Dec. 6, Nature Play Becomes Reality

A man and boy sitting at table with plants.


City Park Friends and Neighbors is honored to host Jacqueline Altreuter, Project Manager for the Denver Museum of Nature and Science’s (DMNS) Nature Play project, for a presentation on the final design for Nature Play. The program and slideshow will take place on Dec. 6 in the Multi-Purpose Room at Carla Madison Recreation Center, 2401 E. Colfax Ave. at 6:30 pm. This is an in-person event.  There is parking behind Carla Madison. After five years of gathering community input and working and re-working designs reflecting the public’s vision for this extensive natural play area, Jackie speaks for the museum when she says: “We are so happy to be giving the community what they want!”

“Water” was one of the elements Jackie and the museum heard loud and clear. At one of the many DMNS-sponsored workshops where dozens of kids were asked to design their ideal playground, every child included some kind of water feature in their design. Then and there, DMNS committed to bringing water back to the DeBoer Canyon – and through a long, difficult process they have delivered on their promise. The area in the southeast corner of City Park will also showcase the diversity of Colorado’s ecosystems through natural features and play experiences that include the much asked-for climbing, jumping and sliding activities.

Work on implementing the Nature Play design will begin in early 2023 and construction may continue over the course of a year. Expect to see fencing and machinery in the area. There may be some inconvenience for park visitors during construction, but the end result will be worth it and it may be interesting to watch how the project develops month by month.

Jackie promises that the finished Nature Play will be “gorgeous and spectacular.” Come to our Dec. 6 meeting and get an overview of the new wonders that await us in City Park! Light refreshments will be served!
Please join our Board Meeting, Dec. 6
As a Registered Neighborhood Organization (RNO), City Park Friends and Neighbors’ (CPFAN) board meetings are always open to the public. Our board of eight members welcomes this city requirement and are very happy to have CPFAN members and members of the community attend to learn about our activities and priorities. We particularly enjoy your joining in on our conversations about City Park, its past, present and future – often with representatives directly involved with the park, like DMNS, the Denver Zoo, East High School and its Sustainability Board, City Park Alliance and City Council members like Candi CdeBaca who represents District 9 where City Park resides.
 We hope you will join us at this month’s Board meeting on Dec. 6. The board meeting will take place at 5:30 pm before the Nature Play program with Jackie Altreuter. The Board meeting will begin with a 30 minute presentation by Maro Casparian, Director of Community Engagement for the Denver District Attorney’s Office on Safety, regarding issues facing the city and specifically City Park. Because the City Attorney’s Office manages municipal issues including grafitti, the unhoused, vagrancy, etc., Marley Brodovsky, Director of Prosecution at the City Attorney’s Office,will also attend the meeting to answer any questions you may have.


The Dec. 6 Board agenda will also include the effort headed by CPFAN member Hank Bootz to renovate the City Park handball or wall courts just to the east of the tennis courts. Board member Patty Paul will give an update about republishing Denver’s City Park by Bette D. Peters. This scholarly work, now out-of-print, is the only book ever published about City Park and is an important resource for historians and for our CPFAN City Park tour guides. Finally, Board member,Brooke Badon will talk about her Herbal Workshop that will be our Jan. 2, 2023 program. This hands-on workshop will give you a healthy and invigorating outlook on the New Year.

Please join us for our 5:30 board meeting and then our 6:30 pm program at the Multi-Purpose Room at Carla Madison Recreation Center, 2401 E. Colfax Ave., on Dec. 6! Light refreshments will be served.