The City of Grand Junction has closed Whitman Park as part of plans to improve the park and use it for special events.

Notices were posted closing Whitman Park to non-reservation use. City staff notified visitors to the park. Officers with Grand Junction Police Department will offer visitors resources and information about housing and local shelters and service providers.

Whitman Park improvements are among the capital priorities for design and development identified in a parks and recreation open space plan. A design process for the park will begin with public input planned for 2024.

Whitman Park was originally known as Maple Park and part of Grand Junction’s original plat from 1881. Maple Park was one of four original parks in Grand Junction and in the late 1800s, the name was changed to City Park. In 1917, the name was changed again to Whitman Park to honor Marcus Whitman, a missionary who traveled throughout the West.

Whitman Park was used as a community gathering place. Under what is now a 100-year-old tree canopy, live music was performed from a bandstand built in 1899.

The city has plans to reimagine the park and its use for the broader community. While the park remains closed, the city will review ways other cities have reimagined parks in downtown corridors, including fencing the property and only opening the park through a permitting process for such special events as concerts, festivals and parties.

As the city plans for future potential uses of the park, the public will be invited to participate in the process.