The Denver City Council on Tuesday night voted to pursue acquiring property at Park Hill Golf Course for the Platte to Park Hill stormwater systems project.
The motion, which passed 7-4, moves that portion of the project forward. It includes controversies surrounding the fate of the course after a portion of it would be dedicated to water retention — whether it will remain a golf course, be converted to open space or be developed.
A vote on the $78 million design and construction contract to Sema Construction Inc. for the 39th Avenue greenway and the Park Hill retention projects passed about 11 p.m. by a vote of 8-3. The mile-long greenway will run along 39th from Franklin to Steel streets. It should take about three years to complete.
The final vote on the controversial measures was delayed last month, in part over lingering questions about the projects, which are part of a $298 million program.
Last month, the land acquisition received an 8-5 vote on first reading after disagreement over its wording. The city had proposed a full purchase of the golf course but pivoted to pursuing easements after lease complications arose with the course’s operator.
In September, the city announced that amid declining golf revenues, Denver would acquire the golf course and, along with community advocates, explore open-space and development prospects on the land. In November, Denver suspended a $20.5 million plan to purchase the course from a private trust because of an “unresolved lease issue” with the course’s operator.
One of the biggest issues surrounding the course is the Clayton Early Learning Center, an education nonprofit that manages the George W. Clayton Trust and benefits from the $700,000-a-year golf course contract.
Speakers urged the City Council not to abandon Clayton’s mission.
Others advocated for keeping the golf course intact after the drainage retention areas are complete. If golf course operations were to cease, some supported the idea of using the land as a park.
The Rev. Del Phillips, a Denver pastor, asked council members to dedicate at least a portion of the space to residential uses through affordable housing.
Trena Moya raised concerns about the possibility of uncovering chemical pollutants as the planned greenway ditch runs through an identified Superfund site. She urged the council to put the “project on hold. Prove to us we will be safe.”
Other speakers before the council expressed similar concerns, but some did support the 39th Avenue greenway, citing the need for increased park space in the city.
