Denver, just in time for the Democratic National Convention, has gotten a sudden dusting off.
New crosswalks have gone down throughout the city. Parks have been weeded. The city is on a pace to pave more alleys this year than last year and more curbs are getting repaired at a quicker pace than a year ago.
“I guess we need a DNC every two to three years to spruce things up,” said Denver Councilman Doug Linkhart, who a few months ago grumbled outside Denver’s City and County Building about the state of bare patches outside the very building where the council meets on a weekly basis. “It’s gotten things moving.”
He especially noticed all the new crosswalks in town and actually did a double take when he looked at a symbol of a bike lane that city crews put down along a road near the Colorado Convention Center.
“I don’t think there’s even supposed to be a bike lane there,” Linkhart said.
The algae that had put a slimy cover over Ferril Lake in City Park is gone. And there are plans to illuminate a historic fountain in the lake that once fascinated onlookers just before the city’s last Democratic convention in 1908. For more than a generation, the fountain has been little more than a concrete chunk in the middle of the lake.
Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper plans to have a 100th-year dedication for the fountain on Aug. 19 and have the city light up the 90-foot spires of water that will flow from the fountain.
But officials say the city hasn’t suddenly tapped hidden funds to get to long-neglected city projects.
“We certainly didn’t want to be a spoilsport for the Democratic National Convention,” said Jill McGranahan, spokeswoman for the Denver Parks and Recreation Department. “But we would have taken care of the parks no matter what.”
Volunteers raised money to fix the Prismatic Electric Fountain in Ferril Lake.
McGranahan said the parks department has tapped some volunteers to do some of the heavy lifting. Both Ameri Corps and Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado have gotten in on the act, as has the community service division of the Denver Sheriff’s Department.
“We take getting the parks in shape seriously, and we certainly would have invested resources whether the DNC was coming or not, but the convention was an incentive to get things taken care of,” she said.
Just a little over a month ago, some city officials complained that the parks seemed threadbare and groused about Denver being prepared to suddenly emerge on the world stage when Barack Obama has his historic DNC moment.
City Council President Jeanne Robb said the city still has a ways to go. Cheesman Park suffered after a power failure put some sprinklers out of commission, she said. She said she heard the city has hired a contractor, and she recently noticed city crews were putting down new sod in the park.
“Speer from Broadway to Downing needs sprinkler work,” she added. “But I see so much response, I hate to complain too much.”
Denver has more maintenance money to spend this year after receiving an influx of funds following passage of a $550 million bond infrastructure upgrade package and new tax levy that raises an extra $27.5 million annually for improvements.
Passage of the bonds and new tax is the real reason the city is on pace to resurface more than 200 miles of street lanes this year when it resurfaced less than 150 lane miles last year, officials say. And it’s also the reason the city has doubled the pace of the number of curb ramps built this year as well as increased repair of curbs and gutters, said Dan Roberts, director of street maintenance.
Ann Williams, spokeswoman for public works, said the department isn’t doing anything it wouldn’t normally do.
“This is not special,” she said. “It’s timely, but it was scheduled to be done this year.”
The material used for the new crosswalks is not paint but instead a durable plastic pavement marking tape.
Although the new pedestrian street markings are part of the department’s normal work program for the year, they’re scheduled to be finished before the convention, she said. In addition to the crosswalks, new markings also will get installed along the 16th Street Mall from Larimer Street to Broadway.
Christopher N. Osher: 303-954-1747 or cosher@denverpost.com
