City Park Projects

StudioCPG has worked to complete a series of park improvement projects in Denver’s City Park. Each project had been funded individually through the capital project funds and the City’s Better Denver Bond Program, but collectively serve an overall goal of meeting contemporary needs as they build on natural, cultural and historical site characteristics.

Duck Lake Restoration

The Plan for improvements to water quality and wildlife habitat at Duck Lake provided solutions for several issues identified in the Duck Lake Management Plan, including:

• Repairing eroded features that threaten existing habitat and contribute to poor water quality

• Developing sustainable urban bird habitat for cormorants and night herons, limiting the attractiveness of Duck Lake to the resident population of Canada geese whose presence has been a major factor in the degradation of the lake and improving park visitor accessibility

• Restoring the naturalistic character of this important design feature of the original park design

• Providing ramp access for regular maintenance of the lake

• Expanding options for water supply to the lake while respecting the constraints defined by the existing historical agreement between Denver Water and the Parks and Recreation Department

The Plan is fully coordinated with other proposed improvements including the Denver Zoo’s Millennium Infrastructure Master Plan and Asian Tropics exhibit design, the City and County of Denver Wastewater Management Division’s Montclair Basin Storm Drainage Master Plan, and the City and County of Denver annual sediment monitoring data collection. Participants included City and County of Denver Department of Parks and Recreation, Denver Zoo, Denver Water Board and U.S. Fish and Wildlife.

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Mile High Loop – 5K Trail

The City Park Alliance and The City and County of Denver’s Parks and Recreation Department contracted StudioCPG to design an interior 5K loop trail to meet the needs of current users who want to walk, jog, or run through the park, but find the historic roads unfriendly and outdated.

The trail alignment takes park users on a tour of some of the most appealing and well-known features of the park as well as out of the way points of interest while winding through century-old trees. Trail signage allows users a to mark the distance they have travelled as well as acknowledging when they are precisely one mile high with elevation markers wherever the trail is 5,280 feet above sea level.

DeBoer Waterway Restoration & Bluegrass Conversion

StudioCPG prepared a landscape improvement plan to complement the restoration of the DeBoer Waterway as part of the Mile High Loop Trail.

The Waterway was restored in conjunction with stormwater management improvements at Ferril Lake. The DeBoer Waterway was a feature of the City’s original arboretum in the southeast corner of the Park. Restoration includes a new mechanical system for the water feature and improved pedestrian access to the corridor. A contemporary approach to planting design replaces the historic taxonomic organization with native riparian and upland plant communities. The installation of native grasses converts approximately three acres of bluegrass to native species conserving water and reducing maintenance and mowing requirements.

Rose Garden Restoration/Mitigation

The renovations at Rose Garden include developing new access to allow for large maintenance vehicles, mitigating the visual impact of the fountain mechanical system, and site drainage improvements.

Net Zero Energy Use Restroom

The City and County of Denver’s Department of Parks and Recreation developed a Master Plan that included the design for a new, prototypical, restroom facility and identified the need for new or replacement facilities throughout the Parks system.

StudioCPG developed site plans for seven of the new facilities including the Net Zero Energy Use facility at City Park. Public safety, accessibility, site grading to minimize disturbance to existing facilities, and proximity to programmed park areas drove solutions to site planning.

Irrigation Automation Upgrades

StudioCPG and Hydrosystems/KDI prepared planning and design documents for the first completely automated irrigation system in Denver’s City Park. The work included extensive research to identify layers of piecemeal improvements installed over the last 75 years and coordinate with Parks personnel to allow new construction without interfering with the heavily programmed park operations.

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Mestizo Curtis Park Master Plan

Denver, CO

StudioCPG worked with a multi-disciplinary group to create an updated Master plan and Phase 1 construction documents for the historic Mestizo Curtis Park located north of Downtown Denver.