North Boulder Park Renovation - Common Questions and Facts

North Boulder Park is a cherished park in our community. Both the data and the stories confirm that folks across the city, and nearby neighbors, benefit from the amenities and location of North Boulder Park. We are grateful to have funding to address dated infrastructure and drainage issues across the site so that it can continue to serve our community in the years to come. The project team started working towards smaller improvements on the existing restroom / pavilion and playground in 2022 with the community. So why are some things shifting in the proposed plan?

• The park overlaps with an urban drainage project and improvements to the West City Campus at Alpine / Balsam. With this project at North Boulder Park, we can renovate the park and improve stormwater drainage in one effort for an efficient use of city resources.
• The proposed plan for the park is based on multiple community engagement events where the project team was asked to balance the existing features that the community holds so dear (multi-use field space for volleyball, informal gatherings, and Nordic skiing) with drainage and requested upgrades for nature play, an inclusive / accessible playground, renovated pavilion, a dedicated teen space, and more.

• The Parks & Recreation team has engaged the community many times starting mid-2022 when the design phase began.
• The proposed plan is based on the input received, data collected related to our system, as well as policy guidance. Key milestones include:
  • 4 open house events: Including the recent December 2025 open house and March 2025 family event.
  • 2 teen-specific events
  • 4 reviews by the Parks & Recreation Advisory Board (PRAB)
  • 7 updates via the project website.
• Information about each event was posted at the park, a project website, and updates provided via the project website or email (if a person signed up for updates via the project website). Additionally, postcards or flyers may be circulated to neighbors for events and social media posts are used to reach the broader community.

Community Engagement March 2025

Below is an overview of the intent behind some of the design, including a factual explanation of what may change and what is driving each change. Each section ends with a “What we Heard” to summarize feedback we’ve heard and if/how we intend to address it.

Picnicking and Trees:

• The December 2025 plan shows the south end of the park will remain a passive, shaded multi-use space with continued shared use of the unprogrammed space whether it be yoga classes, meditators, or slack line walkers.
• The proposed plan shows the northeast end of the park will also remain a passive shaded multi-use space with minimal alterations from its existing condition today.
• All current picnic areas as well as all trees will remain.
• What we heard: We heard how much folks value these unprogrammed, flexible spaces and the shade and solace the trees provide. They are unchanged in the concept plan.

Stormwater Improvements

• The proposed design recognizes the need to fix the drainage holistically which improves the park and neighborhood drainage problems.
• The multi-disciplinary project team includes folks from Parks, Utilities and Facilities as we work to more effectively convey stormwater across and around the park while integrating new drainage enhancements being constructed for the West City Campus at Alpine/Balsam. The project allows stormwater to move more effectively for both the park and surrounding neighborhoods; and for the first time provides an effective path for water to exit the park. This multi-department effort combines several individual projects into a single holistic effort creating efficiencies in time, dollars, and the ability to fix the long-standing drainage issues.
• The proposed dry stream bed in the north portion of the park replaces several underground pipes that regularly get clogged. The dry stream bed also allows for nature play, educational and aesthetic enhancements, and better maintenance access.
• The improvements also address residential development in the neighborhood (larger building footprints reduce the landscape areas that soak up water and basements that require sump pumps) which contributes to more water flowing into the park in a short time.
• The project team has scaled back the stormwater elements considerably south of Cedar Avenue where there are less amenities. Initially, the entire park had a dry stream bed (25-100 year storms) along the east edge of the park. The last plan revision shows a transition of the dry stream bed to a low flow channel (2-5 year storms) that can be ski’d over.

• What we heard: We heard that folks value efficient use of city resources which is why we are protecting our investment on the north end of the park (playground and restroom) from larger storms and minimizing disruption of the ski track on the south end of the park by designing for smaller storm events.

  

  dry stream bed (wider and deeper to hold more water)

  

Ballfields and Fencing

• There are two ballfields currently in the park. Both ballfields are regularly used by North Boulder Little League, even with ongoing use of the Iris Fields and others in Boulder. Boulder's Level of Service for ballfields is low as compared to our benchmark communities across the state and country, and these fields are key community infrastructure. In other words, the site will be used as it has been for decades, to provide youth Little League baseball and softball. The update reorients one field away from the sun for best play value.
• The sideline fence will be the same height as what is currently there (3 ft. height, possibly removable for greater use outside little league season).
• Shifting the fields south addresses the existing marshy conditions on the north outfield which increase maintenance costs and decrease play. The ballfields are not being located in the middle of the green space and are still shown adjacent to the alley.
• What we heard: We heard that folks appreciate the large open space south of the ballfields. We are listening and based on recent feedback, the team is looking at potential options to move the ballfields further north, while still keeping them out of the marsh.
  

Outfield Marsh:  Fall 2024

Outfield Marsh:  Spring 2025

Nordic Skiing

• The project team was out with the Boulder Nordic Club at the first ski track grooming of the season measuring the snowmobile turning radius as well as doing a number of laps.
• The team is actively working with Boulder Nordic Club to ensure that the park remains a great place for Nordic skiing.
• What we heard: The future ski track should have both an inner and outer loop that is almost identical in length to what is currently there today. We are providing this, including continued use of the northeast “hill” area and southwest tree skiing.

Cross Country Ski Track Grooming: December 2025

Teen Space

• Youth are a priority for our community, confirmed in many planning processes including the 2022 Boulder Parks & Recreation Plan.
• Teens have engaged with their peers, the project team, and the community for input on the park design. Teens held two events at the park to ask and answer questions on how they use the park today and what they would like to see in the future. These events were put on by teens for teens with support from staff and Growing Up Boulder.
• They provided a report which includes an overview of their findings:
  Prioritize teen-specific amenities which include a basketball court and volleyball courts,
  creative seating/hangout spaces with light-up features, develop sports programming, balance new development with open space preservation, incorporate water elements, create evening programming infrastructure, upgrade core facilities, and balance use across the site.
• On the proposed plan, the teen space is shown north of the existing fitness area (in a location which does not affect the ballfields nor the Nordic ski track).
• What we heard: Some expressed concern about designing for young people, worried that park design will promote illegal activity. The project team is actively soliciting feedback from the Boulder Police Department. Research and practice both confirm that providing space for positive use of the park by Teens often reduces negative use of the park.

Central Multi-Use Flex Lawn

• The project team understands the appeal of the open lawn and has advocated for plan revisions that keep the current appeal while weighing changes that make sense for programs and maintenance.
• What we heard: Many asked that the central multi-use flex lawn retain a large footprint for all uses that the park is currently used for. All activities that occur in the park now can continue after the project. The amount of usable multi-use lawn (volleyball, ultimate frisbee, and picnicking) space increases with the proposed plan.

Existing central multi-use lawn showing many volleyball games occurring simultaneously

Pavilion Multi-Use Flex Lawn

• The name of the Event Lawn will be changed to Pavilion Multi-Use Flex Lawn to better describe the intended uses.
• The pavilion flex lawn is additional open, multi-use space (not a performance center) that has direct proximity to the pavilion. It can be used for birthday parties, volleyball games, the summer concert series (that has used the lawn north of the restroom in the past), as well as large groups that need access to a restroom such as the youth cross country running club. This space has wonderful views of the Flatirons.
• One of the shifts on the December 2025 plan is moving what is currently used as an event lawn / multi-use space (north of the Pavilion / Restroom) to the south side of this same building. This shift allows the stormwater improvements to be located in the area of greatest impact while orienting visitors towards the Flatirons when using the pavilion or multi-use space.
• What we heard: We heard that multi-use lawn space is desired but not necessarily large events that would occur past park hours. The project team is looking at the size of the flex lawn to be more similar to what exists north of the restroom today. Park hours are not changing with this project, nor are city codes related to amplification and events in parks.

Existing pavilion multi-use lawn showing use by the summer concert series

Other

• All amenities that are in good condition will be kept and will not be replaced (fitness area, half-court basketball, ping pong, picnic areas, and all trees). Instead of removing and replacing the existing pavilion, it will refurbished. This includes replacing the worn roof and ceiling and replacing the former concession area with 3-season partitions that allow an unobstructed view from the pavilion to the play area.

The project team is in the process of finalizing the design for the park and will incorporate feedback we heard from all events, site analysis data, and policy guidance into the next revision. The engagement window for this project has closed and the team will be ready early in 2026 to share the revised design, information on the project process, and construction timeline. Please stay tuned to our website for more information on the design process and project schedule.