Denver community frustrated with lack of long-term plan for Globeville Recreation Center

Globeville Recreation Center in Denver has remained vacant for nearly a year and community members are expressing frustration about the lack of a long-term plan. 

"This is where we used to come and play floor hockey every Sunday for about six months, and now it's locked," Aaron Betcher said as he wiggled the door to the gymnasium. 

Betcher is part of a floor hockey team that played its games at the Globeville Recreation Center for years. 

"We wound up over here about 6 years ago working with Birdseed, the nonprofit that was staged in here for a while, and we paid them to play," explained Betcher. "And then we would often help them out with some of their food drives and some of their social activities, too."

Birdseed Collective, a local nonprofit serving the Globeville community, had been running the rec center for over a decade. But last year, Denver Parks and Recreation told them they weren't renewing their contract.

"It just felt like it was not what was best for this neighborhood, not what was best for this community," Betcher said.

Parks and Rec chose the Denver Dream Center to replace Birdseed, but city council voted down that contract in April, leaving the facility vacant. 

"We cannot let perfect be the enemy of good on this one," said Councilwoman Amana Sawyer during that meeting. 

"Now, we're sitting here a year later, and we don't even have good," said Betcher who referenced Sawyer's remarks. 

DPR opened up short-term rental applications for the space at the end of July and told CBS Colorado that the short-term approach allows the community to access and activate the center while longer-term planning continues.

Councilman Darrell Watson, who represents the Globeville and Elyria-Swansea neighborhoods added, "At the same time, short-term rentals are not a substitute for a long-term community-led process. My office will continue working with GES neighbors and Denver Parks and Recreation to ensure the future of the center is directly shaped by the people who call GES home."

However, Betcher is disappointed that the process is taking so long. 

"This was a place where heritage and community came together, and it represents the neighborhood," he said. "And that's what you want."

Parks and Rec told CBS Colorado the facility has been rented twice since July. The hockey team says they did try to rent it, but the cost was too high.