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After a lengthy battle spanning two mayoral administrations, Denver's newest public space is finally open. Denverites are now free to use Park Hill Park, located in the northeastern corner of the Park Hill neighborhood on the site of the former Park Hill Golf Club.

The site, which has been abandoned since 2018 after the club's closure, has been a hot topic amongst city residents for nearly a decade. The effort to transform the overgrown golf course into a public space for Park Hill and Denver residents began years ago and culminated when Mayor Mike Johnston announced that the City of Denver would purchase the land in January 2025.

"Thanks to the persistence and hard work of this administration, the city [Denver Parks and Recreation] now owns this land, and it is a park," said executive director of Denver Parks and Recreation Jolon Clark. "This will be one of Denver's largest parks."

Following months of extensive work and cleanup of the site, Denver Parks and Recreation finally opened the gates to the public on Tuesday, Oct. 28. Despite the park still being undeniably overgrown and a bit rough around the edges, Clark hopes that Denverites will still come and enjoy their newest public space.

"[Denver Parks and Rec] worked really hard across our team on park operations and forestry to get this space ready for [Denver residents] to enjoy, because as of today, this park will be open every day right now," Clark said at the grand opening. "Unfortunately, we don't have utilities. We don't have lights at night."

While Clark acknowledges that's less than ideal, he says it's a better alternative than locking the space behind a gate from Denver residents for any longer than it already has been.

"We're going to have to operate this [park] a little bit differently until we can come up with that design and can get the funding to really build this out so that it can operate like another park," Clark said. "But we didn't want to just leave that gate closed ... As of today, that gate will be open from dusk till dawn."

Woody Garnsey is a Park Hill community member and retired attorney who spearheaded the Save Open Spaces Denver movement, advocating to turn the former golf course into a park.

"[The park] is in terrible shape right now," Garnsey said. "[The previous owner] refused to maintain it, as they were contractually obligated to do with the city. They were required to water the trees and water the land. They refused to do that, and so it was very depressing. So right now, the property reflects the complete abandonment for the last couple of years."

The opening of Park Hill Park is set to be one of the bigger achievements of Johnston's mayoral term. Although Johnston began his campaign supporting a controversial mixed-use development plan to put an apartment building, grocery store and arts and cultural amenities on the Park Hill site, the mayor pivoted gears to support turning the whole site into public space after voters rejected the mixed-use plan in 2023.

Johnston, who was present for the opening of the new park, took a victory lap for this accomplishment, championing the process as an example of how effective local government should work.

"When you look out at this open landscape, there is a great triumph from all the voices in this crowd who, for years and years and years, said, 'I dream to turn this golf course into a public park,'" Johnston said. "And today, that dream is realized."

Garnsey says this is a glowing example of local government doing its job. "It's just very gratifying that when everything else politically in this country seems like it's going to hell, we are able to accomplish something at a local level," Garnsey said.

To Denver City Councilman Darrell Watson, who represents District 9, which encompasses parts of downtown and the Five Points neighborhood, this project is more personal than turning the former Park Hill Golf Course into a new park. Instead, Watson is focused on ensuring the space is inclusive to all members of the Denver community.

"Let me share a little personal story," Watson said. "I moved here in 1987 from the Virgin Islands as a skinny boy. I flew up here to attend the University of Colorado Denver and flew out here by myself. I've lived here in this city that I chose to be in because I wanted to be in Colorado, and I came by many times to Park Hill golf course. I never felt welcome. Never felt that this was my space."

Historically, Park Hill has been a center of Denver's Black population since the late 1940s and early 1950s, following World War II. Immediately following that was a period of "White Flight" and realtor blockbusting by previous residents of the neighborhood.

"The meetings that Councilwoman Elbra Wedgeworth and Hiawatha Davis would hold would be in this [golf club]," Watson said. "This was home to the Black community that I met in this city. This land was never our home. If you know the history of this land, it was not by happenstance. It was by plan that this place was not for us."

Now, Watson sees a golden opportunity to make sure that this space can be reclaimed by Park Hill's residents and be welcoming to everyone. "We have an opportunity now to flip the switch to ensure that this [park] is for all communities," Watson said. "Especially the African American communities that have always surrounded this golf course, that now will inhabit this park."

Even with all the excitement around the opening of Park Hill Park, some details surrounding the plans for the site were still in limbo before election day on Nov. 4. Ballot measure 2A, also known as the Vibrant Denver Bond, would set aside $950 million to improve public infrastructure projects, including $70 million for Park Hill Park. Denver voters voted overwhelmingly to pass the bond, meaning the city's newest park is set to reach its full potential.

With an additional $70 million at the city's disposal, Garnsey believes that money will go a long way to creating an exceptional park, despite the disrepair of its current state. "It's open space right now," Garnsey said. "But the city is committed to do a very exciting upgrade to the land for a park, and now they've got $70 million to do it."

Although Denver residents will have to wait even more time for the park to be built out, Clark says that this is where the fun really begins: getting the community involved in the planning process to shape the park they voted to approve.

"Now comes the fun part," Clark said. "[Residents] all get to come together and help design what this park can and will be." Johnson and other city officials are inviting and urging constituents to come get involved in the planning process as well.

"Let's all sit down at the table together and dream what we want this site to look like," Johnston said. "Let's take pieces and look where should the walking path go, where should sports fields go, where the water feature goes. That feedback is still ongoing, but what you will see from start to finish is a legacy community asset that was dreamed, that was built, that was designed and that was delivered by the residents of Denver."

The full plans for the park include public gardens, athletic fields and sports courts, a fieldhouse for indoor sports, a mini golf course, an off-leash dog park, a great lawn and multiple designated play areas for children.

To Garnsey, the new amenities aren't as important as restoring the clubhouse itself. His ideal version of the park includes the clubhouse returning to the importance it once had in the community.

"[The clubhouse] is an important amenity for the neighborhood," Garnsey said. "It had a golf shop and all that, but it had a restaurant and a meeting space, which was used by a lot of groups, and particularly Black community in the day when Black people weren't allowed to have access to facilities like that to have their meetings ... My vision would be this wonderful park anchored by a new or restored clubhouse that could be used for community meetings, and ideally have a restaurant and bar."

While the park is multiple years from reaching the finish line, the roadblocks have been cleared and plans are in motion. Park Hill Park is officially happening with its full plans and funding. Johnson now has a long-lasting accomplishment from his term, while residents have a new park to explore.

"I am convinced, of all the days we've looked into this park, what the possibilities are and what the future will look like for this park, this will be a rising sun on a great new day in Denver and a great new day in Park Hill," Johnston said. "Today, that effort launches for [Denver residents]."