civiccenterdev, Author at Civic Center Park

Civic Center Conservancy Welcomes Eric Raya Steinbeiss, Director of Community Partnerships and Activation

civiccenterdev — Thu, 23 Mar 2023 17:39:07 +0000

Civic Center Conservancy warmly welcomes Eric Raya Steinbeiss, the Conservancy’s new Director of Community Partnerships and Activation. In his new role, Eric will expand, create, develop and steward community partnerships.

“I am excited to work with the city’s richly diverse communities and empower them to help transform the park into a space that’s for everyone, every day. As a frequenter of events like PrideFest, Cinco de Mayo and Christkindlmarket, I have experienced first-hand what a thriving park can look and feel like. I am excited to help shape what the park can feel like for the next 100 years!” said Raya Steinbeiss.

Eric Raya Steinbeiss previously worked at Girls, Inc. of Metro Denver as manager of STEM and Career Readiness Programs. He has a long professional history in informal science education and positive youth development, having held positions at the Headlands Institute, California Academy of Sciences, Denver Zoo and the Denver Museum of Nature & Science.

Welcome to the team, Eric!

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Civic Center Conservancy is pleased to announce Piep van Heuven as Deputy Director!

civiccenterdev — Wed, 15 Mar 2023 21:32:26 +0000

“I’m looking forward to the opportunity to help grow the Conservancy team, and the work to transform Denver’s most visible public space by creating a vibrant, engaging, inclusive environment for Denver residents and visitors,” said van Heuven. “I’m drawn to the challenge because I identify as a City Builder, and I know from experience how the thoughtful use of public space can change the character and the brand of a City.”

Piep van Heuven brings twenty years of experience in nonprofit management and advocacy work to her new role as Deputy Director. Prior to joining the Conservancy, van Heuven was Bicycle Colorado’s Government Relations Director. Welcome to the team, Piep!

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Civic Center Voices: André Lucero

civiccenterdev — Wed, 26 Oct 2022 17:43:00 +0000

I’m the Downtown Crew Lead for Civic Center Park, and I was responsible for developing a program that provided staffing the park overnight. Over the past three years, park safety gradually started to improve, so we were able to end the program this past spring.

A park is not just for certain people, it’s for everybody. I walk through the park and needs to be worked on and then come up with a project and get it done. It’s always a team effort.

We’ve got an amazing crew. Everybody that works downtown in Civic Center has a lot of pride in their work and it really shows. Everybody has their little pieces of the park and they’re able to say,“ I did this, and I’m proud of it.” Civic Center Park will always be the heart of Denver. This park was one of the originally designed assets of the city and will continue to be a space to gather. The restoration of the Greek Theater is going to be a real centerpiece of the whole park. The park is not just for certain people, it’s for everybody. The park is a great conversation piece. It’s really a source of pride for me to be able to be the caretaker of this park. I often say that this is probably the most photographed park in the state. It means a lot to me to see that people are taking pictures of the park from all over the country and world. That’s how I know I’ve made my mark.

André Lucero is the Downtown Crew Lead for @DenverParksRec. He ensures park safety and keeps it a beautiful and welcoming space for all to enjoy. #CivicCenterVOICES

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Civic Center Voices: Jenna Harris

civiccenterdev — Fri, 14 Oct 2022 17:45:46 +0000

I’m the Downtown Program Manager at the @TheRealCityofDenver. I was recently promoted to this role from my previous role as the Downtown Parks Project Manager. Before that, I worked at a few private design firms in Denver as a landscape architect. I truly love working for the City of Denver in my role because there’s always so much happening downtown, and Civic Center is at the heart of it all!

I led the Civic Center Next 100 concept design and public engagement effort for Denver Parks & Recreation. We spent over a year speaking with the community and stakeholders about what they wanted to see as part of the next 100 years of Civic Center Park. It is also important to make sure we are representing historically marginalized voices in future phases of design.

I’m so excited about the upcoming changes to the Greek Theater, Central Promenade, Central Gathering Feature and the next phase of the recently closed Bannock Street. The first Phase of Implementation will include improvements to the Greek Theater and Central Promenade. As part of this project, we will be rehabilitating the existing Greek Theater structure and bowl and make it universally accessible for both performers and attendees for the first time in its over 100-year history. For the Central Promenade, we will be improving the paving and making first-phase improvements to better support event infrastructure.

I personally think Civic Center Park is the most important public space in Denver, and it will continue to be a place where we hold events, performances and public assembly opportunities and it’s a place where people can come on a daily basis. We want Civic Center to continue to be a clean and safe place that people can come for both big events and daily activities. It’s both a neighborhood park and a regional destination.

Jenna Harris is the Downtown Program Manager for City and County of Denver Government. She oversees planning, design and construction parks projects in Downtown Denver. #CivicCenterVOICES

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9News: Nonprofit hires people who live on the streets to help restore Civic Center

civiccenterdev — Fri, 09 Sep 2022 22:53:22 +0000

9News Denver profiled Civic Center WORKS, a workforce development program that provides a park maintenance job and essential wraparound services to individuals transitioning out of homelessness.

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Civic Center Voices: Nigel Besson

civiccenterdev — Fri, 15 Jul 2022 17:53:23 +0000

“I’m originally from Rhode Island. I studied plant science at the University of Rhode Island. Plants have always been my biggest love. I can now do that full time as the Lead Horticulturalist for Civic Center Park. When we finish our designs at the end of the year, we have anywhere from 10,000 to 20,000 plants, and the crew plays a huge role in making that possible. It’s very satisfying for me that everybody loves what they do. Everybody’s here to make sure the plants thrive just like our community.

One of my favorite things about this job is community involvement. When I was going through the interview process for this role, I knew that was going to be a big part of the job, but I guess I’ve never really knew how much. There is a crew of folks from Civic Center WORKS and @bayaud_enterprises that come three days a week to help. On top of that we have Civic Center SPARKLES volunteers that come out once or twice a week all through the summer. It’s a massive difference from what the park previously looked like. I am all for community involvement.

I think as far as the infrastructure of the park goes, it’s one of the coolest parks we have. Right now, we’re sitting in the theater that’s 150 some odd years old and we have pictures of it being built that are all grainy and black and white. It’s cool to think of while I’m sitting right here.

When you’re standing in this park and you’re looking at the courthouse you can see the mountains in the background. And if you’re up in the top of the state house you can see a lot of almost the entirety of Colorado from right here. I like to think of this as the heart of Colorado and it expand from here.

Nigel Besson is the Lead Horticulturalist for Civic Center Park. He works with Civic Center Conservancy, @therealcityofdenver and @denverparksrec to beautify the park each year. #CivicCenterVoices

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Civic Center Voices: Linda Kiker

civiccenterdev — Thu, 07 Jul 2022 21:28:05 +0000

“These (gardens) have a natural place in our cities, and we can rethink some of these spaces to be both beautiful and bountiful. I realized that there is an intersection of a sustainable lifestyle and growing your own food. Fun fact! I never grew food before this.

In 10 years I see the park full of vegetable and flower gardens. More people will engage and have access to these gardens. I think that this park offers a huge opportunity to connect people, and for an invitation to visit. I’d love to see the expansion of edible plants and even a small orchard would fit right in! It’s incredibly important to maintain, nurture and continually grow this plot of land for others to enjoy down the road.”

One plant that people always ask me about in these gardens is kale! Kale has an amazing ability in the garden to withstand pests, to withstand weather, and to grow. It’s nutritious, bioavailable and it always provides. I think kale provides an opportunity for people to learn.

When you live in a city environment and to come into an open space, what a relief that is. What a relief it is that Denver Parks and Rec and Civic Center Conservancy are so behind us.

Everyone is working alongside each other and that makes me feel part of something you know? That’s the community I was looking for.”

Linda Kiker is the co-director of @growlocalcolorado and has been involved with the group since 2015. Linda leads volunteer efforts at Civic Center Park where hundreds of pounds of vegetables are grown each summer and donated to local pantries and shelters across Denver. She’s an integral part of Civic Center Park. #CivicCenterVoices

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