill voters — approved SOS Denver’s initiative, keeping the conservation easement intact. By the same margin that year, voters rejected a second ballot measure — pushed by Westside — asking voters to effectively invalidate SOS Denver’s initiative.
City doubles down
Mayor Hancock and his appointees responded by doubling down their support for Westside. Over the next two years, managers and employees — whose salaries are paid by taxpayers — were deployed to work with the developer on its private project.
It’s impossible to put a price tag on the total amount of taxpayer resources that Denver contributed to work with Westside to create its massive development plan. The project, a new metro district, would have been a commercial and residential development, with a portion becoming a dedicated park.
Nearly every city department pitched in, including Community Planning & Development, the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure, Department of Housing Stability, Economic Development, Department of Finance, Public Health and Environment and the City Attorney’s Office. Additionally, the city brought in outside consultants to convince citizens that development would be beneficial to northeast Denver neighbors.
Even the Parks and Recreation Department — the stewards of the city’s parks — was pro-development. Under the leadership of then-director Happy Haynes, multiple parks employees were assigned to work with Westside on its development plan for land that, remember, was supposed to be protected from development.
The final hurdle was, once again, the voters. Two years ago Westside launched what became a $1 million campaign to convince Denver voters to approve the mixed-use development.
Operating on a comparative shoestring, SOS Denver again mobilized. Denver voters again rejected Westside’s plan by a 2-1 margin. Park Hill voters again — including in the northeast neighborhoods immediately surrounding the golf course — overwhelmingly rejected the development.
The conservation easement protecting the property remained intact.
The will of the people
When he was initially running for mayor, Mike Johnston supported Westside’s plans. After the decisive city-wide vote rejecting it, however, and during the mayoral run-off election, Johnston told SOS Denver representatives that if he won he would respect the will of the people.
It took nearly two years after the election to close the deal. During last month’s press conference announcing the land swap and new regional park, Johnston invited five guest speakers to the podium: former Mayor Webb, Penfield Tate, Woody Garnsey, current Parks and Recreation Director Jolon Clark and city councilwoman Shontel Lewis (whose district includes the golf course). No one from Westside was there to speak.
“It’s because of community members who raised their voices today that we are all here,” Johnston said.
“Today,” said Webb, “is a victory for the people.”
“Today,” said Tate, “is a celebration of what collective action can do. We fought and beat the monied interests of the city time after time.”
Tate also acknowledged Johnston for “something obvious, but it isn’t always.”
That is, keeping his word.
“[Johnston] said, ‘if I become mayor this is gonna be a park. We are going to get it for the community, we are going to engage the community, and this is gonna be a park,” Tate said.
“He could have easily gone back on that and gone in another direction, ’cause we’ve seen other elected officials do that. He did not.”
Imagine A Great Space
Residents Invited To Help Plan Denver’s New Regional Park
Denver Parks and Recreation Director Jolon Clark says the new park will open this summer and will grow in a series of stages.
Expect things to be pretty wild-looking at first. The city will create entrances to the currently fenced-off former Park Hill Golf Course and will clear out the weeds and debris that has accumulated over the past several years. Watering the hundreds of mature trees on the land is already underway. The trees have been stressed (and some killed) from neglect while under the control of Westside Investment Partners. Existing trails will be repaired, and basic amenities, like picnic tables, will be added.
For the long term, Denver is launching a community-wide planning effort to determine what else people want for the park. The money to acquire and build out the park will come from the city’s Parks Legacy Fund, which voters approved in 2018.
Several years ago Save Open Space Denver released a rendering, pictured above, which was created by landscape architect Edward Shalkey. The rendering highlights what the property could look like as a regional park. Possible amenities include playgrounds, trails, an off-leash dog area, community gardens, ponds, sports fields, a skate park, water park, and more. Open space advocates say the rendering can be a good starting point.
Sign up for city updates on how to participate in community planning efforts for the regional park here: tinyurl.com/PHGCSignUp.
Read former Mayor Wellington Webb’s opinion piece about the preservation efforts of the Park Hill Golf Course property at this link.