Denver neighbors less than enthusiastic about new Central 70 park
Saturday was a celebration for the Elyria-Swansea neighborhood, the Colorado Department of Transportation and its partners at Denver's newest park.
The park was one of the final phases of the five-year-long Central 70 project and is now complete. It sits on top of I-70 which used to be on a bridge above the neighborhood. CDOT buried the interstate to try to reconnect the two sides of the neighborhood divided by the bridge, but people who were there seemed apprehensive about the project Saturday.
"This park… it's different," said resident Vonda Molock.
She and other neighbors say the construction has been hard to live with.
"[It's] super dusty," said Molock. "They took people's houses and all that so... it's bittersweet."
"It's noisy, " said Cheyenne Trout. "It's been kind of hectic trying to get home."
Vonda Molock says she has lived in the Elyria-Swansea neighborhood her whole life. She says while there is some good that came out of the Central 70 project like the park, overall, the neighborhood has suffered because many of the people who made it special are now gone.
"We're a true neighborhood so we care about each other and when somebody gets displaced it's always hard on the whole neighborhood," Molock said.
She says she is trying to get used to her new, old neighborhood
"I guess you can be nostalgic about the old, but we have to progress… I guess," she said.
If you ask her if all the noise, dust and heartache was worth it, you will get a less-than-enthusiastic response.
"Sure... yeah, it's here so it has to be worth it," Molock said.
"I feel like there's other things that probably could have been done before a park," said Cheyenne Trout.
The park features soccer fields with synthetic turf, two playgrounds, a bandstand, two grassy areas and a building that can be rented for events.
