The second-largest park in Lakewood will remain in the forefront of the city’s renovation and conservation planning for the next decade — if not longer.

The city of Lakewood scheduled an open house for Dec. 18 to hear residents’ input on the future of the William F. Hayden Park Plan — a plan set to include improvements to the park for the next 10-to-20 years.

The park, located on Green Mountain near West Alameda Parkway and Colorado State Highway 470, includes more than 2,400 acres of parkland and a collection of trails, including a 6,800-foot summit up Green Mountain Trail.

The plan was announced earlier this summer, with the first round of surveys wrapping up in June.

In the survey, over 50% of people listed new trails as the top addition they’d like to see to the park.

The city then hired DHM Design — a landscape architecture firm in Denver — to lead the planning effort for the next year, according to Amber Thill, operations manager for the city. This plan will take into account community feedback to create a phase of improvements for the next decade.

The city and DHM will create an assessment of park visitor needs, an evaluation of park trails and infrastructure, environmental review, recreation management and design work for future park and trail improvements.

The final plan will include funding estimates likely by phase of recommended improvements.

“William F. Hayden Park is a regional destination hosting over 900 visitors per day,” Thill told The Denver Gazette. “The recommendations of this plan will consider ecological data; analysis of trails for safety, erosion and access; park user data; and feedback received during the planning effort. The plan will ensure that we protect and conserve the important resources, while providing the trail experiences users enjoy.”

The open house will be at the Green Mountain Recreation Center, 13198 W. Green Mountain Drive, Lakewood, on from 5:30 to 7 p.m. on Dec. 18.

The historic park was also in the spotlight earlier this year when the city posted a social media message on April 3 warning hikers of the existence of pre-WWII artillery shells potentially scattered throughout the rolling hills.

Though no munitions have been discovered since 2022, according to both city and state officials, the military history of the land still looms large, with cleanup efforts ongoing for nearly 100 years since munitions were fired near the recreational area.

Years after Lakewood was established as a farming community in 1859, State Adjutant General for the Colorado Army National Guard George West set up a training facility near Green Mountain in 1903. The facility was located near the current junction of West Colfax Avenue and Interstate 70.

The National Guard used the northern part of Green Mountain as a rifle range and training facility, and between 1903 and 1939 — when the country was preparing for World War II — the National Guard leased the land on Green Mountain from the Hayden family to be a live fire artillery impact area, according to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.

The type of artillery fired at Green Mountain were 75mm from “French 75″ field guns.

As of last year, 13 munitions items have been found in the area. The latest, found on April 18, 2022, was deemed non-explosive, according to Branden Ingersoll, a spokesperson for the Hazardous Materials and Waste Management Division of the health department.

The Army National Guard signed a Record of Decision with the state to clean up a 466-acre area of the park, starting in 2020.

The project is still ongoing, with the National Guard, the state health department and local agencies currently developing a cleanup plan, which will include “a surface clearance and detailing the associated field work that will be required,” Ingersoll said earlier this year.

The Denver Gazette reached out to learn the updated timeline of the cleanup, but did not hear back by the time this report was published.

Still, the state said that there are likely no shells on the trails.