Blight or asset?
Civic Center Park is a gateway to many of Denver’s civic and cultural institutions- the library, two museums and various City, County and Federal buildings. It is home to several works of public art, numerous floral gardens, a large open fountain and a Greek-style amphitheater. I walk through the park often, but I admit that, like many other Denverites, I don’t usually linger.
The park is actually quite beautiful, particularly in the spring and summer when the formal plots of bright flowers are in bloom and you might find a drummer or two jamming peacefully under a shady tree. I’m not bothered by the noise from the busy streets or the panhandlers or the whiff tof obacco and marijuana in the air near the small clusters of people that form on the grass or benches. But I am troubled by the open-air drug market- pot, but also speed, cocaine, opiates- and by the threat of violence that accompanies it.
Today’s Denver Post reports about an apparently increasing level of violent crime in Civic Center Park. While the article, with its panic-mongering headline "Civic Center Poses Danger Downtown" strikes me as somewhat sensational, I have to admit that I have seen my share of altercations in the park and the aftermath of last week’s shooting just outside of it.
Mostly, I am just saddened that so many locals avoid the park entirely or use it only as the quickest route to get somewhere else. This why for me the most important part of the Post article is when a spokeswoman for the Downtown Denver Partnership points out that when the park is "activated" (by festivals, farmers markets and other cultural events) crime drops- the dealers that operate so well in the vacuum of abandonment are replaced by a whole different kind of interaction.
While I’m sure that some in the area view the park as a irrevocable blight that should simply be razed and replaced with some large, secure, glass and steel buildings, I would be very interested to see how people downtown- those who work, live or play here- can build a different kind of security. Bring on the farmer’s markets, the speaker’s corners, the ad hoc percussion section, the picnics and hula hoop marathons. Make Civic Center a new kind of open-air market- one for ideas, music, conversation and Colorado peaches.
Comments
Kendra,
Great points. One of the frustrations we have with the Denver Post story is that an interview conducted with the Director of the Civic Center Conservancy was cut, and therefore this piece does not portray her descriptions of the positive activities and changes already taking place in the park.
We at the Downtown Denver Partnership, along with the Civic Center Conservancy, are always interested in ideas for activating the park. If there is anything people take away from your piece, it should be this: while police patrol/enforcement efforts have increased and have yielded noticable improvements, the real solution involves having people in the park. Programming/activities/amenities that draw people into the Park on a daily basis will drive less desirable activity out.
@Sarah Neumann
Thank you for your feedback and perspective.
I'm sorry to hear that the Post omitted the interview about postive activities in the park. I guess it didn't fit in right with the reporter's narrative about innocent schoolchildren being exposed the the horrors of the big, bad city.
I certainly appreciate all the cultural activities I see every year in the park and I'm glad to know there are people working so hard to continue and improve them.
Having lived in Colorado for 30+ years, and worked downtown for 15+, I will say that while I always feel like the park had great potential, the general vibe was such that I know I avoid it unless there is a festival going on, and even then, I feel like we're intruding on the park 'regulars'...
Kendra... Thank you for promoting the fact that activation is the key to Civic Center Park's success as a safe and vibrant cultural asset for the entire community.
While police patrol/enforcement efforts have yielded tangible improvements, the real solution involves having people in the park. Programming/activities/amenties that draw people into the Park on a daily basis will drive less desirable activity out.
To that end, there are several positive developments and opportunities on the horizon:
1) The City of Denver will launch an RFP this year to restore the McNichols Building (Old Carnegie Library) to public use, providing a vital amentity to help activate the park.
2) The Master Plan (and 2007 Better Denver bond program) calls for enhancements to Broadway Terrace, the portion of the park nearest Broadway. As affirmed in the Design Guidelines recently passed by the Landmark Preservation Commission, those enhancements could eventually include a kiosk near Broadway where people could buy coffee/lunch providing further activation and an amentity to encourage park use.
3) The Conservancy's Summer Farmers Market and Outdoor Cafe brings tens of thousands of downtown workers, park neighbors, and tourists to the Park each summer for lunch, shopping and entertainment. The Market, which will move to Tuesdays this summer, will be expanded this year.
4) The Conservancy's past cultural series (music, movies, Shakespeare performances) have brought hundreds of people and families into the Park. This summer we will host a free, public concert in the Greek Theater. More details TBA soon.
5) Everyone wants to be in Civic Center - from the large annual festivals (People's Fair, Cinco de Mayo, Pride Fest, Taste of Colorado) to political candidates (Obama, Kerry) to demonstrators (most eagerly sought permit during DNC) to film crews. It's location at the crossroads of government, culture, commercial and community - combined with its spectacular urban backdrop - makes it a highly desirable location for public gatherings.
6) Through enhanced connectivity to downtown, the Museum District and the Civic axis - as well as enhanced programming - the Civic Center Conservancy envisions the Park as a desirable place for daily activity and respite. The eventual addition of Wi-Fi may inspire workers to take their laptops to the Park. The availabilty of food/beverage would create daily picnic opportunities beyond the weekly Market. The potential ideas are endless: free morning Tai-Chi in the Park?; art classes in the Park?; mile markers to encourage downtown employees to use the Park for lunchtime walks and jogs?; DPL-sponsored storytime in the Park?, etc. The Conservancy is in the midst of raising operational funds to support the implementation of such smaller, activation opportunities.
7) Safety concerns are not unique to Civic Center, nor are they the whole story of the Park. On any given day, there is a school field trip having a picnic in the park, families walking through the park, impromptu games of frisbee, public service announcements being filmed, etc. The Civic Center Conservancy plans to launch a marketing campaign to demonstrate that safety issues are not the primary image of Civic Center park activity. The sooner we can shatter the historic misperceptions about the Park and its safety - and create programming to activate the park - more people will come, thus making it safer and more enjoyable for all.
The Vacum of Abandonment... great way of putting it. Unfortunantely, due to the parks location and Denver's poor zoning polocies, its unlikely that this vacum can ever be filled long enough to sucsessfuly "clean it up". "The Park Residents" neander off untill the nightime and return the next day. If the park was full of cameras and police, it would not be "enjoyable". If the park is left as is, its exactly as unenjoyable, in a diffrent sense of the word.
A bit unclear sorry... The parks residents neander off during the festivals.
And to the commenter below, "picnics" and "frisbee" usualy take place in suburban parks. They have no safety concern due to caring families maintining the park, such as Washington, Bible, Eisenhower, etc. If there was a "Central Buisness District" Residental community that supported and maintained the park, that and that alone would make all the diffrene in the world.
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