City Park West Neighborhood Association

CPWNA Meeting Notes

March 13, 2002

Minutes City Park West Neighborhood Association, March 13 2002



Summary of Meeting:

The sign in sheet was circulated and the meeting agenda was circulated

A number of individuals in attendance paid their dues.

Jessica Tribolet has accepted the position of Recording Secretary.

A petition in support of the proposed traffic management study for the Capitol Hill United Neighborhoods was circulated and garnered a number of signatures.

Planning for the City Park West Festival of the Arts is proceeding. We requested a grant from the Neighborhood Resource Center and Jacquee Lofton was in attendance to present us with a check for #3655 in support of the festival.

Ms. Lofton also spoke about a meeting sponsored by the Senior Hotline on March 20, 2002 on Access A Ride. The meeting will be at Campbell Chapel AME Church, 1500 E. 22nd Avenue at 1:30PM.

Harriet Hogue, the City Park Administrator and a member of CPWNA spoke about all the activity going on the park.

She brought us up to date on the impact of the broken water main on the new Golf Clubhouse and the Golf Course. There was damage to several holes and the putting green along with the new building. The extent of the repairs and the timing is not yet known.
There is a major wastewater construction project going from the neighborhood through the park. The construction crews are working hard and currently on schedule. They are ensuring that the area around the new Martin Luther King statue will be clear of construction so that the statue can be installed in mid May. The formal dedication will be June 19th.
The new boat dock on the lake is under construction and will be completed by the second week in April. There is some work being done on the electric fountain, but there are not enough funds for a complete repair. A new vault is necessary under the fountain as the current one leaks. The current work will be completed in 2003. The draining of the lake was necessary to build the boat dock. Please warn your friends and acquaintances not to walk on the lakebed. It is easy to break in and sink, perhaps up to your hips in mud. Water will be in the lake by the first week in April. That water will come from the City as dechlorinated tap water. The lake is the source for irrigation for all landscaping in the park. The former source of water was the city ditch, which has been cut off by the TREX construction. The ultimate source will be a new gray water supply from the city
The City Park Greenhouse is being renovated internally with a new boiler and new plant stands. Windows will be replaced next year. A new shed will also be built. This greenhouse complex is the source for all plantings in Denver city parks.
Twenty-third Avenue will be engineered and paved as a two-lane street. It is originally a carriage track, which was never surveyed or engineered. There will be turnouts for entrance to the park, zoo, and museum. Bids are due in the next sixty days and construction should start in August. Since the road is currently 4 lane, the construction will close one side at a time. There will be no parking on 23rd after the construction is complete. The new zoo parking garage has added 5000 spaces.
The Museum of Nature and Science is rebuilding the planetarium on the west side. The new planetarium will be the first digital planetarium in the world. All mechanicals on the roof will be hidden and a new Sky Terrace will be on the roof for views of the mountains and star observation. Fire exits directly to the outside will be added.
Phase 2 of Primate Panorama is being completed at the zoo with a target opening of this fall. The next construction phase is a new entrance and display area for lions, hyenas, and the African wild dogs. In 1999, the citizens of Denver approved a $65M bond issue for a 20-year buildout of enhancements to the zoo.
The Grand Staircase by the lake and some of the lake wall needs repair. In addition, the wall at the Sullivan Gateway at Esplanade and Colfax needs repairs. These are future projects.
There are a lot of requests for events at the zoo. City Park Jazz starts the first week in June. The City Park Festival of the Arts is already reserved. Two weekends per month are reserved for general use by the public. The Event Schedule for the Park is on the Parks and Rec Website under City Park Alliance.

Julia Taylor, Senior Public Relations Manger for the Denver Museum of Art spoke on happenings at the museum.

There is a new major exhibit, the Powers of Nature about weather and Geology and a new IMAX film, Kilamanjaro: To the Roof of Africa.
The Museum will participate in the City Park Festival of the Arts with activities for children on the theme of Africa.
The Museums educational outreach programs reached 230,000 people last year.
The Museum is conducted a lot of paleontology research and digs including a new dinosaur discovery and an ice bison on the Continental Divide. Volunteers are very active in the program and the Denver Museum has the most publications by volunteers of any museum in the US.
The Museum has a "Fossil Posse" assigned to support T-Rex and responds to any discoveries during construction of that project.
In 2004, there will be a major new Egyptian exhibit, even bigger than Rameses. These will be objects that will never leave Egypt again.
In 60 to 90 days, the public input process will begin for the new garage construction. There will be public design forums. The target for completion is 2003.

Mark Crider, one of our Neighborhood Police Officers spoke about crime statistics. There has been a 30% increase in burglaries, but they believe they have caught the principal party in the garage burglaries. There was a general discussion of the recent rash of incidents with children and the number of registered sex offenders in the neighborhood, primarily at halfway houses. We need to be alert to suspicious people and vehicles in the neighborhood. We and our children need to be street smart. Watch out for children, know your neighbors, and be aware.

Danica Brown, Community Outreach Coordinator for he City Attorneys Office passed out a survey regarding crime and safety in our neighborhood. It is related to quality of life issues and community justice. It is similar to the New York City program that focused on petty or minor crime which was an irritant to the community and resulted in a more people-friendly street and reduction in serious crime.