The Town of Parachute welcomed a group of architecture interns from Design Workshop this summer to get some input on designs for Beasley Park and Parachute Landing Park. 

The interns, who come from universities across the country, worked with town officials and community members from June to August as part of the Doctor Charles’ Fountain Internship program.. 

The program began about six years ago as an opportunity for seven students each year to work on real projects with real-world impacts. 

“We pick students that are underrepresented in architecture and planning, like first generation students,” said President Robb Berg. “We have seven offices all over the country and this time we gathered in the Basalt studio and we worked with Parachute.”

Design Workshop selects a different community each summer. Previous groups have worked near Austin, Texas; Raleigh, North Carolina; and in the Compton and Los Angeles area of California, among other locations. 

“This is pro bono work, we want to give something back to the community,” Berg said. “Usually students are given made-up projects that professors provide for schooling, but by bringing students directly in contact with the communities, they get to see what impact they’re having.”

Andrea Padilla Guerroro was one of the students who worked on the Parachute park designs.  She described the internship as one of the best learning experiences. 

“One of the key things we got from the town was its identity,” Guerroro said. “We went there for a full day and met with community members, went to town hall, and we learned a lot about Parachute and Battlement Mesa.”

Guerroro graduated from North Carolina State University with her Masters in Landscape Architecture. 

“I was born in Mexico City and visiting Parachute felt very familiar to me,” Guerroro said. 

Town Manager Travis Elliott said working with the Design Workshop interns was a positive experience for the town.

“We’re grateful and fortunate to welcome them into our community and work with them,” Elliott said. “We hope to weave together several different plans and come up with a vision on these anchor points, Parachute Landing and Beasley Parks, that are gateways into our community.”

Elliot said Parachute previously had limited opportunities to envision what the properties could become, but the interns’ work provides ideas that can be incorporated into the town’s master plan.

“It shows the areas as a plaza and park, a landing area for a pedestrian bridge, ideas like that,” Elliott said. “It used to be overgrown and rundown, but we’ve cleaned it up and we’ll be able to transform the property with ideas the interns gave us.”

A major part of the project involved exploring Parachute’s identity and what residents want the community to become.

“I think residents choose to live in Parachute because they’re community driven and they understand the value of a tourism dollar but want to avoid that,” Berg said. “The trick is how to generate revenue and keep services at an acceptable level.”

Berg said that he found Parachute to be a veteran neighborhood where residents sometimes have to drive long distances to get certain amenities. 

“To go to a legitimate grocery store, get their hair cut, they’re in need to get to some basic services, but people love the access to recreation and the small town feel,” Berg said. “There’s a ton of pride in the local schools and performance in the schools, like the percentage of AP courses taken in the high school. It’s not what you’d expect on the surface.”

Elliott said Parachute has sometimes struggled to define their identity because of a tumultuous past. 

“Parachute used to be called Grand Valley, and then it went through Black Sunday, which certainly changed the community arc,” Elliott said. “Then Interstate 70 devastated our main street corridor and it disrupted our life cycle evolution.”

So many setbacks can take its toll, but Parachute keeps getting back up. 

“Our town council recently adopted a strategic goal statement, to work with regional partners to unify and promote a strong sense of community, revitalize our downtown, and create heart and the core of the community again,” Elliott said. “The design changes the interns left us with gives us an opportunity for events, gatherings, and leveraging our community history. We have a lot of potential that’s slowly falling into place.”

That local identity also includes the Parachute Penstemon, a flower found in the area. 

“It only grows on the cliffs of the Roan Plateau in the Parachute Creek Valley,” Elliott said. “This is the only place you can see it.”

Guerroro said the experience showed her how strongly Parachute residents identify with their community and its history.

“They’re a community that sticks together,” she said. “They’re continuing to build on their history while looking into the future and they were so welcoming to us. We couldn’t have done it without them: Travis, Genesis, and Vinny.”