Wheat Ridge will mark a historic milestone on Saturday, Sept. 6, with the grand opening of The Green at 38th, the city’s first new park since Hopper Hollow which opened in 2014.
The free community celebration runs from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. between Stevens Elementary School and 38th Avenue (7101 W. 38th Ave.). A ribbon cutting with city leaders begins at 10 a.m., followed by fitness and dance classes, live music, and family activities. Title sponsor Rolling Smoke will be providing lunch and dinner for the performers, volunteers and team members working the event. In addition, they will have a special at their restaurant for the community to celebrate the Grand Opening. Title Sponsor Credit Union of Colorado and Community Sponsor Primrose School will have booths at The Green.
“This is more than a park, it’s the new heart of our community,” said Mayor Bud Starker. “In a built-out city like ours, the chance to create a brand-new public gathering place doesn’t come often. The Green at 38th is the result of years of collaboration, persistence, and community pride, and I can’t wait to see it filled with neighbors enjoying concerts, festivals, and everyday moments.”
The idea for a central public gathering space along 38th Avenue traces back to the 2005 Neighborhood Revitalization Strategy, which urged the city to “accelerate and shape development along 38th Avenue” to create a true main street and pedestrian-oriented heart for Wheat Ridge. By 2011, city planning documents specifically identified the Stevens Elementary frontage and adjacent open space, informally known as “The Green”, as a potential site for a public plaza or civic park. In the years that followed, the space hosted community events such as RidgeFest, the Holiday Celebration, and the Criterium & Brewfest, but remained an underdeveloped patch of grass and asphalt.
A turning point came in 2017, when a major hailstorm struck Wheat Ridge, causing widespread damage to homes and businesses. As residents rebuilt, the city saw a sharp rise in building permit revenue. City council proposed using a portion of those unanticipated funds to create a new park along 38th Avenue as a way to give back to the community, setting the stage for the project to move from vision to reality.
In 2018, the city hired Architerra Group to lead a robust public engagement process, ultimately shaping a design that balanced school safety needs with the desire for an inviting civic green space. The preferred concept reoriented the school’s parking lot to buffer the playground from the street while giving the park a stronger presence along 38th Avenue.
Funding came from the city’s Open Space Fund, supported by Jefferson County Open Space sales tax revenue, and park impact fees from new development, along with major grants from the Colorado Department of Local Affairs, Great Outdoors Colorado, the Colorado Department of Transportation, the Colorado State Forest Service, the Gates Family Foundation, and Waste Management.
ECI Site Construction Management began construction in spring 2024. Phase 1 rebuilt the Stevens Elementary parking lot to serve both the school and the future park. Phase 2 added the park’s key features, including a stage/outdoor classroom, open lawn, festival promenade, playground, fire pit, game grove, seating areas, public art, and enhanced landscaping.
