Thomas Mitchell
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Denver’s city center is set to receive a new park.
City Council approved Denver Parks & Recreation’s proposed resolution on Aug. 3, appropriating $3,195,280 from the Parks Legacy and Special Revenue Fund in an effort to purchase a 0.4-acre lot at 1028 N. Acoma St. for a future park in the Civic Center neighborhood, better known as the Golden Triangle. But the vote was close, passing 8-5 after some discussion.
Lisa Lumley, the city’s director of real estate, said it has taken Parks & Rec around 15 years to identify a plot of land for a park in the neighborhood, one of the city’s densest residential areas. Currently a vacant, dilapidated credit union, the location would meet two of the department’s six focus areas for new parks: being within a 10-minute walk of all residences and in a high-density area.
According to Parks & Rec’s proposal filed in June, the Golden Triangle only has one public park operated by the city: Civic Center Park, which has been under construction since last summer. But not everyone was on board, with naysayers pointing toward a tight budget already restricting the department.
“This is something that I struggle with, because this is a very worthwhile project,” Councilwoman Amanda Sawyer said before casting a “no” vote. “At the same time, I have spent hours and hours with constituents in District 5 who have really struggled.”
Sawyer said she worries about “feral teenagers” riding e-scooters through a new park in the Golden Triangle, and tearing up grass. “This is the responsibility of our parents. However, when this kind of behavior is happening in a park, it is also the responsibility of our park rangers to make sure this doesn’t continue.”
But Sawyer said the department does not have enough money to staff employees to support the park or put up signs, pointing to Mayfair Park, which is about to celebrate its 30th anniversary. According to Sawyer, Parks & Rec told her that new bathrooms or porta-potties could not be placed in the park because there aren’t enough funds.
“They are not getting the return on investment they deserve,” she said of city residents. “They can’t access a bathroom for a 30th anniversary celebration in one of our parks.”
Councilman Paul Kashmann agreed with Sawyer’s reasoning, adding that his constituents have complained about a lack of restrooms in the past, but he still ultimately sided with paying for the new park, which meets a certain set of funding standards that some maintenance projects don’t.
“We have to figure out a way to get these basic services funded,” he said before eventually voting “yes” on the new park.
Parks & Rec recently cut $11 million from its 2026 budget to help with the city’s $200 million budget shortfall. These cuts included ending cable TV at city-owned recreation centers and ending hazmat cleanup contracts, but Sawyer said budget cuts have also directly affected the build-out of parks already within the city, with residents “not getting the value for their dollar.”
“This is not okay,” she said.
Councilwoman Stacie Gilmore also voted against transferring the money for a new park, noting that her opposition was tinted with personal backlash after Parks & Rec allegedly slashed a maintenance project at Montbello Central Park in her district by $5.4 million. A new maintenance facility was supposed to be built on the park, she said, but now it is getting a $2.5 million metal Tuff Shed as a park closer to downtown is set to receive a new $13 million facility.
“I am very happy to vote ‘no’ on this in a way to push back on the irresponsible and non-accountable way that Denver Parks & Rec has been allocating funds and spending funds with no concern at all for equity,” she said, “especially those who have been underserved since the inception of Denver.”
Councilman Chris Hinds represents the concrete-laden Golden Triangle neighborhood. Hinds said he was also concerned with how Parks & Rec has been allocating funds — but the source of the money to buy the proposed park land, the Parks Legacy and Special Revenue Fund, is specifically for capital expenditures, not operating expenditures, so Hinds voted in favor of the fund transfer to purchase the park.
According to the proposal, Parks & Rec hopes to close on the property by the end of September and begin holding community engagement events regarding the future park at the beginning of 2028.
