Central Park Community Projects Ecological Support

Great Ecology provided ecological services for several projects within Denver's Central Park planned community, located on the degraded site of the former Stapleton International Airport. Our work included a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment, park and open space planting plan, biological surveys, and remediation of a 27-acre pond site. Great Ecology also developed and executed an adaptive management plan for a 60-acre non-irrigated, stormwater detention basin, along with the creation of vegetation, soil erosion, and wildlife monitoring protocols. We conducted monthly site visits to provide management recommendations and monitored the revegetation projects, including for prairie dog and state-listed noxious weed encroachment with recommendations for management and removal of these species.

As part of our work on the site planting plan, we implemented soil testing to inform plan development and continued management recommendations. The revegetation efforts were primarily no- to low-irrigation plantings of a mix of cool and warm season grasses and forbs, which provide aesthetic appeal.

One of these projects, the Central Park North open space, developed by Civitas with ecological support from Great Ecology, was awarded the 2017 ASLA-Colorado merit award for Water-Resilient Park Design.