Wheat Ridge advances plan to split Wilmore-Davis site between park and Spectra school
The City Council voted 8-0 on first reading to advance a proposal reserving about 2.5 acres for a permanent park and conveying about 4.5 acres, including the school building, to Spectra Centers.
Wheat Ridge’s City Council voted 8-0 on first reading to advance a proposal to acquire the former Wilmore-Davis Elementary property from Jeffco Public Schools, reserve part of it for a permanent park and convey the rest — including the school building — to Spectra Centers for a specialized facility school.
The transaction was not complete as of Aug. 29, 2026. The available record does not establish final ordinance passage, executed agreements, land-division approval or closing.
A Wheat Ridge Speaks item for the Aug. 24 council meeting says the ordinance would authorize the proposed acquisition, the conveyance to Spectra and related purchase-and-sale and closing documents. The city’s description divides the property into approximately 2.5 acres for permanent park and recreation use and approximately 4.5 acres, including the existing school building, for Spectra’s facility school.
Those figures total about 7 acres and do not independently confirm the approximately 7.2-acre site cited in later Jeffco materials. The city record also does not establish final parcel boundaries or confirm that the property would be divided into exactly two lots.
The proposal follows Wheat Ridge’s selection of Spectra as its preferred reuse partner. A July 23 Golden Transcript report said the recommendation remained contingent on Jeffco board approval and described plans to preserve roughly 2 acres as park space while retaining the school building for Spectra’s use.
Spectra’s school program information says its facility school provides individualized education and specialized programming for students ages 5 to 21 and is approved by the Colorado Department of Education’s Office of Facility Schools. The available record does not say when a Wheat Ridge program could open or what renovations would be required.
The plan would divide the future use of a former public-school property between community recreation and specialized education. The city has not specified the park’s final amenities, maintenance responsibilities or public-access rules.
A $2.84 million price and other terms reported in an earlier draft — including a proposed earnest-money deposit, due-diligence and survey periods, closing schedule and March 15, 2027, termination date — could not be verified in an accessible official record by Aug. 29. They should not be treated as current terms until the underlying agreements or another contemporaneous official record is available.
A June 5 Jeffco board agenda listed an executive session concerning property interests involving Wilmore-Davis, but it does not disclose any action taken in the closed session. The available record therefore supports an advance account of Wheat Ridge’s proposed reuse plan and first-reading action, not a report that Jeffco approved or completed the sale.
A follow-up should confirm final ordinance passage, the executed City-Jeffco and City-Spectra agreements, price, parcel boundaries, subdivision approvals and closing status.