Preserving the history of Skyline Park
Betsy Metzger
College of Architecture and Planning
Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture Ann Komara loved Skyline Park in downtown Denver. She and more than two dozen students documented the park before its demolition for the first Historic American Landscapes Survey for the State of Colorado (HALS - CO-01). Their survey materials are on display in the Dean’s Gallery of the College of Architecture and Planning (Suite 330, CU Building) from until March 3. The materials, including measured drawings, field records, photographs, a video, and historical documents, will be submitted through the National Park Service to the Library of Congress. According to Chair of Landscape Architecture Gene Bressler, “This work serves to sustain [Skyline Park’s] memory and its place in landscape architectural history.”
Komara writes:
"Skyline Park, designed by Lawrence Halprin Associates, was constructed in the early 1970s along Arapahoe Street between 15th and 18th Streets. Lawrence Halprin (b. 1916) is an internationally acclaimed landscape architect, environmental planner, and author who is now recognized as one of the most influential practitioners from the last half of the twentieth century. Halprin challenged the paradigms of landscape architecture through his design and theoretical work, which address the creative process and the interface between human and ecological systems. His focus on community is evident in designs that accommodate the spaces and patterns of social interaction and human use.
"Skyline Park, located in the heart of downtown Denver, exemplified Halprin’s theoretical positions and reflected his signature style. The park’s careful orchestration of sculptural, concrete forms created a sequence of walkways and spaces enlivened with unique water features. The design layout established visual connections linking the three blocks. The experience of the park unfolded as pedestrians moved through the series of integrated spaces in which people could sit and watch activity in the park and enjoy the lively fountains.
"Conceived and built in the early 1970s to serve as the focal point of the Skyline Redevelopment Plan, this small linear park became the nexus of a pedestrian and open space system that spurred urban renewal in Denver. Although run-down, Skyline Park exhibited high integrity of form and structure until its demolition in 2003. Its three fountains, the retaining walls, the brick and concrete walking and seating surfaces, and design elements were largely intact at that time."
Komara is the principal investigator for the project, which received grant funding from the Colorado State Historic Fund, Colorado Preservation Inc., the National Park Service and the UCDHSC College of Architecture and Planning and the Center for Preservation Research.