Traveling west of the Mississippi to the South Platte River in Denver, Colorado, we can draw many parallels to Lexington’s Town Branch Creek.  For instance, similar to Town Branch Creek, the South Platte River runs through Denver’s downtown, residential and industrial neighborhoods.  Thanks to the foresight of the mayor, the once polluted and forgotten river is now a thriving ecological recreational resource.  Like Town Branch Creek, the South Platte River has been dumped in, neglected and cut off from the city.  In 1965, the river reminded the city of its existence causing the worst flood in Denver’s history, totaling $325 million in damages.  This incident put the South Platte River back in the city’s agenda but it would take 10 years for a serious plan to rescue the river.

  In June 1974, Denver’s mayor, sensing the growing environmental movement, used $1.9 million in revenue-sharing funds and formed the Platte River Development Committee.  The committee’s plan of attack focused on cleaning up the waterway, constructing an accessible, flood-proof trail system, and developing parks and several boat chutes.  However, their vision was not so easy to accomplish.

  Many members of the community including developers, preservationist, and politicians had diverse and sometimes competing interests.  However, these were not the only hurdles to face. The river was heavily polluted by many sources.  For example, a cement company regularly cleaned out its mixers dumping the contaminated water directly into the river.  A railroad yard adjacent to the river dumped used diesel oil onto the river’s banks.  Many industries operated on the river.  Although some of these were legitimate, they were still unsightly, noisy and a dangerous destination for potential recreators.  To top it all off, the city departments allowed street sweepings, dirty snow, and raw sewage to be dumped into the South Platter River. With all this in mind the committee still plunged forward.

The first order of business for the Platte River Development Committee was to tour the riverside itemizing serious conditions that the river faced.  The committee then divided into four groups and each group was asked to focus on one section of the riverfront.  Each group was required to inventory their site and report back to the Committee with a plan for a “node” or park to be located along each section.  The Platte River Development Committee planned to quickly demonstrate their effectiveness by building a few parks and then connecting the nodes together with a trail providing a base for additional improvements.  The committee was successful.

  A year after the implementation of the Platte River Development Committee, the first park was opened.  Coincidently, it was located at the original settlement of Denver.  Two years later the committee transformed itself into a tax exempt organization called the South Platte River Greenway Foundation, Inc. to better permit donations.  In seven years the foundation raised $14 million from private and public sources.  This funding and community support lead to 10.5 miles of concrete trails, four whitewater boat chutes, and 17 mini parks created along a river that was once a neglected, heavily polluted eye sore. 

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