Denver closed Sonny Lawson and La Alma/Lincoln parks due to “drug trafficking” and “violent incidents”

Paradise de Fer had only lived at Sonny Lawson Park in Five Points for a few days before the city evicted her.

She said officials arrived on Tuesday morning and forced people camping there to leave.

Then they surrounded the lawn and the basketball court with a metal fence.

Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite

“The only reason people sleep in the park is because they have nowhere else to go. They're building housing right under our noses. What are you trying to tell us? What? We're not good enough?” she told us on Thursday as she sat on the sidewalk outside the fence. “The park is supposed to be free.”

Officers did the same in La Alma/Lincoln Park and on some green spaces near 14th Avenue and Kalamath Street.

Parks and Rec says the green spaces will remain closed for about a month. This is a step they have taken before

“The closures will last at least 30 days,” city spokeswoman Stephanie Figueroa said in an email. “The decision was made due to the increase in drug trafficking, violent incidents and vandalism.” [Denver Parks and Rec] other interventions were attempted before the decision to close was made, but the problem persisted.”

Some areas remain open, such as dog parks and playgrounds – you just have to walk through cordoned off aisles to get there.

Events that were already allowed in these spaces, such as ball games and farmers' markets, can also be held if they continue to wish to do so.

Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite

This is not the first time that security has spurred Denver to take this action, Figueroa stressed.

Parks and Rec closed Civic Center Park in 2021 after officials raised concerns about drug use and sales there, and it will not fully reopen until 2023.

“If you walk through the park today, you can witness firsthand how successful this closure and reopening has been,” Figueroa said. “The park is in amazing shape and welcomes all who wish to visit this public space.”

Some neighbors call the move “ridiculous,” while others say they have not always felt safe in the park.

Yes, said de Fer, some people bought drugs from Sonny Lawson, probably blue fentanyl tablets. But she also felt safe there.

“It was a community,” she said.

Adam S., who did not want to give his last name, agreed over the fence while walking his Australian Shepherd at the dog park.

Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite

“Ninety-eight percent of the time it's completely quiet. People are relaxing. And I think that's a good thing. That's community,” he said. “And I think it's ridiculous that they're putting a fence around a public park where people can come and relax. If I and 10 white people came and sat outside, do you think they'd say anything?”

However, Cisco Saenz, who we met playing sports at the playground that was still open, said he wasn't upset about the new fence. He understands that the people who slept here have to move on, but it didn't always feel like a safe place.

“You see a lot of people out here arguing and shouting,” he said. “I'm glad they put them up. I feel [this place] needed a break.”