Denver Parks & Rec calls off survey after Montbello shooting

Denver Parks & Recreation just pulled a survey and canceled multiple meetings following a fatal shooting at one of the city’s rec centers.

Initially, the department had been touting a “Recreation Center Strategic Plan” survey for Wednesday, May 27, along with two open houses and a virtual meeting scheduled for between now and June 3. The idea was to gather public input on how the department should invest in the city’s recreation centers over the next 20 to 30 years.

But on the day that the survey was supposed to launch — and the first open house was planned for the Washington Park Recreation Center — the department went radio silent. The open house dates were struck through on the website. The survey was nowhere to be seen.

The enigmatic swerve came almost a week after 14-year-old Mikail Nasir Khalid Payne was shot and killed at the Montbello Recreation Center on May 21. A community meeting was then held on May 26 by Parks & Rec and the Denver Police Department.

When Westword asked if the postponement of the survey and meetings was due to the Montbello closure, spokesperson Stephanie Figueroa said, “That’s correct.”

The department has not yet released a public statement on the postponement of the project.

The shooting

Details surrounding the Montbello shooting remain sparse.

The DPD announced the arrest of a juvenile suspect on May 22, but did not release any information due to the suspect’s age. The juvenile was arrested on suspicion of first-degree murder and was said to have known Payne.

The Denver mayor’s office issued a public statement the same day. “No statement can capture the grief we feel today,” Mike Johnston said. “Our hearts are broken. To the family of the victim and the entire Montbello community, know that you have our deepest sympathies and our unwavering support.” When Johnston was a state senator, his office was in Montbello.

A GoFundMe was started for Payne’s family, which reached nearly $24,000 in five days. On the fundraiser, the family said that Payne was not involved with “gangs or street activity.”

“On the day of the tragedy, he was standing up for his brother during an altercation and did not initiate violence. In the midst of the confrontation, another teenager allegedly shot Mikail at close range,” the family said.

Montbello Recreation Center was closed immediately after the shooting; according to Parks & Rec, it will be closed indefinitely.

Moving forward

The DPD and Parks & Recreation representatives met with families at the Boys and Girls Club in Montbello on May 26 to discuss the future of the center and how the community can combat youth violence.

Jolon Clark, head of Parks & Recreation, said the department doesn’t have a plan for when the center will reopen.

“We’re going to work with all of our city partners. We’re going to work with the community,” he said, adding that they need to come together to make sure “our rec centers are still the safest places for our young people to be.”

“We advocated that the Montbello Recreation Center needs to be reopened as soon as possible for the community to both grieve and heal as we try to determine next steps,” Denver Councilperson Stacie Gilmore said in a follow-up post after the meeting.

Parks & Recreation did not tell Westword when the “Recreation Center Analysis and Strategic Plan” information gathering will restart — or if it will restart at all.

It’s unclear if the survey, which was created before the shooting, included any questions about community safety at rec centers.

The department, along with Johnston, did cut the ribbon on a new pool at the Swansea Recreation Center on May 26, though.