One of the things I love most about Wheat Ridge is that we don’t have to choose between small-town charm and big-city amenities.
We have tree-lined neighborhoods, longtime local businesses, parks where neighbors know each other and community traditions that have been around for generations. And as a third-generation Wheat Ridge resident, I would know. I also love that we’re minutes from downtown Denver, connected to a regional transportation network through Ward Station and fortunate to have amenities that communities our size don’t always have.
That combination is what makes Wheat Ridge special. And preserving it takes work.
I think about that every time I take my kids to Anderson Pool. It brings back memories of riding my bike there as a kid and spending summer days swimming and playing with friends.
But it’s been a long time since I was a carefree kid. Anderson Pool opened in 1979! Today, it welcomes about 22,000 visitors a year, and it has reached the end of its functional lifespan. A 2023 assessment identified more than $1.1 million in immediate repairs simply to keep the pool operating safely. Without significant investment in the next two to four years, we will eventually have to close it.
That is not the future I want for Wheat Ridge.
And I know I’m not alone. More than 2,000 residents participated in the city’s engagement process about the future of Anderson Pool, and the message was overwhelmingly clear: our community wants this pool to remain part of Wheat Ridge’s future.
Anderson Pool isn’t the only thing we have an opportunity to preserve.
The former Wilmore-Davis and Kullerstrand elementary school properties are already home to parks, playgrounds, athletic fields and open space. Families are using them today. At Kullerstrand alone, hundreds of young athletes participate in soccer programs each year.
But these properties will not remain available forever. Land suitable for parks is increasingly difficult and expensive to acquire, and if these properties are sold for private development, we may never have another opportunity to preserve them as community spaces. Fortunately, we have a plan in place for Wilmore-Davis with a partner who shares our vision. See more at whatsupwheatridge.com/wr-moment.
We also have infrastructure to maintain and improve. In our recent community survey, 81% of residents identified infrastructure maintenance as a high or medium priority, and 80% said having a dedicated funding source for that work was important.
And behind the scenes, our police officers and city employees are working in facilities built for a much smaller Wheat Ridge. Our Police Department was built in 1978, when the department had about 60 sworn officers. Today, it has more than 90, along with a much larger support staff and responsibilities that simply didn’t exist then.
These aren’t problems we can solve by putting another temporary fix on top of an old one.
We have spent years studying these challenges, listening to residents and determining where investment can make the greatest difference. The question before us is not whether we love Wheat Ridge enough to invest in it. I believe we have already answered that.
The question is what are we willing to preserve, improve, and pass on.
For me, that means a child should be able to ride their bike to a pool that will still be there decades from now. It means families should continue to have parks and fields close to home. It means our streets and sidewalks should be maintained before small problems become expensive ones. And it means the people responsible for keeping our community safe and running should have the facilities they need to do their jobs well.
This is about protecting the character we love while preparing Wheat Ridge for the next generation.
On November 3, Wheat Ridge voters will have the opportunity to decide whether to provide the dedicated funding needed to make these investments possible.
