Greeley decides to convert part of Bittersweet Park back to bluegrass after backlash
The Weld County Veterans Memorial is seen at Bittersweet Park in Greeley on April 14, 2022. City council agreed to convert about 5.6 acres of the park near the Weld County Veterans and Fallen Officers memorials back to bluegrass after receiving complaints about the native grasses. Photo by Trevor Reid for The Greeley Tribune.
By Kelly Ragan
Greeley City Council agreed Tuesday to plant bluegrass surrounding the Weld County Veterans and Fallen Officers memorials at Bittersweet Park. But it will leave the natural grass on the park’s remaining 15.4 acres.
The memorials account for about 5.6 acres, stretching beyond the memorials along 35th Avenue, and will allow the city to keep the existing irrigation system.
The renovation is expected to cost about $60,000 per acre, or about $336,000, with an additional $8,100 per year for ongoing maintenance.
“A lot of what we do, if we’re successful, is about compromise,” said Mayor John Gates.
Bittersweet Park, and the natural grasses planted in it, have been a point of contention from Greeley residents. The city did it to save water — about 7 gallons per square foot per year — as well as replace a 30-year-old leaking irrigation system and the construction of a new soft-surface trail.
At the time, the city didn’t receive much push back. But then folks saw the grass.
While city staff warned it would take the native grasses three to five growing seasons to take root, many folks balked at the brown, crunchy grass that some thought looked dead.
“I don’t have words to explain the shock value when we first saw how Bittersweet Park looked with natural grass,” Gates said.
Gates said he can’t remember ever saying he wasn’t well-briefed on something during his 13 years on city council, but that the Bittersweet Park situation called for it.
City councilmember Johnny Olson even called Bittersweet Park the “No. 1 issue” of his 2021 campaign.
Though there has undoubtedly been push back on the appearance of the grass, there has also been significant support.
The city held community input sessions the city held in partnership with the Communication and Engagement Department to get a better sense of what folks wanted for the area. In this process, the city:
Held two pop-up events at Bittersweet Park
Heard from 1,358 survey respondents
Received 4,000 write-in comments
Received 29 paper surveys
Collected 270 social media comments
Received more than 20 emails
The results showed that nearly 67% of respondents wanted to keep all or most of the natural grass. About 56% of the responses suggested landscape maintenance around memorials, park and picnic areas, and celebration areas.
“It gives me heartburn because we did so much outreach at the beginning when we transitioned,” said city councilmember Deborah DeBoutez. “We’re kind of going backwards.”
Why not just have bluegrass around the memorials, not also stretching out along 35th Avenue?
That would require the city to redesign the irrigation system, which would create extra expenses.
“This option doesn’t increase the bluegrass footprint considerably and gives us a good stopping point to not have to impact the irrigation,” said Eric Bloomer, Parks Superintendent.