A rendering of the proposed addition to the Greek Amphitheatre in Civic Center Park. (Public Records)
At least two members of the Denver City Council don’t support a $50 million plan to make changes to Civic Center Park.
“I think it turns that beautiful space into an amusement park and it makes it, in my view, kind of useless for the big celebrations we’ve had there,” Councilman Kevin Flynn said at a meeting last week.
The 33-acre Civic Center Park lies between Denver City Hall and Broadway, and between 14th and Colfax avenues. It was developed in the early 1900s amid the City Beautiful movement, which sought to create grand spaces in America’s cities.
In recent years, the park has also served as something of a front door to the city’s challenges. It was closed for six months in 2021 and 2022 after conditions deteriorated amid widespread homeless encampments.
A major focus of the city’s planned $50 million Civic Center Next 100 project would be the Greek Amphitheatre, which is just off 14th Avenue near the Denver Art Museum.
Downtown Parks Program Manager Jenna Harris told BusinessDen in August that the current setup offers poor sight lines to the stage, and a lack of central seating means people are far from the action. During shows, the main entrance is blocked by buses and equipment needed for modern audio and visuals.
The plan is to flip the amphitheater, putting a stage with modern equipment to the north, with downtown as its backdrop, Harris said.
Another angle of the Greek Amphitheatre addition. (Public records)
Other planned changes to the park, according to the city’s website, include upgrading the Central Promenade to accommodate year-round events, creating a new “central gathering feature” with public art and gardens, and turning the shuttered street of Bannock Street in front of City Hall into a plaza.
In July, Denver’s Downtown Development Authority, which has $570 million in bond funds to spend on revitalizing downtown, voted to put $30 million toward the project.
That arrangement still has to be approved by the City Council, along with nearly all of the DDA’s other spending, including the planned $37 million purchase of the Denver Pavilions mall.
Before that vote could take place, however, the council needed to add the park to the DDA’s boundaries.
During initial discussion of that measure last week, Flynn voiced his opposition.
“I just can’t see us cluttering that beautiful landscape,” he said.
He said that he didn’t think many people were aware of the planned changes, but that he didn’t expect his colleagues to follow his lead.
Kevin Flynn
“I know it’s probably so far down the road that I’ll probably be the lone voice in the wilderness,” Flynn said last week.
But Flynn had a supporter when the measure came to a vote Monday.
Shortly after he again derided the project as “way over the top,” Councilwoman Sarah Parady indicated that she held the same opinion.
“I absolutely agree with council member Flynn,” Parady said.
Councilwoman Shontel Lewis also voted against the measure, which included adding downtown’s Skyline Park and the city-owned McNichols building to the DDA boundaries. Lewis did not give a reason for her vote during the meeting and did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday.
The measure still passed, with eight other council members voting in favor. The council will vote separately in the future on whether to approve the $30 million in DDA funding for the Civic Center project, as well as $5 million for Skyline Park and $7 million for the McNichols building.
Harris, the Denver Parks and Recreation official, said Monday that the Civic Center Conservancy, a nonprofit focused on the park, is fundraising “up to $10 million” that would be used to partially reimburse the DDA.
A rendering of the proposed addition to the Greek Amphitheatre in Civic Center Park. (Public Records)
At least two members of the Denver City Council don’t support a $50 million plan to make changes to Civic Center Park.
“I think it turns that beautiful space into an amusement park and it makes it, in my view, kind of useless for the big celebrations we’ve had there,” Councilman Kevin Flynn said at a meeting last week.
The 33-acre Civic Center Park lies between Denver City Hall and Broadway, and between 14th and Colfax avenues. It was developed in the early 1900s amid the City Beautiful movement, which sought to create grand spaces in America’s cities.
In recent years, the park has also served as something of a front door to the city’s challenges. It was closed for six months in 2021 and 2022 after conditions deteriorated amid widespread homeless encampments.
A major focus of the city’s planned $50 million Civic Center Next 100 project would be the Greek Amphitheatre, which is just off 14th Avenue near the Denver Art Museum.
Downtown Parks Program Manager Jenna Harris told BusinessDen in August that the current setup offers poor sight lines to the stage, and a lack of central seating means people are far from the action. During shows, the main entrance is blocked by buses and equipment needed for modern audio and visuals.
The plan is to flip the amphitheater, putting a stage with modern equipment to the north, with downtown as its backdrop, Harris said.
Another angle of the Greek Amphitheatre addition. (Public records)
Other planned changes to the park, according to the city’s website, include upgrading the Central Promenade to accommodate year-round events, creating a new “central gathering feature” with public art and gardens, and turning the shuttered street of Bannock Street in front of City Hall into a plaza.
In July, Denver’s Downtown Development Authority, which has $570 million in bond funds to spend on revitalizing downtown, voted to put $30 million toward the project.
That arrangement still has to be approved by the City Council, along with nearly all of the DDA’s other spending, including the planned $37 million purchase of the Denver Pavilions mall.
Before that vote could take place, however, the council needed to add the park to the DDA’s boundaries.
During initial discussion of that measure last week, Flynn voiced his opposition.
“I just can’t see us cluttering that beautiful landscape,” he said.
He said that he didn’t think many people were aware of the planned changes, but that he didn’t expect his colleagues to follow his lead.
Kevin Flynn
“I know it’s probably so far down the road that I’ll probably be the lone voice in the wilderness,” Flynn said last week.
But Flynn had a supporter when the measure came to a vote Monday.
Shortly after he again derided the project as “way over the top,” Councilwoman Sarah Parady indicated that she held the same opinion.
“I absolutely agree with council member Flynn,” Parady said.
Councilwoman Shontel Lewis also voted against the measure, which included adding downtown’s Skyline Park and the city-owned McNichols building to the DDA boundaries. Lewis did not give a reason for her vote during the meeting and did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday.
The measure still passed, with eight other council members voting in favor. The council will vote separately in the future on whether to approve the $30 million in DDA funding for the Civic Center project, as well as $5 million for Skyline Park and $7 million for the McNichols building.
Harris, the Denver Parks and Recreation official, said Monday that the Civic Center Conservancy, a nonprofit focused on the park, is fundraising “up to $10 million” that would be used to partially reimburse the DDA.
