Among Denver’s skyscrapers and along a well-traveled pedestrian corridor sits an urban park with the potential to draw even more people into downtown. And two organizations are now looking at options for the coveted space.
For years, Skyline Park has been home to a lot of part-time activities — whether movies in the park or an ice skating rink in the winter — and those activities have expanded in recent years to include lawn games, dog parks and, .
Denver Parks and Recreation and the Downtown Denver Partnership are also collaborating on a long-term vision for downtown that could result in more permanent fixtures at Skyline Park or at least a good idea of recurring events.
“Since the park was rehabbed about 12 years ago, we have come to realize there is still room for improvement in terms of the park’s infrastructure,” said Mark Bernstein, downtown area planner for Denver Parks and Rec. “By testing and using it as an outdoor laboratory, itap helping form long-term improvements.”
The two organizations are working together on the , a 20-year plan that seeks to activate the downtown corridor. In addition to Skyline Park, the plan also looks at Civic Center, Commons and Confluence parks and other areas in need of activation. The goal is to have all downtown residents living within a five-minute walk of a park and within three-minutes of an outdoor space.
Skyline Park has been a guinea pig of sorts as a convenient area to test things that could work as a permanent feature in other parks or return to Skyline Park, which runs between 15th and 18th streets along Arapahoe Street near the 16th Street Mall.
“Each one of those initiatives has helped give us ideas on things that are working and things that need tweaking,” said John Desmond, executive vice president with downtown environment for the Downtown Denver Partnership.
This year, the park brought back a play area for kids, lawn games and an off-leash dog area after some success last year. Organizers also launched a beer garden in the second block of the park which has gotten positive reviews so far.
“Itap getting bigger and bigger. Itap definitely led to people coming down here who wouldn’t use the park without the garden,” said Paul Potts, manager of Lowry Beer Garden, which is running this Skyline Park beer garden.
The garden opened Aug. 19 and will run through Sept. 15. When attending, patrons can purchase tokens for $2.50 each and exchange them for beer or food. They can also take part in games such as miniature golf, cornhole or ping-pong. Those games will likely be out until October.
“Itap more lively and active down here. I appreciate that. Itap a good place to go on a Friday night,” said Denver resident Virginia Coleman, who visited the beer garden last week.
At the end of each season, both Bernstein and Desmond said the programs are evaluated to see what worked and what didn’t. If programs are successful, they usually get a longer run the next year. The beer garden is likely to be extended next year because there is a need for more food and drink options in the park.
“We got an overwhelming response from the community and in public meetings we held that they wanted to see more food and beverage options in downtown parks of all kinds,” Desmond said.
Any permanent changes coming to the park are likely a ways off and it could be that the partnership and Denver Parks and Rec decide to rotate pop-up events long-term. Recommended changes at the park to accommodate any permanent fixture would be noted in the Outdoor Downtown plan and funding would be sought later.
“I would love to see momentum continue and do the same thing next year,” Bernstein said.