Holly Area Redevelopment Project

Holly Area Redevelopment Project
Hosts Planning Workshop

An enthusiastic group of over forty Park Hill residents and community members, including Denver City Council members Carla Madison and Michael Hancock, gathered on November 7th at Hiawatha Davis Recreation Center for the first Holly Area Community Planning Workshop.  The workshop was hosted by members of the Holly Area Redevelopment Project (HARP) Steering Committee. The Denver Foundation’s Strengthening Neighborhoods Program is honored to have been asked to facilitate the work of this community group, which is providing input on the redevelopment of the Holly Square Shopping Center in Northeast Park Hill.

Steering Committee member Tim Dolan welcomed participants with a review of the community’s progress since the former Holly Square Shopping Center at the corner of East 33rd Ave. and Holly St. burned in May 2008.  He noted that the area’s redevelopment started with the purchase of the shopping center property by the Urban Land Conservancy (ULC).  He also noted that residents and community members met in June of this year and decided to host a “town hall” style meeting in late August to kick off planning for the redevelopment.

The town hall meeting, attended by over 100 residents, led to the creation of the all-volunteer HARP Steering Committee, which has been meeting since early September to create a comprehensive redevelopment plan for the area.  The Steering Committee worked with the ULC to hire a professional design consultant team, paid for by the City’s Office of Economic Development.  Mr. Dolan introduced Jann Oldham and Ray Kramer from the design team, which is called Community by Design (CBD), who then facilitated the rest of the meeting.

Ms. Oldham outlined the process that the Steering Committee and cbd have created, with the goal of creating a comprehensive written and illustrated plan for redevelopment of the entire Holly area by spring 2010.  This first workshop’s goal, she explained, is to solicit community members’ thoughts on what they are most proud of in Northeast Park Hill, what they remember most fondly about the Holly site and area itself, what qualities and characteristics they would like to see incorporated into the final design for the Holly Square site and surrounding area, and what types of spaces and activities they would like to see when the redevelopment is complete.

A second community planning workshop will be held on December 5th, at which cbd and the HARP Steering Committee will provide preliminary design ideas based on information gathered at the first workshop.  This will be followed by a “Holly Fair” in early 2010, which will gather potential developers, residents, nonprofits, community institutions, and other interested parties.

Ms. Oldham explained that after the Holly Fair there will be a final community planning workshop to provide feedback and additional design renderings to the community, as well as to solicit a final round of input from community members.  The final redevelopment plan will then be presented to community members, the ULC, and the City in late spring 2010.

A dedicated Holly Area Redevelopment Project website address was also unveiled at the workshop.  Workshop participants were encouraged to check http://sites.google.com/site/thehollysite/home for up-to-date information on Steering Committee meetings, meeting notes, and meeting and event dates and times.