Park Hill Park opened to the public on Oct. 28, 2025. When it opened, Denverite described rolling old fairways, mostly walking paths and a historic clubhouse that had fallen into disrepair. Nearly a year later, the city is still managing the former Park Hill Golf Course as open space.
On Oct. 13, the city named the firm that will design the park, said it intends to make the land officially protected parkland and set 2029 as the target to finish construction. Construction comes later. The October decisions point the 155 acres toward protected parkland, designed to use as little water as possible.
What a Year of Open Space Looks Like at 35th and Colorado
The park today is passive open space. When it opened, Denverite described a temporary park, open dawn to dusk and free to enter, made up mostly of walking paths across the old greens. Parking is around the old clubhouse, just east of Colorado Boulevard and 35th Avenue. The city lists the address as 4141 E. 35th Ave.
The way the site is kept explains its look. Under the city's plan for the property, Denver Parks and Recreation manages it as open space, so crews mow only within 4 feet of a walkway and control weeds. The fencing stays up until the department has the resources to run a full park, with key entryways cut in for public access. Under that approach, mown strips along the walkways replace the clipped turf of a golf course. The city's Oct. 13 announcement says Denver Parks and Recreation will keep maintaining the site and managing it as open space for public use while design moves forward.
Denver's citywide park rules apply here too. Dogs must be leashed and under physical control. Bikes are allowed only on park roads or designated off-street trails, with a 15-mph limit. The city's project page has also listed a dog park, disc golf, picnic tables and a walking trail as low-cost extras it could add while the long-term plan comes together. Those are written as plans, so check before you pack a disc or a picnic.
The site still hosts some programming. Denver Parks scheduled a Park Hill Bioblitz there on Saturday, Oct. 17, from 10 a.m. to noon. The event had started as a trash cleanup and turned into a morning of logging plants and wildlife.
Why the Designation Matters More Than Any Drawing
For most of its life, this land could be only one thing. It opened as a golf course in the 1930s and closed in 2018. A conservation easement in place since 1997 allowed it to operate only as a golf course. Denver acquired the site in 2025 through a land exchange with Westside Investment Partners, which the city calls its largest single purchase of private property for an urban park.
The October announcement deals with the next question: what the land is allowed to be from now on. According to the city's release, designated parkland in Denver can't be sold or disposed of without voter approval, and once land is designated, it can be used only for park purposes or park-compatible uses under the City Charter. Right now the site is managed as open space. Denverite reports that City Council is working to change that to an official park designation. The same report adds that the park being planned won't include housing or other development.
Councilmember Shontel M. Lewis, who represents the area, spoke about the site's history in the city's announcement:
"For decades, this land has been part of the fabric of Park Hill. It has been a place of gathering and connection. The best design doesn't just transform a landscape, it honors the people within it."
A Brooklyn Bridge Park Designer, Asked to Use Less Water
With the designation in progress, the next question is how it will look. The city picked Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, or MVVA, the firm behind Brooklyn Bridge Park in New York and the grounds of the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago. Denverite adds Maggie Daley Park in Chicago, the Gathering Place in Tulsa and Allegheny Riverfront Park in Pittsburgh to the firm's list of work. Mayor Mike Johnston told reporters that Van Valkenburgh, who has offices on both coasts and in Denver, has personally committed 20% of his time to these 155 acres.
The competition was strong. Johnston said the pool of firms that weren't chosen included teams behind the Olympic grounds in Sydney, the 9/11 Memorial and the redesign of the Washington Monument.
The more important detail for a Front Range park is water. Many of MVVA's best-known parks are in cities with plenty of it. According to Denverite's coverage of the announcement, Van Valkenburgh said one of the things his team is most excited about is designing ground here that is "not going to be sucking up water that isn't available."
The numbers behind that goal:
- Denver Parks and Recreation has more than 1,200 accounts with Denver Water. Department head Jolon Clark called the city Denver Water's "No. 1 customer."
- Denver Water asked the department to cut its water use by 20%, and Clark says it's on pace to beat that.
- Part of that cut comes from converting 40 acres of park land to hardier, lower-water plantings this year and another 40 next year.
- Clark said the city will look at bringing recycled water to the site. City Park and Washington Park already use it, and it wasn't subject to watering restrictions.
Put those figures next to Park Hill Park's 155 acres. Two years of the citywide conversion program adds up to 80 acres, roughly half the size of this one site. Choosing a low-water design at the start, before anything is built, avoids having to convert thirsty turf later.
Where the Framework Already Places Things
MVVA isn't starting from nothing. In 2025, Denver Parks and Recreation spent 10 months gathering public input for a Framework Vision Plan. The project site counts 3 open houses, 5 activations, 23 pop-up and tabling events, 7,765 completed surveys and 5,930 open-response comments. The plan gives a rough map of what goes where:
| Part of the site | What the framework proposes |
|---|---|
| Center of the park | A winding creek bed that manages stormwater, inside a nature corridor with observation points and nature-based play |
| Near Colorado Blvd. and 40th Ave. | A field house, a destination playground and outdoor adventure areas |
| Along Colorado Blvd. | Athletic fields and sports courts |
| The existing clubhouse | A cultural hub for community gatherings |
| Throughout | Restrooms, picnic pavilions, observation structures and a wide multi-use loop connecting the whole site |
The framework also includes higher-energy spaces for organized sports, alternative sports and a water play area. The project site says plainly that not everything in the drawing has confirmed funding, and future public input will inform how the work is phased and budgeted.
The money that is confirmed is $70 million from Denver's $950 million 2025 bond program. The Denver Post reported on election night, Nov. 4, 2025, that voters were approving all five bond measures, with the parks and recreation measure at 65%. The city says the bond is paying for 58 projects through 2031, and as of Oct. 13, 38 were in design and four were under construction.
The Calendar From Here
Until construction starts, the site stays open space while the planning moves ahead. Here's the order of events:
- Oct. 28, 2026: The park marks one year open to the public. As of mid-October, the project site listed no anniversary event and no upcoming engagement events.
- Later in 2026: City Council is expected to vote on the design contract with MVVA.
- 2027: The city and MVVA return to the community to turn the framework into a detailed final plan.
- By 2029: The mayor's target to finish building the regional park.
To keep up with the 2027 community work, the city recommends signing up for the Park Hill Park newsletter and the bond program's updates. Until then, the park is open during daylight hours, and parking is by the old clubhouse just east of Colorado Boulevard.
At Elise LoSasso, we're following Park Hill Park through each step, from the council contract vote to the 2027 design sessions. If you'd like to talk about what a multi-year project like this means for the streets around 35th and Colorado, Let's Connect.
