Athmar Park Denver

Athmar Park is a residential neighborhood in southwest Denver. Alameda Avenue borders Attmar Park on the north, Mississippi Avenue on the south, Federal Boulevard on the west, and the South Platte River on the east. Four of Denver’s parks are within the boundaries of Athmar Park: Aspgren Park, Huston Lake Park, Vanderbilt Park Park, and Habitat Park Park. The eastern half of the neighborhood is lower in elevation than the western half, although there is a sharp rise above the river near Pecos Street and a gradual ascent toward the southwest. Athmar Park has some streets that have long, flowing curves, in contrast to the older grid-style streets found in many neighborhoods.

The Houston Lake Park is located in the Athmar Park neighborhood between the streets of South Clay and South Vallejo, and the avenues of West Ohio and West Kentucky. In addition to a bike and walking path, soccer and softball fields, tennis and basketball courts, and a children’s play area, Huston Lake Park offers a variety of recreational activities. Originally a patch of the swamp known as “Frenchie’s Lake,” the park is named after one of the original land owners in the area, Nathaniel K. Huston. Early residents used the lake to ice skate in the winter and swim in the summer.

Clifford Aspgren Park, located at the eastern edge of Athmar Park, is named for a Colorado House of Representatives member.

In addition to Habitat Park and Boy Scout Park, Vanderbilt Lake Park is part of the South Platte River Greenway. The complex contains sports fields and is connected to a system of parks by biking and walking trail that runs along the South Platte River. Habitat Park was the location of the Denver Municipal Animal Shelter until 2011 when it moved to a site in the Valverde neighborhood north of Athmar Park.

The brick bungalows in the Mountain View Park area in the northwest section of the neighborhood have a unique design and date to the 1920s and 1930s when the area was still unincorporated in Arapahoe County. One of Denver’s first McDonald’s restaurants was located in the neighborhood, at 2120 W. Alameda Avenue. Alameda Square Shopping Center, located at 2200 W. Alameda Avenue, was developed in 1959 as Denver’s first outdoor mall.