Developer seeks way to create private park in Denver
| July 22, 2009 | 5:01 AM
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Imagine a lush, green, 23-acre pedestrian park in lower downtown Denver, east of Coors Field.
That’s one of the dreams of Amy C. Harmon, head of Urban Market Development, who presented a proposal to the Denver City Council’s public works committee Tuesday.
The idea for the park, inspired by Chicago’s Millennium Park, came from a meeting in May 2008 in which neighborhood groups, businesses, architects and developers brainstormed about creating a communal gathering place.
But first the city has to approve the creation of the Dave Cook Park Metropolitan District and the Denver Legacy General Improvement District.
Since most of the land for the proposed Denver Legacy Park is privately owned, the creation of the special districts would allow landowners to have some say on how their land will be used. The two entities also would give property owners and residents within the district the authority to raise funds to build and maintain the park.
The metropolitan district would manage the property, while the general improvement district would give Denver officials some say about how the park is developed and used.
As Harmon envisions the project, the first phase is the construction of a pocket park, which she dubbed the 24th Street Plaza. It will be created along 24th Street, between Larimer Street and a little beyond Blake Street. The plaza, estimated to cost $4.7 million, will be the entryway to the Denver Legacy Park. The borders of the larger project are 22nd Avenue on the west, Wazee Street to the south, Broadway to the east, and train tracks to the north. Harmon estimates that the Denver Legacy Park will cost $100 million to develop.
The City Council will take up the creation of the two special districts next month, with a public hearing on the issue Aug. 10. If the measure passes, property owners and residents in the special districts will vote in November on how to raise money for the projects.
Amy C. Harmon, Dave Cook Park, Denver Legacy Park, general improvement district, Urban Market Development metropolitan district
