The old Park Hill Golf Course has been closed to the public for more than a year.
But not for Park Hill Dave.
Park Hill Dave, who is a dog and may or may not be a boy, has been patrolling the fallow grounds “for quite some time … just living its best life and claiming it as his own,” said Jolon Clark, head of Denver Parks and Recreation.
Park Hill Dave is blissfully unaware that the grounds were locked up after voters rejected a plan to build housing and more on the grounds. He doesn’t know about the ongoing negotiations to make it a city park.
But he apparently knows he likes the place. He trots around with a small stuffed animal in his mouth. Someone put a bed in the park for him.
And when city workers approach him, he takes off, circles around and returns to his spot.
The city has a job for Park Hill Dave.
“We are about to launch Operation PHD, for Park Hill Dave, where we will attempt, with some help from our friends at Animal Protection, to capture Park Hill Dave,” Clark said.
Once he is captured, the city hopes to put Park Hill Dave to work as a city employee. That will involve giving him the required shots, boosting his health, training him, giving him a vest and putting him to work.
“If all that works out … we’re looking to see if we can put Park Hill Dave to work as a DPR employee,” Clark said.
Park Hill Dave would not be the park department’s first canine hire. The city has other dogs chasing geese at the golf courses. Park Hill Dave would join that team.
“Park Hill Dave can continue to live his best parks life,” Clark said, “but living by the rules instead of living outside the law.”
But first, they have to catch him.
Sources say Park Hill Dave is smart, and they say he is fast.
Denver Animal Protection plans to use a non-harmful trap to capture the dog. Parks and Rec staff will monitor the trap and will notify animal protection if Park Hill Dave wanders into it.
“If they do capture the dog, we’ll bring it to Denver Animal Shelter, scan it for a microchip,” Denver Animal Protection spokesperson Tammy Vigil told Denverite in an email.
If Park Hill Dave already has an owner, the shelter will contact that person and ask them to pick up their dog.
“If it doesn’t have a microchip, then we’d hold the dog for five days to see if the owner locates their pet in that time frame,” Vigil said. “If not, after this five-day hold, the pup becomes property of the shelter, and we could adopt it out.”
If Clark wants to employ the dog, Parks and Rec will have to be the first to adopt him. He’s hoping to strike a deal with the shelter for first dibs.
Amid the dog drama, the Park Hill Golf Course park conversion continues to drag.
The city is still trying to finalize its deal with Westside Investment Partners, the company that owns the land.
If the deal goes through as expected, the city would take possession of the property and reopen it as the city’s fourth-largest regional park by summer. Fences would come down. People would be able to walk the land again. And the developer would get a sizable parcel of land near the airport in exchange.
But for now, the course is just for Dave.
When Denverite asked to join city staff to document their attempt to capture the dog, we were denied.
“DPR has not officially acquired the land at this time,” Parks and Rec spokesperson Stephanie Figueroa said. “Due to liability, we cannot allow anyone on site just yet.”
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