In Centennial, CO, Centennial Center Park was announced as the winner of the Denver Regional Council of Governments’ (DRCOG) People’s Choice Live Work Play award. Centennial Center Park was one of ten finalists nominated for this award. The Live Work Play People’s Choice Award honors outstanding places, events and projects that move the region’s long-range plan forward by supported and contributing to livable communities.

“The City is honored to have Centennial Center Park recognized as the Live Work Play People’s Choice Award amongst the other exceptional finalists in the metro area,” says Mayor Pro Tem Stephanie Piko. “The success of Centennial’s first City-owned park has seen amazing use from people all over the metro area and truly exemplifies why Centennial is such a great place to live, work and play.”

About Centennial Center Park:

The 11 acre Centennial Center Park is the first City owned and developed Park; the project was completed on schedule and under budget. Centennial Center Park is located in the center of Centennial on the north side of Arapahoe at Revere Parkway. This location was specifically chosen to provide recreation opportunities for neighborhoods and communities underserved by park facilities and to establish a central location where citizens throughout the City could come together. The Park not only serves residents of Centennial and Arapahoe County but draws citizens from throughout the metro Denver area.

A number of needs were identified by both the City and the public during the Park planning process. The Park site was acquired in early 2008, and a master plan was completed in 2009 after an extensive public outreach effort. As part of the planning process, citizens were given the opportunity to identify the types of uses and facilities they wanted in the Park. Residents expressed a lack of park facilities and recreational features, including children’s playgrounds, climbing walls, water play features and picnic facilities. The resulting plan for the Park reflected the community's vision and responded to the citizens' needs for recreation.

Centennial Center Park is designed for year-round family-friendly enjoyment. The site has many natural attributes that make it an exceptional location, including spectacular mountain vistas; changes in topography that create distinctive places; and access to the Lone Tree Creek drainage, which has the potential to provide riparian habitat and access to the region's park, open space and trail network. The Park’s features include playgrounds, water play areas, an outdoor amphitheatre, a plaza, picnic shelters, restrooms, mountain view overlooks, environmental and historical education exhibits, open space meadows, a butte, a native plant demonstration garden, climbing walls, walking trails, parking and entry gateways that provide an identity for the Park and community. Many of the materials used in the construction of the Park were found locally. The surface of the playground consists of 'poured in place’ rubber surfacing, which is made of recycled materials that provide a safe, clean, attractive and ADA accessible environment for children.

Centennial Center Park opened April 27, 2012 and its success quickly became apparent.  Within the first nine months, thousands visited the Park and more than 200 events were coordinated by citizens throughout the Denver metro area.  In addition to numerous private events, the City of Centennial hosted three public events that were attended by thousands, including local public officials, Governor Hickenlooper and several Olympians. The usage of the Park during the first year was so high the City constructed more than 200 additional parking spaces to meet public demand.

Funding and support for the $5.3 million Centennial Center Park came from a variety of sources, including Great Outdoors Colorado, DORA (Waste Tire Program), CenCON (an umbrella organization of 53 homeowner organizations and civic organizations), the Centennial Rotary Club and numerous other business and community partners.

For more information, contact Allison Wittern at 303-754-3443.