GREENWOOD VILLAGE —When Cathy Pate came on board at Greenwood Village in 1989, all the city had to offer in terms of recreation was an adult softball league.
Now the city’s arts and recreation department includes numerous programs for adults and youth, most of which are full, said Pate, the city’s recreation manager. She said the arts and recreation department serves about 10,000 Greenwood Village residents a year, out of a total population of 14,454 at last estimate.
“It’s come a long way and we’re very pleased,” Pate said. “We think we’re serving a very large need in the community.”
Adult arts and recreation programs are popular, such as the adult softball league, which features 52 teams in the summer.
Youth arts and recreation have grown tremendously since 2000, Pate said. Programs include boys and girls speed and agility camp, youth basketball, mountain biking, NFL Flag Football and disc golf, for which the city constructed a new course two years ago.
Pate said a lot of the growth in youth recreation is with their peewee programs for kids ages 4-6, such as pee wee golf, added this year.
Lauren Wells, activities coordinator for youth art at the Curtis Arts and Humanities Center, said she too is seeing a growth in peewee arts programs because more young families are moving into the city.
“It just offers the kids another option rather than having to do a sports activity,” Wells said. “It’s another program kids can do, especially if they’re more art oriented than sports oriented.”
The city withdrew from the South Suburban Parks and Recreation District in 1971 and created its own programs. Residents can receive an annual reimbursement of up to $500 per household when they engage in South Suburban or Greenwood Athletic Club activities.
“We want to encourage a healthy community, so this allows us to do that in a variety of different ways,” said Brian Sowder, activities coordinator for recreation for Greenwood Village.
Jo Cole, cultural arts coordinator for the city at the Curtis Arts and Humanities Center, said that despite the fact there’s more of a learning curve to the adult art classes this year, they are very popular, including a six-month intensive master class with local artist Kevin Weckbach.
Weckbach’s class brought in Evergreen resident John Haile, who is among participants from outside Greenwood Village who take classes at the Curtis facility.
“They’re not trying to be everything to everybody, but they have some good people teaching their classes,” Haile said.
Greenwood Village District 1 Councilwoman Denise Rose, who said she’s athletic and has taken part in some of the city’s recreation programs, said she likes the diversity of offerings and it’s why council continues to support the programs.
“It’s a very good organization,” Rose said. “Everything is fun, Greenwood Village does everything well and the residents are very pleased.”
Finding that right balance of what people will like is a challenge, especially with a small staff and limited space for activities, but Pate said she feels the city meets it well.
“We’re a very small staff, so our plates are very full,” Pate said. “So if there’s a trend or if there’s something we see out there, we’ll investigate it.”
Clayton Woullard: 303-954-2953 or cwoullard@denverpost.com
