On July 24, a Denverite photographer working at the old Park Hill Golf Course photographed a damselfly resting on a stalk of dry, dead weeds. The same set of photos showed an abandoned scooter lying in the grass and dormant vegetation running up to the fence line. Nine months earlier, on Oct. 28, 2025, that ground had opened to the public as Park Hill Park, and neighbors stood around a giant map of what it might become.
The park turns one at the end of this month. The most important thing that happened to it this year happened on paper. On Sept. 4, 2026, the city awarded the design contract for the future park to Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, Inc. That award is real progress. The schedule attached to it also shows that the 155 acres you can walk today, with one gate, worn cart paths and mostly dry grass, are the park Park Hill will have for a good while longer.
The park that opened, and the park that exists now
The temporary version of the park is simple. It opened free of charge, dawn to dusk, and it consists mostly of walking paths through the rolling greens of the old course. Parking is around the old clubhouse just east of Colorado Boulevard and 35th Avenue. On opening day, leashed dogs and their owners walked the grounds. Woody Garnsey, who had spent eight years pushing for public open space on the site, summed up the path there: "We had two elections and two lawsuits, and finally we got a mayor who decided he was going to make it happen."
The site's history explains the patience required. The course opened in the 1930s, closed in 2018, and was governed by a conservation easement in place since 1997. Denver got the property through a near acre-for-acre exchange, trading 145 acres of city-owned industrial land in Adams County for the 155-acre course.
By late July 2026, the experience was largely unchanged. Denverite reported that visitors enter the fenced site through one gate from sunrise to sunset and walk on "the crumbling paths from the land's golf-course days." The city's open-space plan called for mowing only within four feet of the walkways. Denver Parks and Recreation spokesperson Stephanie Figueroa said the irrigation system was "only partially operational," with most of its controls damaged by years of vandalism and neglect before the department took over.
The interim amenities fell behind
Denver's plan for the site had three stages: immediate passive use, an interim stage, and a long-term buildout. The interim stage listed low-cost amenities like a dog park, disc golf, picnic tables and a walking trail, to be built while the long-term vision took shape.
As of July, the interim stage was more than a year behind. Denver Parks and Recreation Executive Director Jolon Clark had initially proposed a disc golf course or dog park to be installed in summer 2025. Asked about the delay, Figueroa said, "We still need to find a design firm. So construction is far from starting at Park Hill." That comment came five weeks before the September award. The city's public records do not say whether the new design contract also covers the interim dog park and disc golf.
Neighbors along the fence have pushed for basic upkeep in the meantime. A neighbor near the park told Denverite, "They could be watering it just like they water City Park, but they're not." The parks department responded that it would do larger-scale mowing through the end of summer, though it gave no completion date. It is also watering "select trees" and handling trash and safety issues weekly. Large-scale irrigation repairs have no timeline because they belong to the capital project. None of the sources reviewed for this post confirms whether that mowing was finished.
What September's contract actually buys
The design solicitation, No. 202684823, went out June 30, 2026, from the Denver Bond Office and the Department of Transportation & Infrastructure. It closed Aug. 13 and was awarded Sept. 4. Its scope reads like a list of everything the site lacks today. The work generally covers construction documents for:
- demolition and site preparation, earthwork, and drainage and channel improvements
- site electrical, including lighting, plus UV treatment and a pumping system for a water play area
- paving and small pedestrian bridges, walls and boulders
- shade structures, site amenities, and ecological and habitat educational features
- seeding, sodding and native plantings, irrigation, and an irrigation pump station
- outdoor adventure areas and playgrounds, with the potential for two years of landscape establishment
That list matches the framework the city published on parkhillpark.org. The framework envisions a meandering creek bed through the middle of the park to manage stormwater. It puts a field house, destination playground and outdoor adventure areas near Colorado Boulevard and 40th Avenue, with athletic fields and sports courts along Colorado. It also shows a wide multi-use loop around the site and a cultural hub for community gathering around the existing clubhouse. The framework drew on 7,765 completed surveys and 5,930 open-response comments collected since April 2025.
The city's own caveat sits right next to the drawing: "Right now, there is not confirmed funding for everything you see here."
The money and the clock
Voters approved the $950 million Vibrant Denver bond on Nov. 4, 2025. The official project list puts $70 million toward "Park Hill Park Buildout," covering basic infrastructure and prospective amenities. The city says it will build the bond's 58 projects over six years, from 2026 through 2031.
The neighbor's view of that $70 million is narrower than the framework drawing. "The $70 million they got from the bond is only going to cover irrigation in some park paths," he told Denverite. "I mean, maybe by 2030 we'll see a developed park." The city has not published a phasing plan that confirms or rules out his estimate. It has said that future public input will shape how the project is phased and budgeted.
Here is the sequence on the public record so far:
- Sept. 13, 2025. More than 300 people attend the draft framework open house at Hiawatha Davis Jr. Recreation Center. Clark notes that the last time Denver designed and opened a park this size was Washington Park in 1911.
- Oct. 28, 2025. The former golf course opens to the public.
- Nov. 4, 2025. Voters approve the Vibrant Denver bond.
- June 30 to Sept. 4, 2026. The design solicitation is issued, closes and is awarded to Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates.
- 2027. Community design work resumes to refine a final design "at a much closer level of detail."
The city's project pages have not caught up with step four. As of this week, both parkhillpark.org and the Denver Parks and Recreation project page still say the team is "reviewing proposals." The procurement record is the place to check for the current status. The engagement site also lists no planned events right now, including nothing for the first anniversary.
What's on the calendar at the park this month
The one recurring event on the grounds is upkeep. The Denver Park Enhancement Project runs a monthly Park Hill Trash Bash to clear litter from Park Hill Park, meeting at the parking lot off 35th Avenue. The next session on the Denver Parks volunteer calendar is Saturday, Oct. 17, at 10 a.m. A staff member brings tools and supplies. Volunteers should bring gloves, water and snacks, and wear closed-toe shoes and clothes that can get dirty. Everyone signs a liability waiver, which can be done at check-in.
Anyone who wants a say in the next round of design can sign up for the city's mailing list on parkhillpark.org. That list is how the city says it will announce the 2027 sessions. Until those sessions start, the park is what it has been since opening day: one gate, the old cart paths and open sky over the former fairways, available from sunrise to sunset.
If you live near the old course and want to talk through how a multi-year park buildout fits your plans for your home, Buildings & Residences of Denver can walk through the timeline with you. Contact Us.
