The Green at 38th

On Saturday, August 17th, community members, project funders, and project partners celebrated the completion of Phase 1 of the Green at 38th project (replacing the Stevens Elementary School parking lot) and the beginning of Phase 2: construction of the new Green at 38th park!

Phase 2 is projected to take approximately one year to complete.

A big THANK YOU to the following organizations for contributing grant funding totaling $1,633,000 to the Green at 38th project!

Colorado Department of Local Affairs' Energy/Mineral Impact Assistance Fund: $850,000

For more information about this grant program, visit: https://dlg.colorado.gov/energy-mineral-impact-assistance-fund-grant-eiaf

Great Outdoors Colorado's Community Impact program: $500,000

For more information about this grant program, visit: https://www.goco.org/programs-projects/grant-programs/community-impact

Colorado Department of Transportation's Revitalizing Main Streets program: $250,000

For more information about this grant program, visit: https://www.codot.gov/programs/revitalizingmainstreets

Gates Family Foundation's Capital Grants program: $30,000

For more information about this grant program, visit: https://gatesfamilyfoundation.org/types-of-support/capital-grants/

Waste Management Charitable Contributions program: $3,000

For more information about this grant program, visit: https://www.wm.com/us/en/inside-wm/social-impact/community-impact

On Saturday, August 17th at 10am at the new Stevens Elementary School parking lot, all are welcome to celebrate the Green on 38th project kickoff with your community with games and snacks!

Construction began on phase 1 of the Green at 38th project at the end of May 2024! Phase 1 will replace and improve the parking lot for Stevens Elementary, which will also be available to park users outside of school hours. The parking lot will be completed in early August before school resumes. Phase 2 will follow Phase 1 and will build the Green at 38th park between the new parking lot and 38th Ave. Phase 2 will take approximately 12-14 months to complete.

Final design is complete and the project team is ramping up for construction mobilization and breaking ground on the parking lot portion of the project around May 31st, 2024. The parking lot will be completed before school resumes for the 2024-2025 school year. Following the completion of the parking lot, construction work will shift to the park portion of the project in mid/late August. Construction on the Green at 38th will continue into mid/late 2025.

The project team finalized the concept layout as the attached image to maximize space for attendees to view the stage and minimize performers and attendees being faced towards the sun during events. Please note that all amenities are not shown, and more detail will be provided in the coming months. The patchwork layout is a reference to Wheat Ridge's agricultural history and the patchwork appearance of small farms as viewed from the sky. This theme is also a reference to the variety of cultural events and activities that have taken place in this space for well over a century. The project is approaching 30% design, which will be followed by design milestones at 60% and 90%. The City is utilizing the Construction Manager/General Contractor (CM/GC) project delivery method, and ECI Site Construction Management, Inc. was selected through a competitive process.

At the May 16th, 2022 City Council study session, the two final Concept Designs and results from public engagement were presented to City Council for their review, discussion and feedback. Council directed the project team to move forward with elements of both Concepts, with the final layout aligning closer with Concept A. The project now enters the final design phase with construction scheduled for summer 2024.

In April 2022, city staff went door to door with a tablet to survey local businesses about the project and get their input on amenities, concept preference, and design considerations. See the documents tab for the survey results.

In April 2022, city staff worked with 4th grade classes at Stevens Elementary on two project activities. First, the students designed their own new park on a blank template of the space. Second, the students worked within a "$100" budget to create the new space and it's amenities.

Based on positive feedback from the community for both Concept A and Concept B, staff will be presenting this information to city council in the near future to determine a final preferred alternative.

The survey results, summaries and examples of the feedback and the updated Concept B have been added as their own section under the "November 2021 Project Update Documents" section.