2023 | ASLA Colorado – President’s Award of Excellence | Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Platte Farm Open Space is a 5.5 acre brownfield to open space project that is a unique and important example of how to re-purpose formerly contaminated land for community benefit. Platte Farm Open Space is located in the Globeville neighborhood approximately 5 miles north of Downtown Denver. Globeville is bisected by numerous significant barriers. I-70 and I-25 form the most divisive barriers, but many train lines, light industrial, and heavy commercial development also stand between this neighborhood and the northern end of Downtown Denver.

The vision for this open space was to create a low maintenance open space where Globeville residents and visitors of all ages and abilities can recreate, exercise, and reconnect with nature. Valerian worked to rehabilitate the site to mimic its original short grass prairie and literally heal the wounds left by decades of industrial pollution. ECI Site Construction Management, Inc completed construction in Summer of 2020. Green infrastructure improvements include a detention pond with water quality features to help with stormwater and flooding in the adjacent neighborhood – as well as feature trails, pollinator gardens, seating, tree plantings, native seeding restoration, fencing and trail connections.

In 2023, Platte Farm Open Space: From Brownfield to Community Asset received the President’s Award of Excellence in Diversity, Equity & Inclusion from the ASLA Colorado Chapter. See the submission here.

Photos courtesy of Scott Dressel Martin