Holly Square Redevelopment Continues on Community Build Day
The Urban Land Conservancy (ULC) today celebrated “Community Build Day” with new partner Colorado Construction Institute (CCI), moving forward with the community vision for Holly Square redevelopment while also helping young adults gain construction experience by building an elevated walkway that connects the HOPE Center to the Nancy P. Anschutz Community Center.
CCI is a nonprofit construction education and training program that helps youth with employment barriers to develop construction skills and gain job experience. Holly Square, located at 33rd Avenue and Holly Street in Park Hill, has had turbulent, violent moments in the past but has continued to move forward with a positive, long-term vision for development and improvement at the site.
The Nancy P. Anschutz Community Center, home of the Jack A. Vickers Boys and Girls Club of Metro Denver, opened at Holly Square in the summer of 2013. CCI, with ULC funding through the City of Denver’s Office of Economic Development (OED) and materials and expertise from the Home Builders Foundation, was able to build this unique connecting walkway on the site.
“This project and partnership between ULC and CCI not only creates positive, continued progress of the Holly Square redevelopment, it also offers valuable skill development and hands-on job experience for our Denver youth. Many of our students live in this neighborhood. Participating in the actual rebuilding process is an empowering reminder that what you choose to do matters, you can make a difference in your community,” says David Hicks, CCI Co-Founder and Chairman of the Board.
ULC purchased Holly Square in 2009. At the time, the buildings on the site had been partially burned down during a gang dispute. ULC, in partnership with OED and The Denver Foundation’s Strengthening Neighborhoods Program, began a community visioning process with neighborhood and community leaders and created the Holly Area Redevelopment Project (HARP).
The burned buildings were demolished, the land was remediated, new basketball and futsal peace courts were installed, and the Boys and Girls Club at the Anschutz Center opened. However, days before the formal opening of this critical community center, a person who had been an active community leader for Holly Square redevelopment shot and severely injured another person after a community gathering near Holly Square. Despite setbacks, ULC, community partners and local residents have ensured Holly Square continues to be a place of peace and are determined to reach the vision and plan outlined by HARP.
“Holly Square redevelopment represents the community vision and expectation for positive change in the heart of northeast Park Hill,” says Aaron Miripol, CEO and President of ULC. “Community Build Day is proof that we are proud of the hard work that has been done by HARP, and that as a community, we are moving forward in developing a site that truly benefits this neighborhood.”