Denver to add “rest days” at busy parks to curtail events

Denver is trying its hand at another new plan for special events in 2016, now allowing new events to apply, but instituting “rest periods” at seven of the city’s busiest parks.

After placing a partial moratorium on new events in 2015, Denver Parks and Recreation decided on this change that will take effect next year for April through October as a pilot project and then be re-evaluated going forward. Parks and Recreation worked closely with the Office of Special Events and several other agencies.

The rest periods will be put in place at City, Cheesman, Washington, Civic Center, Confluence, Sloans Lake and Stapleton Central parks, leaving a certain number of weekend rest days scheduled in to keep the park open for resident use and prohibit any permitted events that would come within a block of the park, including races.

“We want to balance the events for those who do and do not want an event,” Denver Parks and Recreation spokeswoman Cyndi Karvaski said. “We’re just going to start with these to see how it works and look at it throughout the year.”

Events that have been held in Denver for the past two years will be considered priority events for its site and date for 2016 as part of the new plan.

According to Karvaski, Civic Center and Confluence parks will have two scheduled rest days per month on weekends. Sloans Lake, Stapleton Central, Washington and City parks will have three rest days per month and Cheesman Park will have four. Some of the parks could end up with fewer rest days if there are too many priority events in a month at that park.

Any fifth weekend that occurs in a month will not have any events scheduled — unless there is already a priority event — nor will the Memorial Day, Fourth of July and Labor Day holidays. The rest days will be announced soon.

“It will help us with turf management and the overall maintenance of parks,” said Grace Lopez Ramirez, spokeswoman for the city’s Office of Special Events.

The pilot project was presented to both the Inter-Neighborhood Cooperation — an alliance of neighborhood groups — and the Denver Parks and Recreation Advisory Board, but was enacted without public notice. Ramirez noted that the decision was reached quickly because groups can apply to hold an event starting in November. She added that the plan was decided upon based on feedback they’ve been receiving from neighborhood groups during the past year.

Jay Rust, a member of the Denver Parks and Recreation Advisory Board and president of the Friends of Cheesman Park neighborhood association, said he’s in favor of the pilot project and views it as a step in the right direction.

“People need an opportunity to enjoy their park without it being taken over by different groups,” Rust said. “It’s definitely better than having things continue the way the are.”

Rust added that he thinks the rest period at these parks could lead to more events scheduled at some of the city’s other parks.

Despite last year’s event cap, Ramirez said the number of special events still increased in 2015. Numbers are not final, but it is estimated there will be approximately 700 special events in 2015, up from about 650 last year.

Joe Vaccarelli: 303-954-2396, jvaccarelli@denverpost.com or @joe_vacc