Discovery Park Plaza

Located next to the new Anderson Mason Dale-designed Douglas County Library and across the street from the PACE Center, Parker’s Discovery Park and Plaza was designed as a four-season destination meant to complement the city’s burgeoning cultural district. Awarded the 2018 Governor’s Award for Downtown Excellence, the park and plaza carefully intertwine elements such as a water feature and splash pad fountain, a 350-foot-long ice skating ribbon, sculptural public art, and an outdoor all-season band-shell. Three contemporary pavilions designed with timeless materials including Colorado-sourced Endicott brick veneer, natural wood soffits, decorative and polished concrete, and glass support these programs while shaping the interstitial park and event spaces.

The challenge of creating a park and plaza that might attract visitors and community in all seasons is exemplified by the park and plaza’s thoughtful integration of landscape, architecture, and state-of-the-art engineering to create distinct, seasonally driven program spaces within the same site footprint and location. For example, a portion of the site’s paved event space transforms into the Parker Ice trail in the winter. During the summer months, a portion of the ice trail becomes a warm-weather water feature, complete with programmable water jets embedded below the paving surface and color changing LED lights.

Discovery Park Plaza reflects place-making at its finest; the plaza has already become a well-loved landmark within the Town of Parker, Colorado. From day to day, the park attracts a multigenerational demographic drawn to the park for its varied programming and, for the adjacent workforce within the cultural district, pleasant outdoor spaces for collaboration, socialization, concessions, and respite.