The Park Hill Golf Course park will not be open by the end of summer.
That’s despite a pledge made by Mayor Mike Johnston and Parks and Recreation head Jolon Clark eight months ago.
Summer came, and the fences stayed up. Summer burned away, and the fences stayed up. Now, as summer ends, the fences will stay up into the fall.
City officials said they would need to wait for a lease to be signed with Westside Investment Partners. The developer owns the land and is trying to exchange it for a parcel by the airport.
“There is no lease,” wrote Stephanie Figueroa, a spokesperson for Denver Parks and Recreation, on Tuesday.
Without a lease, Westside won’t allow residents to access the park — something the company did allow during the pandemic, despite taking on some liabilities.
Will the land ever open up as a park? Not necessarily.
The city maintains that yes, even though the land swap with Westside has not been finalized and likely won’t be for several weeks, the park is a sure thing.
“The city and Westside are in final stages of due diligence and are on schedule to close the land exchange by early October,” Figueroa wrote.
But the deal could still fall apart — and if it does, Westside could continue to own the land.
Despite the uncertainty of the sale, millions of dollars of funding are in Johnston’s proposed 2026 budget for Park Hill Park-related employees and equipment. Additionally, the mayor is asking voters to approve $70 million in debt for the buildout of the first phase of the park as part of his Vibrant Denver bond package.
And the firm Sasaki is already leading a $1.5 million community visioning process about what the future of the park might involve.
Hundreds of residents have been participating in the planning, assuming the sale will be finalized soon.
So if the land swap does go through, when will the park actually open to the public?
“DPR will work diligently to ensure Denver’s newest open space is safe and open for passive use within 30 days of the closing,” Figueroa said.
Maybe by fall. Hopefully by winter.
