‘Central’ Rec Center focus of Sept. 15 meeting
■ Public will be asked to discuss preferences for either new Congress Park construction or buying a new site
BY RORY SEEBERThe Parks & Recreation Department will host a Sept.15 open house to “gather public input on site selection for a new recreation center in central Denver.” The meeting will be held in Mitchell Hall of Denver Botanic Gardens, 1005 York, 6-8 pm. The public will be asked to discuss preferences for either new construction surrounding the Congress Park pool, 9th & Josephine, or acquiring a new site
The November 2007 bond issue passed by voters included a total of $11 million earmarked for acquiring a site and designing a recreation center for the central city. The bond issue will not supply funds for the construction of a central rec center, only for its site and design. The area with a rec center “service gap” to be served by the new facility includes northeast City Council District 10, southeast District 8 and southwest District 5. District 10 is the only Council district in the city that doesn’t have any indoor city rec centers.
An “initial public conversation” on the rec center bond project was hosted in April 2008 by District 10 City Councilwoman Jeanne Robb. The approximately 50 attendees at that forum, which used a “Build-a-Center Workshop” charrette-style format, primarily developed suggestions for programs and facilities for the future center. Possible sites proposed at that gathering included: the vacant square block Gove Middle School property between 13th & 14th on the east side of Colorado Blvd. (the most favored location); the former University Hospital and Children’s Hospital campuses (Children’s is now earmarked as the future location of a new Exempla/St. Joseph hospital); Congress Park; the northeast quadrant of Cheesman Park; and the former Church in the City site near the northeast corner of Colfax & Josephine.
PHOTO BY JEFF HERSCHTHE TENNIS COURTS ARE A HIDDEN GEM in Congress Park, located north of the popular outdoor swimming pool. The park is one possible site for the future ‘Central Denver’ recreation center. The location of the future center will be the subject of a Sept. 15 public meeting to be held at 6 pm in Mitchell Hall of Denver Botanic Gardens, 1005 York. Call Parks & Rec at 720-913-0633 for information.
Picking a location that the city already owns, such as Congress Park, would eliminate the need to purchase property for the center and free up some funds. The majority opinion of participants in the earlier meeting favored a rec center with a multi-generational approach, a large fitness center, a multi-use pool and exercise room, and a two-court gym, among other amenities. For information on the September forum, contact Jill McGranahan of Parks & Rec at
720-913-0633 or jill.mcgranahan @denvergov.org.
They obviously need a skate park.
KooK
4 comments:
Very cool KooK. It looks like we're gonna need your help on this one. When is the next meeting?
her email is jill.mcgranahan @denvergov.org you should email her.
i just sent her a long-winded email and she said she forwarded it to the city planner. as it turns out she has two kids (4 and 8) who sk8 denver park.
very cool. Will do. I'll see if I can get CCPS to send some sort of a form letter as well.
Tim and I talked about something like that today.
Be careful and insistent: The last rec. center redo that Denver did ended up with some awful prefab skate obstacles. It was an absolute shame and a slap in the face to those of us who had been hounding and meeting with Denver re: skateparks.
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