by Jessica Hughes | Apr 18, 2025 | Main Articles
by Jessica Hughes
Cherry Creek Shopping Center now charges employees to park in its garages.
Employees and customers now both must pay to park in the Cherry Creek West Deck garage.
Cherry Creek Shopping Center employs over 3,000 people.
The Cherry Creek Shopping Center now requires employees to pay to park when clocking in for work, a change that has sparked confusion and frustration among workers. As of April 1, 2025, employees now must pay $20 per month if paid online or $25 per month if paid in person. Prior to this change, employees paid a one-time $30 refundable deposit to park.
When news broke out about this change, Michael Wilson, the Cherry Creek Shopping Center General Manager, said this had been in the plans since the mall first announced paid parking for customers in 2017, which received a similar response from mall patrons.
“Free parking for our tenant employees was always intended to be a short-term benefit that we offered when we originally implemented our paid parking program,” Wilson said. If this had always been in “the works,” why was it announced eight years later? A question Wilson did not specifically answer.
In 2017, the announcement of paid parking for customers was framed as a benefit that would ensure mall patrons had a spot to park by preventing non-shoppers taking up spots in the garage and parking lots. In fact, a Denverite article published in 2017, stated that the “roughly 3,500 people who work within the shopping center won’t be expected to pay for parking, the mall previously said in a statement.”
There was even reassurance that “fees are expected to be waived for the Cherry Creek Fresh Markets, Cherry Creek Arts Festival, Cherry Creek Sneak, and other community events,” which is also not the case anymore.
Employees are outraged both with the change and the timing of its announcement. “I don’t drive to work, so I don’t have to worry about it, but I still think it’s a crummy thing to do,” says a current employee at the Warby Parker store. “Everyone at this location thinks it’s stupid and is a cash grab from the mall by exploiting its employees. They’re basically pricing out people who want to work here. It’s a raw deal on all sides.”
But in a city where you pay to park almost anywhere you go, this doesn’t seem too far out of left field. “Free tenant parking is not a benefit widely offered at other businesses in the Cherry Creek neighborhood other than for those retailers who choose to pay for their employees’ parking, many of those spaces are significantly more per month.”
Cherry Creek Shopping Center.
He’s correct. Christina Lewis, a full-time salaried employee at Brillant Earth located in Cherry Creek North, pays $140 a month to park in the Clayton Lane West Garage, adjacent to Whole Foods. And with monthly parking rates at the Fillmore Plaza Garage even higher, at $170 a month, $20 a month doesn’t seem like much. But for both the mall employees who are part time high school and college students and the Simon Property Group who owns the mall, the monthly fee adds up.
With roughly 3,000 employees working at the mall, this new fee could generate around $900,000 per year (assuming each employee paid the full monthly fee of $25), a significant amount that plays out well for Simon Property Group, but not its workers.
“It’s $240 a year just to come to work. That sucks,” says the employee at Warby Parker. They say some stores are paying for employee parking. “Particularly billion-dollar corporate stores like Sephora. But some either don’t have the money to pay for their employees or are greedy themselves and refuse to.”
Employees also haven’t heard of any plans about how the additional money might be used. “There’s nothing we see that money going toward. No mall security, no nicer facilities, no fixes when we need them,” says the Warby Parker employee. When asked if there were any plans for improvement with additional income, Wilson did not provide any details or insight into this question.
With no planned improvements on the docket and plenty of back peddling about the rationale behind the decision, this new change seems to only hurt employees and benefit the wealthy corporation implementing it.
All photos by Jessica Hughes
by Charles Bonniwell | Apr 18, 2025 | Main Articles
City Council To Decide On June 30th Whether To Eliminate All Parking Requirements
by Charles C. Bonniwell
Parking Woes: Denverites may find it increasingly difficult to locate parking spaces around Denver if the City Council adopts a proposal to eliminate all parking requirements in the city.
The Denver Planning Commission has passed on a recommendation to the Denver City Council to let developers decide what, if any, parking will be provided for a project, and allow existing businesses and housing complexes to eliminate any and all existing parking requirements.
Denver has some of the least demanding parking requirements in the state with city ordinances requiring:
1 parking space per dwelling unit.
2 parking spaces per retail or office space.
4 parking spaces per thousand feet of a bar or restaurant space.
In comparison, the City of Glendale requires 1.5 parking spaces per dwelling unit, 4 per thousand feet of retail or office space and 11 per th
Flor Alvidrez: The Councilwoman for District 7 believes that by adopting the proposal for eliminating all parking requirements for Denver the city will be helping to fulfill its moral obligation to address climate change.
ousand feet of bar or restaurant space.
The Planning Board’s recommendation is strongly supported by Mayor Mike Johnston and various more progressive City Council members. “Let the market decide” is not a phrase often used by progressive politicians but is constantly invoked in this parking battle. Opponents have responded
Kevin Flynn: The District 2 Councilman worries the elimination of all parking requirements will result in fewer housing projects in Denver for families.
that, in fact, if “let the market decide” is a new guiding principle there is no reason for zoning laws or planning commissions to exist at all.
Rachel Marion, Denver Planning Board member, argued that doing away with all parking requirements would “open up a lot of creativity, development, and vibrancy downtown and in a number of spaces.”
One disputes that it would also result in far fewer empty parking spaces in various parts of the city and making it more difficult to drive to a Denver location. According to proponents of the proposal, such a result would be a positive and not a negative result of the proposal.
Progressives generally do not support the use of automobiles since, among other detriments, it increases the use of fossil fuels, which in turn increases global climate change. They argue individuals, if forced to, will walk, use bikes, or employ public transportation. City Councilwoman Flor Alvidrez has asserted, regarding the proposal, that Denver has a moral obligation to address climate change, and the proposal is one way to help address that obligation.
Not all members of Denver City Council are on board with eliminating all parking requirements. Councilwoman Amanda Sawyer has asserted that she has surveyed her constituents and concluded: “My residents don’t want this.”
Amanda Sawyer: The District 5 Councilwoman has stated her residents simply do not want the proposed elimination of all parking requirements for the City and County of Denver.
City Councilman Kevin Flynn noted that the proposal will limit new housing for families as parents with young children often depend on automobiles to take the entire family to a location.
The cost of providing a parking space is estimated to be $50,000 and thus developers generally seek to limit the number of spaces they need to provide. If possible, they prefer to cannibalize existing street parking but that may make it difficult not to clog up residential streets across the city.
In some residential streets, street signs have already appeared declaring parking on a particular street is restricted to “residents only.” Opponents of the proposal also fear that owners of apartment buildings. will see the proposal as an opportunity to build on lots for a cash infusion.
Colorado citizens living outside Denver are not immune from the desire by some to get rid of parking requirements. Last year, the Colorado Legislature passed a law HD 24-1304 which stopped local governments from enacting and enforcing minimum parking laws for apartments and other multi-family residential projects near high frequency bus and train lines in Colorado’s largest metro areas. It is anticipated that 15 home rule cities will file a lawsuit claiming that the law violates the state constitution regarding the powers of home rule cities in Colorado.
It has become clear that many politicians both locally and statewide view the use of automobiles by individuals as undesirable and it must be restricted to the greatest extent possible for the common good. Whether the citizens of Denver and Colorado concur has yet to be determined.
by Valley Gadfly | Mar 28, 2025 | Main Articles
As Civic Center’s Next 100 Plan Gets Set To Start, Hope Is Change Will Enliven City Core, Reduce Crime
by Glen Richardson
Civic Center Today: Civic Center Park was constructed in 1917 as an open stage with murals by local artist Allen Tupper True.
By creating a civic renaissance of sorts, Denver hopes the makeover of Civic Center Park at the intersection of Colfax Ave. and Broadway — one of the Mile High City’s five crime hotspots — will help bring people back and turn around downtown.
The park is currently little more than a threadbare notion of civic grandeur that few people use besides the homeless and skateboarders. With constant growth of the Golden Triangle neighborhood as the 16th Street Mall renovation nears completion, Civic Center Park will connect the two and optimistically serve as a gathering spot for events and festivals.
In early 2024, Denver Parks & Recreation contracted with Studio Gang to lead the Phase 1 design of the Civic Center “Next 100” plan. Proposed changes include improvements to the Greek Theater, Central Promenade, and South Plaza. The Landmark Preservation Committee approved the initial design plans on January 21 of this year.
Boost Daily Use
Civic Center Park is Denver’s first National Historic Landmark, and city leaders say honoring its history is critical to its future. Furthermore, they believe the park needs to accommodate its traditional uses while also encouraging increased daily use.
Modifications and alterations being proposed include to Bannock Street, the Greek Amphitheater, Central Promenade, plus a new “central gathering” feature th
Seating Shift: A rendering of new seating for the Greek Theater in Civic Center Park. The curved stairs in the bowl will be removed, which some experts say is a historical feature. City & County of Denver photo
at has yet to be developed. Parks & Recreation requested and has received comment and suggestions from the public as they get ready to begin the major transformation.
Located at the heart of the city and surrounded by key civic and cultural institutions, Civic Center Park has in the past, and is expected to continue serving as a significant gathering spot for cultural events, festivals, and First Amendment rallies.
Makeover Features
The makeover will feature good-looking greenspaces, improved pedestrian access, and community event sites to attract increased usage. Direction that the theater’s audience faces will change from south to north. In addition to the direction the audience faces, the stage’s openings change from northward to south. A new stage is being added near the park’s center; thus, the amphitheater bowl will function in reverse of how it does currently.
More importantly, a new food truck promenade is being added. Furthermore, landscapers are creating fresh, innovative garden spaces. Finally, a memori
Proposed Remodel: A rendering of the proposed changes to the Greek Theater in Denver’s Civic Center Park designed by globally-renowned architectural firm Studio Gang. City & County of Denver photo
al to disability activists of the Gang of 19 will be installed.
Civic Center Park’s new designs are being created by Studio Gang, a Chicago-based architecture and urban design practice. Studiotrope Design Collective — the Denver-based architect firm that designed Levitt Pavilion and upgrades to the new Central Library — are assisting with the design project. Landscaping is being done by Philadelphia’s OLIN with assistance from Tina Bishop of Denver’s Mundus Bishop.
Small Crowd Design
Significantly, the new park designs are being created to allow for increased individual, daily use versus the huge events of the past. You’ll recall, the park has hosted everything from sports championship parades to the massive Denver PrideFest, and Cinco de Mayo Festival. With the downsize of events, park features are being spread across a broader area of the park.
This time the designers want the space more usable for events that serve 1,000 people or fewer. That will make events more cost-effective for community groups using the space. Moreover, audiovisual infrastru
Disability Honor: Rendering of Studio Gang’s memorial commemorating Denver’s Gang of 19 disability advocates for Civic Center Park.
cture is being added within the park.
Although the structure around the amphitheater bowl is a historic landmark, the bowl of the theater was rebuilt in 2004 and is no longer considered historic, so adding seats and altering its orientation is allowed. The new stage will be opposite the current theater stage, with an arch cover over the stage.
Stage Of Steel
The arch over the new stage will be made mostly of steel, but Studio Gang designers are still deciding on the material to use. The goal is to use material between the steel beams that allows some light to pass through the structure.
The updated design also includes new seats. They will be built in a radial pattern that can be opened or closed based on the size of the event. Visitors will also be able to sit inside the historic colonnade walls of the amphitheater. The seating will also be used by those having lunch at events such as Civic Center EATS. In addition to the seats, people can use the stage area for yoga classes and other activities, not just musical performances.
Another park upgrade is that the amphitheater bowl will be wheelchair accessible, with properly sloped pathways around the outer edge of the amphitheater plus the main seating bowl. Those paths will connect all the way to the southern plaza, something that currently is not possible for those who use wheelchairs.
Southern Plaza Facelift
Voorhies Memorial: Memorial in Civic Center Park was home to a temporary art display in honor of 2020 World Day of Remembrance.
A facelift is also being given to the southern plaza near East 14th Ave. A memorial is being created to honor the Gang of 19 — disability activists led by Reverend Wade Blank that ditched their wheelchairs and crawled onto then-inaccessible RTD buses at Colfax and Broadway in 1978.
Those demonstrations caused RTD to become the first mass transit system in the nation to be fully wheelchair-accessible.
The memorial will feature a large central feature bearing the words “we will ride,” as well as seating, trees, and other information about the Gang of 19.
Promenade Plans
Aside from the amphitheater and the space directly around it, the north-south promenade across the park will be revamped, as will several other of the park amenities.
The promenade is currently the only active space in the park. That causes crowding in the one area, while much of Civic Center’s 12-acre urban oasis isn’t used nearly enough. Garden rooms on the east and west sides of the promenade will reorient current planting plots which are now only on the west side of the promenade.
Finally, a new public garden walk will be placed on the southwest side of the park between the Greek Theater and the City & County Building. Both spaces will be planted with year-round or perennial foliage. Current gardens are effective, but not accessible to the public from the promenade.
by Jessica Hughes | Mar 28, 2025 | Main Articles
by Jessica Hughes
Inside Gables Vista where bullet holes ripped through the lobby. Resident photo
No matter the price tag for rent, renter’s rights still matter. Gables Vista apartments in Cherry Creek, where rent prices average $2,000 per month, has garnered much criticism from its residents. Built in 2020, it only took the property five years to rack up a myriad of safety and habitability concerns. When a local resident first moved in, she described the building as being very safe, upscale, and, in general, had a positive initial experience. But in the last two years, things have changed and not for the better.
The first incidence of note she remembers took place in November 2023 with a drive-by shooting in front of the property. Since then, she had heard about cars getting broken into at the property over the last year, packages stolen from the front desk, and the concierge’s car stolen in 2024 from the guest parking lot. With crime ramping up at the property, she said she felt like the management team wasn’t being proactive enough in preventing these crimes.
But the most recent drive-by shooting on June 29, 2024, frightened her the most when multiple shots were fired into the lobby and ricocheted into a fourth-floor apartment. According to several residents, the family member of another resident had invited people into the building for a party, who were identified as aggressive and harassing other residents — despite the property’s policy of only two guests per resident at the pool and other public amenities spaces. After eventually being kicked out, the party crew continued out front harassing others and then that’s when roughly 20 shots were fired into the building.
The bullet holes shot into the building were left without repair for months and communication from management about the incident lacked empathy and any real concern for their safety according to residents. Despite safety concerns and expressed needs for additional security, she says management never implemented any additional safety enhancements like 24/7 security, even though management claimed an increase in patrol which she never witnessed.
In addition to safety concerns, the property experienced a slew of maintenance issues, including a carbon monoxide leak with little to no communicat
Interior damage at Gables Vista residents were forced to live amongst for days. Photo from Google reviews: Roy Ben Tzvi
ion from management, a gas leak and building-wide gas shut down leaving residents with no access to hot water or gas ranges for several days, and failed pipe repairs that caused two floods in the building’s 4th floor and 3rd floor parking garage, which prompted some residents to call the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
Beyond our interview with this particular resident, a simple search on Google for Gables Vista reveals numerous one-star Google reviews from residents who have plenty to say about living conditions at this property. Some include: “Want bullet holes in your lobby doors for 3 months? Broken elevators and hot tubs that take 1-2 months to fix? Broken fridges take 2.5 months to fix? This was all in the last 6 months — been here for 3+ years and Gables Vista has become unlivable. Don’t recommend to anyone and will be leaving as soon as we can,” said Max Carlson from Google Reviews.
Another review from Evan Haas said, “Such a shame. New staff every week because they’re tired of tenants complaining about all of the things wrong with the building. Management refuses to address anything. Since the summer we’ve had break ins, cars stolen, drive by shootings, multiple water pipe leaks (not even winter), gas leaks, and the only hot tub has been down for a total of 4 months. And if you try to leave, they force you to pay to break your lease.”
4th floor flood at Gables Vista that left residents in peril for days. Photo from Google reviews: Roy Ben Tzvi
The reviews continue warning others, “DO NOT move in here,” each coupled with photos and videos of tenants walking through inches of water from the flooding on the 4th floor.
The living conditions at Gables Vista got so bad that she reached out to the building inspector with the City and County of Denver, the CDPHE, and the office of councilwoman Amanda Sawyer explaining their concern for safety and habitability issues. Also trying to understand their legal rights as renters, she sought out information from the Colorado Poverty Project. Providing insight into the Warranty of Habitability, a specialist from the CPP cited…
“Under C.R.S. 38-12-503(3), if a tenant finds their residential premises uninhabitable due to a condition, notifies the landlord, and the landlord doesn’t respond within the specified timeframes (14 days for regular issues, 7 days for urgent ones), it’s presumed the landlord breached the lease. Then, it’s up to the landlord to prove otherwise.”
“According to C.R.S. 38-12-503(4) as modified as of May 3, 2024, if a condition seriously affects the tenant’s life, health, or safety, the landlord must offer alternative housing at the request of the tenant and at no cost to the tenant within 24 hours from that request. This housing should be like the tenant’s current place (including the same number of beds as the uninhabitable unit) and within 5 miles of the uninhabitable unit. The landlord is responsible for paying reasonable costs and a per diem for expenses that the tenant needs to pay to relocate to the alternative housing. If the alternative housing is needed for more than 48 hours, the landlord must either provide a kitchen setup or offer a daily allowance for m
Building windows at Gables Vista sat unfixed for months after the shooting in June 2024. Photo from Google reviews: Max Carlson
eals and expenses.”
Residents say they received an email from management offering to reimburse for a day at Colorado Athletic Club to shower when water had been shut off for 12 hours due to a pipe repair, with no indication of when the water would be turned back on. And when an entire floor flooded, residents were sent emails stating they would not be put up into hotel rooms or reimbursed for food or other needs. Despite Colorado law, it appears on a few occasions that Gables Vista failed its tenants.
Amidst all of these issues, residents also learned the lease had been recently revised to not include a lease-break option, a $100 lease change fee was added as well as an extra charge for maintenance, and a $100 admin fee to renew your lease. One resident even reported her checking account information was removed from the pay platform leaving her with only debit or credit options, which charge a fee.
All of this has left current residents wondering “What’s next?”
Gables Vista sits at 375 S. Jackson St. in Cherry Creek. The 12-story property holds around 250 units and is owned and operated under Gables Residential. When asked how Gables Vista management was handling these issues, they declined to comment.
by Mark Smiley | Mar 28, 2025 | Main Articles
Tickets For The Wednesday Evening Concert Series Are On Sale Now
by Mark Smiley
July 16: A Tribute to Joni Mitchell, featuring vocals by Front Range mainstays, Liz Barnez, Rebecca Folsom, and Celeste Krenz. This concert sold out Swallow Hill’s 300 seat room in the fall, and the band is excited to bring it outdoors this summer.
Music and memories go hand in hand. Hearing a beloved song from our youth can transport us back in a way few other things can, while creating new memories in the process.
Swallow Hill Music is proud to announce the return of tribute concerts at Four Mile Historic Park on Wednesday evenings this June and July. The concerts will start on June 4 and run every Wednesday until July 16. The Denver-based music nonprofit introduced its lineup of tribute shows last summer and music lovers responded in record-breaking numbers, creating a multigenerational experience — and memories — in the process.
Picking up on last summer’s momentum, this year’s lineup welcomes U2 tribute band Bullet The Blue Sky, Fleetwood Mac tribute Rumours, Santana tribute Santa Rios, and Rolling Harvest, a Bob Dylan-Neil Young tribute.
Returning to the concert series are Denver’s venerable Grateful Dead tribute band Shakedown Street, and Sugar Britches with their John Prine tribute show.
Rounding out the lineup is A Tribute to Joni Mitchell, featuring vocals by Front Range mainstays, Liz Barnez, Rebecca Folsom, and Celeste Krenz. This concert easily sold out Swallow Hill’s 300 seat room in the fall, and the band is excited to bring it outdoors this summer.
Pack a picnic dinner and spread out on the lawn at Four Mile Historic Park to take in a night of unforgettable music in a family-friendly setting. Outside food & non-alcoholic drinks and coolers are allowed, but outside alcohol is not permitted. An onsite bar will be available.
The Wednesday night concerts begin at 6:30 p.m., with Four Mile Historic Park opening at 5:30 p.m.
See the full lineup and get complete details on the website mentioned below. As a nonprofit, ticket purchases to all Swallow Hill productions help support bringing more music to the Denver metro community through concerts, as well as our music classes and music in preschool programs. Thank you for supporting summer concerts with Swallow Hill Music.
Visit swallowhillmusic.org//four-mile for a complete schedule and for tickets. Tickets are $20 and $15 for Swallow Hill and Four Mile Members. Kids ages 4-12 are $10, children 3 and under are free. Four Mile Historic Park is located at 715 S. Forest Street in Denver.
by Charles Bonniwell | Feb 19, 2025 | Main Articles
155 Acres Will Be A Permanent Park
Wellington Webb Hailed As A Hero
by Charles C. Bonniwell
Victor: Former Mayor Wellington Webb helped lead the years-long struggle to keep the old Park Hill Golf Course as Open Space and not a dense mixed-use development.
Coming Soon: The old Park Hill Golf Course will be converted into a regional park to open this summer.
A decades long battle on whether the 155 acres which comprised the old Park Hill Golf Course would be a permanent park and open space or paved over for a dense mixed-use development has finally reached a conclusion. The Park Hill residents overwhelmingly appeared wanting an open space park but aligned against them was a developer (Westside Investment Partners) who stood to make tens of millions of dollars from development with the strong backing and power of the mayor, City Council, and all of the agencies of city government. It appeared inevitable that the development would occur notwithstanding what the residents earnestly wanted. Citizens almost never win this type of battle yet this time it was different.
Opposing the developer/government juggernaut was an underfunded rag tag residents group by the name of Save Open Space Denver (SOS) in conjunction with former Denver mayor (1991 to 2003) and Park Hill resident Wellington Webb. Notwithstanding the David versus Goliath nature of the battle, on January 15 the present Denver Mayor Mike Johnston announced that the city had engaged in a land swap whereby Westside Investments would be given 144 acres of empty industrial zoned property near the Denver International Airport for the 155 acres of the old Park Hill Golf Course. The swap ensures that the Park Hill acreage would be a city park, the fourth largest in the City and County of Denver and the largest acquisition of park land in the city’s history. It makes certain that the entire greater Park Hill neighborhood will continue to be one of the gems of Denver. The tale of this miraculous victory by the residents over their own government and a powerful developer is one of the most heartwarming tales of 21st century Denver.
Park Hill
What is today the Greater Park Hill neighborhood began in 1887 when the German Baron von Winkler sought to subdivide 32 acres of land east of Colorado Boulevard for an upscale re
Clayton College Campus: The Clayton College campus was designed by Maurice Briscoe and Henry Hewitt in the Italian Renaissance Revival-style with sandstone masonry.
sidential neighborhood. The Silver Crash of 1893 greatly hindered his plans. In 1898 he committed suicide with the poison strychnine and a gun, but his dream of development would slowly be fulfilled.
Today, Park Hill, sometimes referred to as Greater Park Hill, has approximately 30,000 residents divided into three distinct neighborhoods running up Colorado Boulevard. It starts with South Park Hill running from 17th Avenue and ending at 23rd Avenue. It is predominately white, affluent,
Location: The new park will be at the southwest corner of the Northeast Park Hill neighborhood along Colorado Boulevard.
and contains some of the most beautiful homes in all of Denver. Next is North Park Hill which runs from 23rd Avenue up to Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard (formerly 32nd Avenue). It is generally affluent but less than South Park Hill and is more evenly split between black and white residents. Further north is Northeast Park Hill which runs from Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard to 53rd Avenue. It is largest of the three neighborhoods in size, but smallest in population and the least affluent. At one time Northeast Park Hill had an overwhelming black population. In recent years Hispanic and white residents have been increasingly moving in.
The Estate
The Park Hill Golf Course property is on the southwest corner of Northeast Park Hill starting on Colorado Boulevard and just north of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. The story of the golf course goes back to 1889 when a successful businessman, George Washington Clayton, was found dead slumped over his desk. With his wife and child having predeceased him, he left his fortune and property to the city of Denver for the purpose of an orphanage for white boys born in Colorado from respectable families. Racism, class division, and corruption would be a constant theme regarding his estate and Park Hill. The estate was valued at $2 million dollars in 1889 which is equivalent to $75 million today and his estate included numerou
Jackpot Winner: Charlotte Brantley as CEO of the Early Learning Center came out as the big monetary winner regarding the old Park Hill Golf Course. She sold on behalf of the Early Learning Center/Clayton Trust a conservation easement on the Park Hill Golf Course but then turned around and sold the land to Westside for $24 million as if no conservation easement existed.
s real estate properties.
Federal judge Moses Hallett was made the executor of the estate and charged with creating the orphanage. In 1903 he was accused of mismanaging estate funds, including using assets for his own purposes, and illegally
paying himself from estate funds. Nonetheless, under his tutelage the construction of the orphanage was completed by 1910 to be called Clayton College for Boys and turned it over to the city in 1911.
The Golf Course
The estate became the George W. Clayton Trust with the City and County of Denver as the sole Trustee. The orphanage was housed i
Ceremony: Mayor Mike Johnston brings up to the podium the victorious former Mayor Wellington Webb at a January 15, 2025, press conference announcing the land swap and creating a regional park at the old Park Hill Golf Course.
n beautifully constructed buildings and called Clayton College for Boys. Across Colorado Boulevard from the buildings at Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard was a 155-acre dairy used to help teach the orphans agricultural skills. The dairy farm operation ceased and in 1932 the land became the Park Hill Golf Course under a lease agreement with an operator.
The City and County of Denver as the sole Trustee proved to be no less corrupt than federal judge Moses Hallet. The city managers of the estate were found to be selling trust properties to friends and business associates at far below fair market prices and other acts of self-dealing. In 1982 the city was replaced by a foundation called the Clayton Foundation with no assets and a volunteer board to be the sole trustee of the Clayton Trust.
The orphanage was closed in 1957 due to the lack of boys fitting the restrictive provisions. In 1969 the Colorado Supreme Court court amended the provisions of the trust to eliminate the restrictions with regard to race, gender, and family background. In 1991 the Clayton Foundation became the Early Learning Center for the purpose of assisting low-income families with children from birth to three years old. In 1995 it became associated with the federal Head Start program. Critics have declared the program to be little more than a federally supported day care center whose main beneficiaries were the overwhelmingly white female teachers and administrators who paid themselves handsome salaries along with generous perks and pensions. It was ruefully noted that the Early Learning Center was as racially segregated as Clayton College for Boys with the white female teachers serving almost exclusively black and Hispanic families with no white male boys in the mix.
Like the managers and trustees before them, the white female teachers and administrators led by CEO and president Charlotte Brantley, were accused of attempting to convert the assets of the trust (the Park Hill Golf Course land) for their own benefit.
Marketing The Property
The 155 acres is located on the southwest corner of Northeast Park Hill. In the 1950s and 1960s real estate agents and bankers started a real estate stampede known as “white flight” by going door-to-door telling white residents that they needed to sell as soon as possible because blacks from Five Points were increasingly moving in causing property values to plummet.
Eventually many of Denver’s black political leaders came from Park Hill including Denver’s first black mayor Wellington Webb. In 1997, in order to prevent the land from being sold to developers to meet the money desired by the Early Learning Center, Webb arranged a deal whereby the city paid two million dollars to the Early Learning Center in return for a conservation easement on the land, whereby it was to remain a golf course or open space.
The Early Learning Center quickly blew through the 2 million dollars and soon hunted for more funding. In 2011 Micheal Hancock became the second black mayor of Denver, but unlike Webb had no interest in parks and open space and was almost universally deemed to be in the back pocket of developers. Neither the Hancock Administration nor Early Learning Center seemed to care that the property had a conservation easement for open space on it which the citizens wanted to keep. The Early Learning Center’s Brantley started talking about envisioning the 155 acres, but no mention of returning to the taxpayers the money it had taken.
In 2017, a convoluted agreement was drawn up with the city buying the land for $20 million and indicating the Early Learning Center would jointly develop the property. The agreement was so convoluted that the City Council balked.
Wellington Webb wrote: “In 2017 the Denver city administration and the landowner, Clayton Trust [managed by the Early Learning Center] , thought they would be able to terminate the conservation easement between themselves simply with a wink and a nod and city council approval. Had it not been for Arcis Golf, the company that operated the golf course crying foul, termination of that agreement would have flown under the radar, tucked into a measure for a vote by Denver City Council to approve the sale and development of that 155-acre, tree-filled green space.”
Before that litigation was resolved the state legislature enacted a new law in which an impartial judge would have to rule that conditions had to have changed so that the purposes for easement no longer existed. The legislation appeared to save the land as open space but no. A Denver judge would later rule quixotically that the citizens had no standing to enforce the easement.
The Rise Of Opposition
But the initial contract to sell and subsequent lawsuit alerted Park Hill residents that Park Hill Golf Course land would be paved over for development unless they organized and fought back. SOS was formed with the help of two lawyers, Penfield Tate III and Woodsey Garnsey, soon to be joined by Webb.
In 2018 the golf course was closed and in 2019 Clayton Early Learning announced that it had agreed to sell the land to Westside Investment for $24 million, which shocked observers since the property was worth about $3 million with the conservation easement. It was assumed the fix was in with the Hancock Administration agreeing to lift the easement and approve any redevelopment.
Westside and the City then went on a full-bore public relations campaign to get the public behind the redevelopment. The city hired a firm to poll what the citizens wanted for the area which unsurprisingly came out with affordable housing. SOS was able to show that reality using a push poll, whereby the questions led the person being polled to the conclusion that the poller wanted. The city also set up the Park Hill Golf Course Area Visioning Process whereby city staff would meet up with various neighborhood groups to work through what they wanted to do with the land. The city staff, of course, were not honest brokers, which was demonstrated when they threw SOS out of the process saying that only those who wanted redevelopment could participate and not groups hoping to keep the property as an open space park.
SOS however continued to be proactive. It put on the November ballot Ordinance 301 which would require a citywide vote approving the lifting of a conservation easement. Westside then also got Ordinance 302 on the ballot which required such a vote in all cases except Park Hill Golf Course. SOS crushed Westside at the polls with Ordinance 301 winning with over 60% of the vote and Ordinance 302 losing by the same margin.
Westside through generous campaign contributions directly and indirectly had control over a large majority of the 13-member City Council. Westside got its small area plan approved by an 11-2 margin. The City Council also hoped that a scheduled April 4 vote on lifting the conservation easement would be favorably influenced by the approved redevelopment plan.
With tens of millions at stake Westside threw in everything it could including the race card. Westside and the City proclaimed if the land was a park it would make the area far more attractive and “gentrify” the area. Gentrification was a code whereby affluent whites would buy up properties
Driving Force: Andy Klein, the founder and CEO of Westside Investment Partners employed every trick and artifice to turn Park Hill Golf Course into a mixed-use development but ultimately failed to overcome the Park Hill Residents desire for a park.
displacing blacks. It is the flipside of “white flight.” The Westside redevelopment plan provided significant affordable housing which would attract black buyers and keep the area with a majority of black residents.
Given the enormous resources Westside would pour into the racist flavored campaign, and how little SOS and the other neighborhood groups had to spend, it was assumed Westside would win. To the shock of many Westside lost badly with over 60% voting to keep the conservation easement.
The Stunning Swap
Wellington Webb and the neighborhood groups had stopped the redevelopment of Park Hill Golf Course by their incredible election victory but were not any closer to making it a park. Westside still owned the land subject to a conservation easement which allowed golf course operations as well as open space. In a pique of anger Westside fenced off the property and did minimal maintenance.
Westside also threatened to turn a part of the property into a multi-story Top Golf driving range serving alcohol with loud music. Mayor Hancock had declared that the city would never buy land for a park, as it was way too expensive for the city budget.
For open space advocates the long nightmare of Mayor Hancock was to be over in 2023, with the mayor term-limited out of office after 12 long years. But the leading candidates appeared no less unfriendly to parks and open space. While the two runoff candidates, Mike Johnston and Kelly Brough, agreed on very little but they did agree that the property should be redeveloped by Westside and not become a park.
It was therefore one last surprising turn of events concerning the Park Hill Golf Course when Johnston announced on January 15 of this year that Denver was acquiring the land for 144 acres of industrial zoned land close to the Denver International Airport to swap for the old Park Hill Golf Course. The 155 acres will become a regional park improved and maintained by Denver Parks and Recreation.
At the press conference the mayor recognized Penfield Tate and Woody Garnsey of SOS and brought up Wellington Webb to a hero’s welcome.
The residents had, against all odds, “beaten city hall.” Future generations of Park Hill residents will be the beneficiaries of the unbelievable fight and victory of Wellington Webb, SOS, and an intrepid band of fighter residents from the Park Hill neighborhood.
