Advocates for Denver’s parks had plenty of reason to be upset two years ago when the city approved a land swap that included a swath of open space slated for a school.
Whether legal or not, the land swap betrayed a longstanding rule that park land — and open space treated as park land — would not be turned over for development.
But developed it was, and the Joe Shoemaker School opened this fall.
So why were park defenders still in court last week trying to get an appeals court to rule in their favor? Much as we sympathize with their position, the sad fact is they lost and are wasting court time. Even a ruling the land be returned after the school outlives its usefulness would be meaningless. With care, schools can last a century or more. Dora Moore Elementary, for example, opened in 1889.
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