Wheat Ridge’s new park — The Green at 38th — is set to open Saturday, marking the first new park in the city since 2014.

The city will be holding an official ribbon cutting at the park, 7101 W. 38th Ave., at 10 a.m. Saturday, with music, performances and games throughout the day between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m.

“We’re so excited to celebrate the brand-new community space, designed for connection, relaxation and all-around fun,” the city said in a social media post.

The project began in 2018 with the concept of transforming the area between Stevens Elementary and 38th Avenue. The city then began public engagement, ultimately being delayed by the COVID pandemic in 2020.

A design was approved in 2022 and construction began in May 2024. Local organizations like Great Outdoors Colorado and the Colorado Department of Transportation’s Revitalizing Main Streets program helped with grant funding totaling $1,633,000.

The park was officially opened on Aug. 8, with a playground, park-tiered seating structures, a stage and outdoor classroom, fire pits, ping pong tables and 77 parking spaces at a redesigned lot outside of Stevens Elementary. 

“This park will be very programmed and full of furniture, playground equipment and those sorts of things,” Kendall Peterson, public art consultant for the city, said at a June 9 City Council meeting.

The park will also feature mushroom sculptures, titled the Fun Fun Fungi Art Exhibit, by Aurora artist David Farquharson. The mushrooms will each contain stories written by children from the school and will light up at night.

The new park will be the first park opened in Wheat Ridge since Hopper Hollow Park in 2014.

Furthermore, the new park falls in line with the city’s initiative to develop the Main Street Corridor on 38th Avenue, which was a significant part of the 15-year development plan approved by the council last month.

The development plan highlighted the ongoing desire to create mixed-use development and streetscape improvements on 38th Avenue, making it the main hub of the city.