There are currently no parks within a mile of the heart of the Westwood neighborhood in West Central Denver. That is set to change.

Denver Parks and Recreation partnering with the Trust for Public Land has purchased a deserted city block to be transformed into a public park on West Alameda Avenue between South Osceola and South Newton streets.

"It was a perfect find," said Gordon Robertson, director of Denver Park Planning. "It's dead center of the neighborhood."

The land was acquired through a grant and city capital funds. Future funding for park construction has not been identified yet, but Parks and Rec is hoping for public and private funding, he said.

Once funds are secured, Parks and Rec will solicit input from the community for the park design, he said. There is no timeline for when this might happen, Robertson said, but it is a top priority to get a park in the densely populated, lower-income area.

Tim Wohlgenant, Colorado State Director of Trust for Public Land stated in a release: "Since new parks have rarely been added to the system, Denver's ratio of parks to population has slipped year after year. Now we find that Denver's park system is well below average when compared to other similarly sized cities. This purchase will take a step towards remedying that situation."