Highland Park East Neighborhood Association

Highland Park East Neighborhood Association

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The Highland Park East Neighborhood Association, or H.P.E.N.A., was organized nearly ten years ago when residents wanted to become more involved with neighborhood projects such as beautifying the school grounds and code enforcement issues.

A former Parade of Homes site, the Highland Park East area was built out in the late fifties and early sixties. It is located along the southwest quadrant of Del Mar Park which is located at the junction of Peoria and 6th Avenue. The formal boundaries for H.P.E.N.A. are Havana Street to Peoria Street and 1st Avenue to 6th Avenue. The Highline Canal cuts through the southeast-most corner of the neighborhood and is accessible to foot traffic and cyclists at Peoria and near the intersection of Oswego and 2nd.

The community is made up of neat brick ranch and multi-story homes in which many of the original owners reside. Continuing the tradition of a strong neighborhood and maintaining the quality of life that exists here, many of the “new” residents include the adult children of original or current owners.

A true “neighborhood”, this area boasts several public and private schools as well as a full service shopping center, one of Aurora’s premier parks and the Aurora Senior Center - all within walking distance for most residents. RTD service includes the 120 for North/South travel and the 6 for East/West travel. To the south, the 3 services the Smoky Hill Park ‘n Ride and travels Alameda. To the north, the 15 services all Colfax.

Regular meetings are held on the first Thursday evening of most months other than June and July. Guest speakers include city officials and other community members who help to education the residents on a variety of issues. Recent guests have spoken on topics such as the City of Aurora’s Y2K programs, Lowry redevelopment, Fitsimmons redevelopment and Code Enforcement.

H.P.E.N.A. sponsors a picnic in August every year for association members and their families. Annual dues of $5.00 per household are used to defray the costs for burgers, hot dogs, buns, condiments, sodas and paper products. Everyone is encouraged to show off their culinary talents by bringing a dish to pass. Weather permitting, a winter hay ride is also becoming a favorite annual event.

The association maintains a marvelous relationship with other neighborhood associations including Del Mar, Hoffman Heights and Morris Heights. These groups, working together, are actively involved in supporting projects such as the redevelopment of the Fitsimmons area, Havana Street, and Lowry.

For readers who would enjoy learning more about this area from the perspective of a child growing up here, we recommend “The Thunder Tree”. This is a true story by a gentleman who grew up in Hoffman Heights, on the northeast side of Del Mar Park, and his experiences along the Highline Canal. A must read for those who want to connect with some of the local history.

The Thunder Tree : Lessons from an Urban Wildland
by Robert Michael Pyle
Paperback - 240 pages Reprint edition (November 1998)
The Lyons Press; ISBN: 1558217037

Natural history and memories fashion this ode to Colorado's High Line Canal by Pyle (Wintergreen, 1986), whose gentle style belies a lyric intensity rarely found in place-portraits. The one-hundred-year-old High Line Canal, a once great notion to bring Rocky Mountain water to irrigate the Great Plains, caught Pyle's imagination when he was a boy--and it has mesmerized him ever since. The canal, never completed and long abandoned, is still in evidence around the Denver area, but whereas in Pyle's youth it was a place of mystery and life, now it's bordered by senescent farms and industrial parks, trashed by dumping, its riparian habitat for the most part devastated. Pyle brings us back through the canal's past, exploring pockets of Coloradan history to provide the whys and wherefores behind the building of the . Given the scarcity of water in those parts, the canal attracted not only farms but a cascade of plants and wildlife as well: foxes and racoons, cornflowers and toads, magpies and cottonwoods, and various types of butterflies--painted ladies and question marks and mourning cloaks. The author's rhapsodies are short-lived, though, as he slips into gloom while he ponders the canal's current state of affairs--environmental disfigurement in the wake of urban sprawl; the woeful extinction of local species; the humiliation of a unique place. It comes as no surprise that he winds up with a plea to protect the canal and its remaining wildlands. Never preachy, never cloying: a powerful and memorable example of place-writing. -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
This book is available through amazon.com

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About our association

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Kate Tauer, President 303.366.8538
Dean Ames, Vice President 303.366.8620
Aprille Hill, Secretary 303.367.8112
Mina McLean, Treasurer 303.364.2045
Joan Lehmann, Referral 303.366.3911

Annual Dues are $5.00 per household
Monies go to pay for annual picnic hosted by the association at Lansing Elementary each August and for misc.costs associated with printing flyers.

Dues payable at monthly meetings or by check to:
Ms. Mina McLean
502 Jamaica
Aurora, CO 80010

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