All the News About Denver’s Best Residential Community Since 1960 • Volume 60, Issue No. 8 • August 2021 presentation seeking city council approval in August, 2018. According to the deal, the developer of the Park Hill Commons project on Fairfax is paying $650,000 toward the park. City taxpayers are on the hook for the remainder — nearly half the overall cost of a park that was initially billed as a developer-funded project. And, in the latest twist in the years-long saga, the park itself is being built by Gilmore Construction — which is owned by Scott Gilmore’s brother and other family members. Scott Gilmore’s wife is city Councilwoman Stacie Gilmore, who represents District 11 in the Far Northeast The Gilmore Construction sign, which hung on the fence for months, disappeared in late July, shortly after area of the city. Stacie Gilmore a reporter inquired about the company’s contract with the city to build Fairfax Park. Gilmore Construction is voted in favor of the land-swap owned by the brother of Scott Gilmore, the city official who negotiated a controversial land swap for the park. deal negotiated by her husband. The .4-acre park is slated for completion this month, with an opening ribbon-cutting and celebration scheduled Aug. 26. According to a flyer recently produced by the city’s Parks and Recreation department, the park will include a small Fairfax Park Was Once Touted As A Developer-Funded Project, But playground and water play area, shaded arTaxpayers Are Now On The Hook For Half The Cost. In A New Twist, Parks eas for picnicking, seating and green space. While there is relief the park will finally Director Scott Gilmore’s Brother Landed The Contract To Build The Park open this month, the latest details have left Story and photos by Cara DeGette much of the year. some incredulous. The pocket-sized park — the result of Editor, GPHN “Fundamentally what this is about is that a controversial land-swap deal negotiated Scott Gilmore negotiated this deal and in The much-anticipated public park at by Denver’s deputy parks director Scott the end, his brother and other family mem29th and Fairfax is nearing completion — Gilmore — currently has a $1.2 millionbers are financially benefitting from the a welcome development for surrounding plus pricetag. The amount far exceeds what deal,” says Tracey MacDermott, chair of residents and business owners who have Gilmore estimated would be the top end endured construction noise and dust for of the cost of building the park during his continued on page 5
All In The Family
A Tale Of Ferret Survival At The Rocky Mountain Arsenal Story and photos by Reid Neureiter For the GPHN
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Inside This Issue
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In 1979, the black-footed ferret, North America’s only native ferret species, was declared extinct. That was a mistake. In a triumph for the conservation movement, the black-footed ferret, (“BFF” for short), while still endangered and not quite thriving, is at least surviving on the grounds of the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge just six miles north of Park Hill. The Refuge even has a public exhibit with two post-reproductive “ambassador” ferrets — a male named “Hops” and a female named “Yo.” The ambassadors help to educate the public about endangered spe-
cies, biodiversity and importance of habitat protection. In July, the Greater Park Hill News was given exclusive access to view and photograph the feeding of Hops and Yo, as the exhibit remains closed to the public out of fear that the animals may be susceptible to the COVID-19 virus. The black-footed ferret’s near-extinction is the story of Western expansion and habitat loss. The ferrets are prairie dog hunters, and in the wild their diet consists almost exclusively of the charismatic rabbit-sized rodents. The ferrets make their dens in empty prairie dog tunnels. Prairie dogs were considered pests in much of the American West. Beginning in the early 1900s, large-scale poisoning campaigns decimated the prairie dog
A recent marked increase in air traffic flying directly over Park Hill has rattled some residents this summer — some of whom still vividly remember the ear-splitting roar of airplanes during the 80s and early 90s, when Stapleton Airport was right next door. Denver International Airport officials say the increase in air traffic over Park Hill is a temporary annoyance. One of the airport’s main north/south runways on the west side of the airfield — the runway is called 16L/34R — is closed and undergoing construction. “This runway typically contains approximately 40 percent of our operations,” said DIA spokeswoman Alex Renteria. “That runway is pretty important to us.” The runway, one of six at the airport, is heavily used by departing aircraft from DIA. While it’s under construction, many airplanes are now taking off in a flight pattern that takes them directly over Park Hill. Construction on 16L/34R began in midMay and is expected to be completed by
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Back From Extinction
Editor, GPHN
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Yo, the female ambassador black-footed ferret, greets a visitor.
But in 1981, in Meeteetse, Wyo., a ranch dog named Shep brought a weasel-like carcass back to his owners. It was correctly identified as a black-footed ferret and conservationists discovered a remaining holdout population of about 100 animals. That population too was then ravaged by the plague, leaving only 18 survivors. At the time, the black-footed ferret was considered one of the rarest mammals on the planet. In 1986 the decision was made to try to save the species by capturing the surviving animals to start a U.S. Fish and Wildlife-managed captive breeding program. The resulting Species Survival Plan involved establishing six captive breeding facilities across the country. One of those, in Larimer County in northern Colorado, now houses two-thirds of the world’s captive breeding population of black-footed ferrets. Of the 18 captured ferrets, only eight reproduced in captivity. Thus, with one recent exception, the world’s entire existing population of black-footed ferrets is descended from those eight animals. That means the species also is at risk of genetic problems due to inbreeding. However, technology is already in play to address the lack of genetic diversity. Last year, on Dec. 10, a black-footed ferret was successfully cloned. “Elizabeth Ann” was created from the frozen cells of “Willa,”
By Cara DeGette
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A ranch dog named Shep
Noisy Airplanes To Fly Over Park Hill Through September
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populations, and thus, the ferrets as well. In addition, agricultural development of the Great Plains meant that 98 percent of the shortgrass prairie habitat where prairie dogs and ferrets live has been plowed under. In a triple whammy, black-footed ferrets are singularly susceptible to canine distemper and the sylvatic plague. So, by the 1970s, the species was believed to have gone the way of the dodo bird — succumbing to habitat loss and disease.
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Upcoming GPHC Meetings Community meetings are currently conducted virtually on the first Thursday of each month. The next meetings will be Aug. 5 and Sep. 2 at 6:30 p.m. Link to attend at greaterparkhill.org/ join-us/community-meetings/