Park Meadows celebrates 15 years in Denver

South Denver’s Park Meadows regional mall is officially 15 years old -- and it is celebrating throughout the month of August with free community entertainment and activities, culminating in a free community pancake breakfast August 30, 2011.



“When Park Meadows broke ground for the project on April 17, 1995, the stage was set for a new retail experience,” said Pam Schenck Kelly, senior general manager, Park Meadows, Colorado’s Only Retail Resort. “Over the years, we have enhanced the property with new features and new retailers to maintain positioning as a regional destination.”



On opening day in 1996, Park Meadows was greeted by thousands of guests who spent the night in their cars and campers in order to be among the first to enter Colorado’s Only Retail Resort. As Park Meadows grew to offer enhanced services, retail and dining, the shopping center continued to evolve and is now recognized internationally as one of the nation’s best shopping centers.



“Park Meadows is an economic engine that not only has attracted many other high-end retailers to the area, but non-retail employers as well,” said James Gunning, Mayor of The City of Lone Tree. “The well-educated consumers Park Meadows attracts are the same well-educated employees major corporations want to hire.”



Park Meadows brought numerous ‘firsts’ to Colorado including the first Nordstrom, the first Dillard’s (also Colorado’s largest Dillard’s), the first American Girl (and still the only Colorado location) as well as the first Robert Redford’s ‘Sundance’ fashion boutique (and still the only Colorado location). Following the trend of a Colorado or regional launch in Park Meadows, another 30 stores chose to first enter the market at Park Meadows including: AIX Armani Exchange, White Chocolate Grill, J. Crew, P.F. Chang’s China Bistro, Microsoft, Love Culture and True Religion Jeans.



The addition of The Vistas at Park Meadows in 2008, an outdoor extension of the mountain lodge experience, brought 154,000 sq ft. of new boutiques and seven additional dining establishments. The Vistas at Park Meadows also brought a second valet area and a community event space, now home to the Summer Music Series on Wednesday evenings this August and many seasonal community activities.



Among the celebratory events are a HawkQuest Experience on Aug. 27, a Wednesday night music series throughout the month, cupcake and face-painting events, and shopping sprees and giveaways.