3333 S Colorado Blvd

The City of Denver has opened bidding on a construction contract to decommission Skeel Reservoir at Wellshire Golf Course, transforming the early-1900s high-hazard dam into a 100-year stormwater detention facility and reconfigured driving range. The Department of Transportation and Infrastructure (DOTI) issued Solicitation No. 202683417 on March 24, with bids due May 14, 2026, and an estimated construction cost between $6.9 million and $7.6 million. Construction is expected to wrap by 2027.

The earthen embankment dam at the southeast corner of the course was constructed in the early 1900s and carries a jurisdictional height of 16.5 feet with a storage capacity of 205 acre-feet. It is classified as high-hazard under the Colorado State Engineer's Office, meaning failure could threaten downstream lives and property. Reconfiguring the embankment and reducing storage volume is intended to remove that risk.

Skeel Reservoir was originally part of the 137-acre Skeel family farm, which the Wellshire Country Club purchased in 1926 to build a Donald Ross-designed course at a cost of $300,000. The reservoir served the property's irrigation needs for decades, fed by the Highline Canal, and also offered fishing and water sports for early club members. After the Depression shuttered the private club in 1928, the City of Denver acquired the land in 1936 for $60,000 and reopened it as a public course.

For most of the past century, the reservoir continued irrigating the course. That changed when Wellshire converted to a Denver Water line beneath Colorado Boulevard, abandoning the leaky Highline Canal, a system DOTI estimates lost 50%-70% percent of its volume to evaporation and seepage. With the canal disconnected, the reservoir served only as stormwater retention, and its storage volume was no longer needed.

The scope of work includes regrading and filling the existing reservoir, lowering the dam and installing spillways, installing approximately 900 linear feet of open-cut 18-inch corrugated HDPE pipe, building a forebay, and grading and installing a new irrigation system. A grassed driving range landing area will be built on the dried reservoir bottom, with stormwater piped underground to the storm sewers left of hole 7. The tee line will be realigned for safety and will retain artificial teeing stations.

The driving range has been closed for renovation work for several years. DOTI's operations team has been importing recycled concrete and soil from active city construction sites to dry the saturated reservoir floor and create stable access for heavy equipment. Project updates from late 2025 confirmed that stabilization was nearing completion, clearing the way for the construction bid that just dropped.

Bidders must be prequalified in Category 1E(4) Piped Sewer at the $10 million monetary level, with a 22 percent MWBE participation goal.

A pre-bid meeting was held April 7, an optional site visit was scheduled for April 9, and the questions deadline is April 21. Bid opening is set for 11 a.m. on May 14 via the Rocky Mountain E-Purchasing System (BidNet). Construction funding is partially in place, with the project team also pursuing a FEMA grant and other sources to close the gap.

The project arrives as Denver continues to rethink its aging public golf and water infrastructure.

Once complete, the rebuilt facility will reduce flood risk for properties downstream of Hampden Avenue while delivering a renovated practice range to one of Denver's most historic municipal courses.

Full bid details here: https://www.denvergov.org/Business/Contract-Administration/Bids/202683417

Bidnet: https://www.bidnetdirect.com/colorado/cityandcountyofdenverdoti