Stapleton closed three decades ago today, giving way to a vibrant destination
By the Thirst Team
Thirty years ago, it was Stapleton International Airport. Today, it is a model for mixed-use development, with 35,000 residents and a less problematic name. The area now known as the Central Park neighborhood boasts 20 pocket parks, seven outdoor pools, five sports fields and two large green spaces that host community events, as well as award-winning restaurants, breweries, coffee shops and more.
Neighborhood history
A small municipal airport opened in Denver in 1929. The landing strip would become Stapleton Airport while the city grew around the site, which could no longer handle the city’s airplane traffic.
FlyteCo Tower event
FlyteCo Tower celebrates the 30th anniversary of Stapleton’s closure today with tower tours hosted by former airport employees, a beer release, and food and drink specials.
By 1955, annual traffic at the airport had already reached 1 million passengers. Four years later, the first jet airplane took off from the airport, but the runways were not large enough for regular jet traffic at the time. The airport was expanded and grew to the nation’s third busiest by 1961. Longtime residents remember the runway that crossed over I-70; talk about distracted driving.
Eventually, the aging airport could no longer grow or keep up with demand. In February 1995, commercial flights into Denver moved from Stapleton to Denver International Airport. The air traffic control tower, a United Airlines training facility and a couple of old hotels offer evidence of the former use, but stroll most of the walkable neighborhood and the old airport is all but forgotten.
What’s there today
The airport slowly evolved into the Stapleton neighborhood, but Mayor Benjamin Stapleton’s Ku Klux Klan ties led to a community poll for a new name. The area is now named for the 80-acre Central Park adjacent to the old flight control tower, which is appropriate because the park and tower are arguably now the heart of the neighborhood.
The tower is now occupied by FlyteCo Tower, an expansion of north Denver’s pilot-owned FlyteCo Brewing. In addition to a brewery and taproom with nods to the airport history, FlyteCo Tower
“We are an aviation-themed business that now occupies a former airport and air traffic control tower,” FlyteCo Tower co-owner Morgan O'Sullivan. “We couldn’t have scripted it better.”
FlyteCo Tower boasts a full bar, food, mini golf, arcade games, axe throwing, sports simulators, live event space, a new coffee shop and more. But the biggest headache has been reopening the namesake tower.
“An ongoing challenge that we are dealing with is our goal of renovating the top of the control tower and the costs associated with such a daring endeavor,” O'Sullivan said. “The cost of replacing the elevator alone is enough to scare most away from the project, but we haven’t let that slow us down. We now offer daily historical tours to the top, and the long term goal remains to fully redevelop the tower cab into a bar and private event space.”
Across Central Park Boulevard, several paths wind through the rolling hills of Central Park’s fields and playgrounds. On the east end of the park, a short jog down the Westerly Creek Trail, is Stanley Marketplace, a collective of 50 local businesses that occupy the 14,0000-square-foot former home of Stanley Aviation, once Aurora’s largest employer.
The best of Central Park
Here are some other highlights in Central Park and the adjacent area.
Annette Restaurant, where chef and co-owner Caroline Glover won the James Beard Foundation’s Best Chef in the Mountain Region award.
Cattivella, an award-winning Italian restaurant with cooking classes, wine dinners and food tours of Italy.
Four Friends Kitchen, which quickly became one of Denver’s favorite and most acclaimed breakfast and brunch spots (a category with stiff competition).
Glissade Coffee Company, a bright, airy community space with house-roasted coffee, as well as wine and beer.
Station 26 Brewing Co., a popular watering hole that opened in 2013, occupies a former firehouse on the edge of Central Park.
Ubergrippen Climbing Crag, which is more than one of the best indoor climbing gyms in the area. In addition to 16,000 square feet of indoor roped climbing and bouldering walls, the business also has yoga and fitness studios.