What once was a grand gateway to Denver’s City Park has fallen into disrepair, with holes, water damage and even a bush growing out of it.
But the dilapidation of Sullivan Gateway, the entrance to City Park Esplanade on the north side of Colfax, has not gone unnoticed. There is a restoration project underway for the 100-year-old gate.
The project will cost more than $2 million. Phase two should be finished by the end of 2017, while the third phase’s completion will depend on funding.
Annie Levinsky, the executive director of Historic Denver, said the gates were part of a movement to make Denver beautiful a century ago. The idea was to beautify Denver through its parks, park ways, statues, monuments and buildings.
But where the gateways were once a symbol of that beautiful ideal, time has chipped and corroded it away.
“I think people are always discouraged when they see something that is so important in bad condition,” Levinsky said.
Talks of restoring the gateway started in the early 2000s. Many years of work later, and talk is being put into action.
Though the gates and its beautifying kin are a century old, Levinsky said they can still inspire pride in the city of Denver.
“It’s a landmark structure that makes their neighborhood special,” she said.
