The time has come to take back Denver’s Civic Center park.
Use is the best defense against abuse, and boosters have long been trying to encourage everyday people to bring lunch to the park and attend events there.
But it’s not exactly the most appealing space in the city.
All we have to do here at The Denver Post is look out the window or walk out the front door. You see the occasional drug deal in progress and a smattering of vagrants hanging around.
Yes, we know that statistics say crime in the park is petty and has declined during the past two years. But on most days the park doesn’t feel like a place where you want to linger, and that’s a shame.
The park is the centerpiece of public life in downtown Denver — a 16-acre respite of greenery between City Hall, the Capitol, the Denver Art Museum and The Post.
School children visiting the Capitol walk through the park, as do out of town visitors. It really ought to be the kind of place where you want to plunk down under a tree on a summer day and read a book.
Unfortunately, it’s not. Earlier this month, a gang-related shooting occurred within a few hundred yards of the park about 6:30 p.m. That area along Broadway, including the park, is an active crime zone, according to a police commander quoted in a Post story this past week.
“Civic Center routinely shows up as a hot spot,” Denver Police Commander Deborah Dilley told The Post. “I ask my officers to spend as much time there as possible.”
We understand there is a fine line for law enforcement to walk when policing places like Civic Center park. There’s nothing illegal about spending your days hanging around the park, and indeed, people who are minding their own business and soaking up a bit of sunshine don’t deserve to be hassled.
So what’s to be done?
Tucked into the bond issues that city voters approved in 2007 was $9.5 million for upgrading various structures within the park, including the Greek Theater, the Voorhies Memorial and the Seal Fountain. Work is expected to begin by the end of the year.
Sprucing up the park will help, but alone, it won’t be enough. The park must be used, and it needs permanent attractions to draw people there. When there is organized activity in Civic Center, the shady activity goes elsewhere.
The place has some big festivals — such as the Capitol Hill People’s Fair, the Summer Farmers’ Market and A Taste of Colorado — which make for a festive atmosphere.
A proposal to install a kiosk along Broadway where people could buy coffee and lunch could inject some life into the park on a regular basis. It would be a smart move.
The Civic Center Conservancy, a non-profit dedicated to the park, is embarking on a plan to expand activities in the park, and that would be a good thing as well.
The park, which opened in 1919, should be the heart and soul of downtown Denver. It is on the National Register of Historic Places and is the city’s premiere public gathering place. It ought to be an inviting place as well.
