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2 Denver parks, playgrounds shut down over drug paraphernalia

Two weeks after Denver’s Civic Center Park began reopening to the public, two other parks and playgrounds in the area are shut down due to drug paraphernalia.

The playground at Governor’s Park and the entire Quality Hill Park are both closed because of excessive amounts of needles found on the grounds, according to Denver Parks and Recreation. Both of the parks are in the Capitol Hill neighborhood, just east of Civic Center.

“We’re looking at making sure children with families can go into the parks and not worry about their safety,” said Scott Gilmore, deputy executive director of Parks and Recreation. “We want to make sure that the public is not only safe, but that they feel safe, too.”

Quality Hill Park closed Monday after park rangers found around a dozen needles in the area daily. Gilmore said the tipping point for the park came when a park ranger disposed of a syringe and got a yellow substance believed to be heroin on his skin.

Visitors flock to Civic Center Park after makeover

The playground at Governor’s Park has been closed since Sept. 8 when 30 to 40 needles were found on the play structure in one day.

While both parks are currently fenced off, Gilmore said the city is planning to turn Quality Hill Park into a pop-up dog park and is exploring permanent fencing around the Governor’s Park playground, similar to the fencing in Sonny Lawson Park.

The dog park will be set up in the coming weeks; however, there is no timeline for reopening the playground. Gilmore said the city intends to redesign the playground in 2023. The playground already has a needle disposal container in close proximity, which has not helped.

“We won’t reopen the playground until we feel comfortable that we can keep it safe,” Gilmore said.

Visitors flock to Civic Center Park after makeover

The nearby Civic Center Park was fenced off on Sept. 15 due to health and safety concerns including needles, other drug paraphernalia, rodents, litter and human and pet waste. Parts of Civic Center Park reopened to the public on Nov. 3.

Changes made to the 25,000-square-foot park included increased security patrols and video surveillance, which Gilmore said the city has been pursuing for the last two years.

Though no other parks have required closures in recent months, Gilmore said he wants to send a strong message that drug use in public areas will no longer be tolerated.

“Our public spaces are for everyone and people should be comfortable going to a Denver park without feeling like something bad is happening,” Gilmore said. “It is a huge thing to accomplish, it’s going to be very challenging and we may not succeed, but we have to try.”

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