City Park Alliance

The crane is down and the “heavy lifting” for the project is done. The Morgridge Family Exploration Center is on track be completed at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science by February 14, 2014. Work is underway on the new road between Montview and 17th Avenue. The road, which will run parallel to Colorado Boulevard and end in a loop, will have park access only, eliminating the disruptive and dangerous level of pass-through traffic in the park experienced in the past. In addition, the park road loop will assist in creating a safer school bus drop-off area, improving visitor car access, and ensuring easy pedestrian and bike access. 

To implement this road circulation project, you will soon see construction of a traffic circle on the east side of the Museum at the Montview and Colorado Boulevard entrance. The Montview park entrance will be closed beginning mid-June through early fall. The park, Zoo, and Museum can be accessed using 22nd or 23rd Avenue from Colorado Boulevard.

For more information on the Denver Museum of Nature and Science projects visit http://www.dmns.org/about-us/future-plans/

Friday, May 31 from 6-9pm at the City Park Pavillion and Bandshell

This annual event is provided by the City Park Alliance and City Council District 8.  Come for free ice cream and stay for a concert with the Denver Municipal Band.  This year’s event features free ice cream from Boulder Ice Cream, historical entertainment and costumes, jugglers, face painting, hat making, and more.

Visit the County Fair at City Park & District 8 Ice Cream Social web site for more details. 

The City Park Esplanade Fresh Market begins this Sunday.  Get the freshest and most nutritious local produce and prepared foods.

Sponsored by Kaiser Permanente. 
Sundays, May 12 – October 27, 9 am – 1 pm
E. Colfax Ave. & Columbine St.
http://www.coloradofreshmarkets.com/markets.html

B-Cycle at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science

New for 2013, there are two B-cycle stations now located in or near City Park.  The Denver Museum of Nature and Science now has a station with 21 bike slots, and the Denver Zoo has a station capable of handling 22 bikes.

B-cycle is Denver’s bicycle sharing program.  What started as an idea in the summer of 2007 in an effort to make Denver a more bike-friendly city, has grown into a huge success.
On November 12, 2012, Denver B-Cycle announced that the 500,000^th ride was taken.

B-Cycle at the Denver Zoo

This expansion into City Park is applauded by the City Park Alliance for several reasons.  In addition to providing additional transportation alternatives to the Denver Zoo and Museum of Nature and Science, the stations provide a new method for both tourists and community members to enjoy the City Park experience.  The stations also provide a unique access point to venture out further along several adjacent bike corridors such as the well traveled 16th Avenue, 23rd Avenue, and Montview Boulevard bike facilities.

The 2013 season for B-Cycle starts on March 18. More information on the Denver B-Cycle program as well as a station map can be found at the Denver B-Cycle web site: www.denver.bcycle.com

The team of PORT Architecture + Urbanism/Indie Architecture has been selected to develop the “City Loop” concept  at City Park.

Join Denver Parks and Recreation along with a consultant team led by Port Architects in a meeting to discuss how the public can be involved in the upcoming design process.

The meeting will be located at the City Park golf course restaurant, Bogey’s On the Park (2500 York Street), on March 20th from 5:30-7:30pm.

Denver Parks and Recreation has made its final selection from three design teams to move forward with “Re-imagine Play” at Denver’s City Park. The selected team of PORT Architecture + Urbanism/Indie Architecture developed the “City Loop” concept which was presented in a public meeting in July. The City will now work to put a contract in place with the PORT/Indie team and begin organizing a broad stakeholder group to move the project forward. Design for the selected concept will begin in the spring and will include several opportunities for public input.

“The PORT/Indie team was selected by the steering committee for their strong local presence, flexible design concept and plan to incorporate active uses in the design to promote healthy living,” said Lauri Dannemiller, Manager for Denver Parks and Recreation. Our goals for this project are to create a unique experience for City Park visitors and to connect the park to the entire community by creating a design that will engage children and adults alike.”

The “Re-imagine Play” competition started with eight designs that highly motivated, qualified and experienced design teams submitted. The eight concepts were displayed in different parts of Denver and on the Denver Parks and Recreation website to collect public input, which impacted the Re-imagine Play Competition Jury’s decision. After the July 24 public presentations, Denver Parks and Recreation collected additional public input for the Competition Jury to consider when selecting the winner.

To view renderings of the selected concept, visit http://www.Denvergov.org/reimagineplay. Throughout the selection process, the Denver Parks and Recreation Department has worked tirelessly to engage the public for their input on this project. In addition to previous public meetings and the presentations made in July, the Department has also conducted numerous road shows throughout the Denver community, put all information online and conducted surveys that resulted in hundreds of responses.

The proposed project area for the new playground at City Park is located in the western part of the park. It is in the general vicinity of the existing Dustin Redd playground. This large, popular wooden structure, built in 1996 by community volunteers, is fast approaching the end of its safe and useful lifespan. The need to remove this beloved but unsustainable structure opens up the opportunity to create a new space and experience that is well suited to City Park and will surpass expectations and stretch the imagination.

The overall budget goal for this project is $5 million for design, construction, capital maintenance and programming. While the City and County of Denver will provide some funding, the majority of the budget will be raised through grants, donations, and other fundraising efforts. The project is anticipated to be built in two phases, with a short-term fundraising goal of $3 million to complete the first phase. Additional elements will be added in a future phase as funding becomes available.

Please join the City Park Alliance board in volunteering on Saturday October 13th from 8AM to 12:45PM in helping “put the beds to bed”, a project to clean up some of City Park’s flower beds, including the Cordova Rock Garden, before Winter comes. This is a fun opportunity to both help improve the park as well as meet the City Park Alliance board! To sign up, contact Tina Meyers at 303-698-4904 or tina.myers@denvergov.org. When you register, please let her know that City Park Alliance sent you and you would like to sign up to help with the Cordova Rock Garden.
You’ll need to bring work gloves, a water bottle, sunscreen, dress for any weather (including wearing a hat and sturdy footware). All tools and materials will be provided by Denver Parks and Recreation. The City Park Alliance board looks forward to seeing you there!