Stapleton Neighborhood Is Now Central Park After Final Vote

DENVER (CBS4) - After weeks of voting and discussion, the Stapleton neighborhood was renamed as the Central Park neighborhood. The final vote by residents came on Saturday, with 63% in favor of the new name.

The other choice was Skyview. The names were the final two options from a list of more than 330 possibilities.

Stapleton United Neighborhoods (SUN) released the following description of Central Park:

Central Park
Central Park is a name well known in the community. It is physically central to the ... area South of Interstate 70. It abuts the iconic tower from the former airport. Denver has numerous neighborhoods named after the parks they surround, plus "Central Park" would evoke the Green Book, which was a foundational document for Stapleton. Finally, the name-change issue has been divisive for our community the last few years. It has sometimes brought out the best and worst in us and created tensions among neighbors. Central Park would be non-controversial, natural and drama-less, which is what our community could use right now.

The original name of the neighbored, Stapleton, was named for a former Denver mayor who was a member of the Ku Klux Klan. The name debate was reignited after Denver School Board member Tay Anderson vowed to hold a march in the neighborhood if they didn't change the name.

A previous debate last summer ended with the Stapleton name remaining.

"I am proud to serve this community as president of the SUN board alongside 11 other board members. We have worked hard these past 7 weeks to help an alternative name emerge from the community through a process defined by integrity, transparency, inclusiveness, and efficiency. I am grateful for the high level of participation by the community and satisfied with the clarity of this outcome. We are replacing a name; work remains in this community and across the nation to replace systems that have brought us to a place of widening race-based disparities in health, opportunity, and starting point. Today we can celebrate that together we have found an alternative name," said Amanda Allshouse, President, SUN Board of Directors.

The board's own name will be up for community vote.

"It will be up to each relevant neighborhood and city entity to adopt the new name in a manner consistent with their governing documents. SUN will host a community vote to adopt the new name for our organization on Monday, August 31st; this vote is contingent on receiving 100 signatures on a petition that was launched today," the board stated in a news release.

The neighborhood association asked residents to vote on a more inclusive name this time.