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Fifty years ago the confluence of the South Platte and Cherry Creek rivers was not a destination point. It did hold great importance, however, as the primary source of power to the Downtown area for nearly half a century. As the contiguous industrial grounds were transformed into popular mixed use projects and landscaped parks, Xcel Energy’s Platte Substation sat awkwardly in the middle of this frenzy of residential and commercial growth. With the improved greenway and park system developing around it, a critical public/private partnership was created between the Xcel Energy, the City and County of Denver and the Greenway Foundation in order to address the changing needs of the area, and the impact of the one acre substation on the rest of the park.
Faced with the challenge of relocating this necessary component to Downtown’s infrastructure, Xcel Energy exchanged land with the City, purchased additional land from Trillium and created the new Lacombe Substation on a site between 19th and 20th Streets in the Central Platte Valley. At a significant cost to Xcel Energy, this unprecedented move cleared the way for the completion of the park. 
The City and the Greenway Foundation then combined efforts to landscape this acre of land at the junction of the two rivers. The transformation brought about a series of changes including the planting of native landscaping to attract the indigenous wildlife, wetland seeding to prevent erosion of the rivers’ edge, two boating put-ins/take outs for kayaks, rafts and canoes, as well as a large turf area complete with picnic, shade and children’s play structures.
This public/private partnership illustrated by Xcel Energy, the City & County of Denver and the Greenway Foundation is a model for all communities, serving as a reminder that magnificent places can be born out of cooperation and imagination.
Downtown Denver Partnership Platinum Sponsors
  
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