Denver Parks & Rec has big hopes for Cap Hill

Denver’s park system is nationally lauded, and proudly boasts that over 95% of its 725,000-plus residents can walk to a park within ten minutes. But there’s room for improvement in the city’s most densely populated neighborhood.

Capitol Hill is home to an estimated 16,500-plus people within an area of about 0.6 square miles, situated between two of the city’s most notable parks: Civic Center Park and Cheesman Park. Neither of those parks fit the city’s ten-minute walking goal for most Cap Hill residents, however.

Just two city-run parks are located in the neighborhood: Governor’s Park and the smaller, lesser-known Quality Hill Park. That doesn’t leave much room for Denver Parks & Recreation to work with, but staffers have high hopes for future investments in both spaces, including a vendor patio and porch swings at Quality Hill, and an amphitheater, movie lawn and 75-foot slide at Gov’s Park.

Work on the first phase of the project is kicking off this summer, but it will probably be a while before most of the exciting new activations show up.

Governor’s Park

Fences are up and the machinery is out at the popular park off Seventh Avenue, which is now undergoing Phase 1 of improvements. The northwest corner of the park and a good portion of the walking paths are expected to be off-limits through the fall.

Most of the sloped open area at Gov’s Park is currently filled with bluegrass, a “really thirsty sod,” as Parks & Rec project manager Brittany White puts it. She says the city’s urban ecology team identified native grasses and plants that require less water and are more pollinator-friendly, and they will replace the bluegrass within the fenced-off area. The changes were based on community engagement, White notes, while the rest of Gov’s Park north of the playground will remain bluegrass to give visitors the “traditional American lawn” experience.

Construction crews are now digging a path for a new walkway, staying wary of roots from old trees in the area, according to White; new irrigation and plants will be installed after the concrete path is finished. The project is funded by $350,000 from the Elevate Denver Bonds, a 10-year, $937 million package approved by voters in 2017.

Although it’s a short project by most standards, Phase 1 of Gov’s Park is just the first step in the Reimagine Cap Hill Parks Plan, a year-long research project largely based on resident feedback and current park conditions. According to the 138-page report released last year, Cap Hill’s two parks “have some of the lowest visitation numbers out of the city’s entire system.” As Denver continues pulling itself out of an “epidemic of loneliness” after COVID-19, Cap Hill’s parks could provide a “remedy,” the report suggests.

More seating, open space and areas for vendors and events were the top three requests during the community engagement phase, according to Parks & Rec.

“It’s about balancing a need for more flexible and dynamic gathering places, spaces where all ages play,” says Chelsea Bennouna, a senior planner at Parks & Rec. “This needs to function as a backyard for people who live here.”

And what else do people do in their backyards? Eat, play or sip coffee on a lazy Sunday morning, all of which Bennouna wants to see more of in Cap Hill. If the Reimagine Plan is carried out, Gov’s Park would have vendor spaces on both levels, as well as an amphitheater for concerts, a movie lawn, a climbing hill, all-age swings, and a nature discovery pod. And don’t worry, parents: There would still be a children’s playground. Bennouna’s favorite part of the proposal is a 75-to-80-foot slide that would run from the playground to the swing-set area.

Because Gov’s Park is located on a sloped block of Cap Hill, park planners try “to use the topography for exciting and cool elements,” Bennouna explains, pointing to the plan’s use of the incline for recreation and vegetation. “The storm water feature comes from a design for gardens that really follows that path so that the water can actually be used to support those gardens,” she adds.

Other parts of the Reimagine Plan for Gov’s Park include expanded picnic tables and seating, new planters and wider entrances.

But for now, Parks & Rec is focusing on the new pathway and plants in the northwest corner — and keeping your dog out of the construction area.

“We’re hoping that folks will stay on the path. I know Gov’s Park is very much used as an informal dog park right now,” White says. “We’ve seen evidence of dogs inside of our construction zone.”

From too much poop to off-leash activity, dogs may be the true rulers of Gov’s Park. Even the Reimagine Plan admits that dogs “pose a challenge to the park by compromising the safety and enjoyment of the park for other visitors.” But, try as they could, planners could not find a feasible off-leash solution because of the neighborhood’s density.

“I don’t think there’s a perfect solution for the material that a dog park needs. I’ve seen some that can be grass, but not in Denver. That doesn’t work in Denver with our climate and heavy use. Grass doesn’t really stay around,” White says. “It’s not part of our vision plan to have a dog park.”

Located on the corner of Pennsylvania and East 10th avenues, Quality Hill takes up less than 0.3 acres, but the small park is packed with history. It was built over 100 years ago in what was one of Denver’s wealthiest neighborhoods at the time. It recently became part of the Lavender Hill Cultural District, a recognized center of Denver LGBTQ+ culture and history.

During the pandemic, Quality Hill was a notorious center of homelessness and drug use. The park was cleared out in 2022 to serve as a temporary off-leash dog park, but the city said the location was too noisy, crowded and susceptible to litter to serve as a permanent dog park. Since 2024, Quality Hill has been used as a pocket park, with Lavendar Hill sign activations, some seating and a small tree canopy.

Although not as expansive Gov’s Park, Quality Hill is a “really valuable green space in the neighborhood,” according to Bennouna.

“There were a lot of people who really loved that [dog park], and there were a lot of residents who felt the opposite,” she says. “We considered that use really carefuly, and we studied if Gov’s Park or Quality Hill could have a space for dogs, but ultimately Cap Hill was too dense.”

Parks & Rec wants to see Quality Hill become more of a communal outdoor space, with hopes for an art-adorned bench, a small vendor space, a porch swing and “the front deck,” which Bennouna describes as a “big, shaded structure for picnics and hanging out.”

Before either of Cap Hill’s parks get major facelifts, though, the Parks & Rec plan still needs to pass a few more rounds of approval.

Finding the money

Installing a new amphitheater, movie space and 75-foot slide isn’t cheap. Even a porch swing costs money. White and Bennouna know they still have a ways to go before having all the funding they need to push the Reimagine Plan to completion. According to White, many of the proposals are still part of a “vision plan,” which requires official designs before department and council approval.

“The changes we often see between vision plans and actual designs come down to feasibility,” she says. “You stay true to that vision as much as possible.”

Then there’s the funding issue.

Phase 1 for Gov’s Park was a drop in the bucket for a $937 million package, but no other money is currently allocated for Gov’s Park or Quality Hill in the Elevate Denver bonds or the RISE Denver package, a $260-million set of bonds approved by voters in 2021. The city’s latest round of bonds, a $950-million package approved by voters last year, doesn’t list either Cap Hill park among its 21 approved Parks & Rec projects.

A $200-million city budget deficit doesn’t help, either.

But if enough people ask, the money could appear, Bennouna suggests.

“A lot of it comes down to city council and how budgets get prioritized, so if people are really excited about this vision plan and want to see it move forward as quickly as it potentially could, I would encourage them to reach out to their councilmembers,” she says.

That’s a tall task in a neighborhood largely filled with renters, but Parks & Rec doesn’t want this plan to sit on the shelf.

“We don’t do a vision plan just to do it,” Bennouna says. “This is a really detailed vision plan. and we intend for it to move forward as quickly as we can.”