By Alex Burness  |  Daily Camera
serving food on Central Avenur in Boulder on Friday.
(Cliff Grassmick / Staff Photographer)
After more than two years of planning and going back and forth with city permitting officials, the entrepreneurs behind a planned food truck park at 28th Street and Valmont Park say they’re finally going to open the first week in July.
In an interview Friday, Justin Riley, co-founder and CEO, also said that the venture, known to this point as Boulder Food Park, will rebrand with a new name and logo — to be announced next week.
Riley said he thinks the nearly 15,000-square-foot park, which includes both indoor and outdoor spaces, will open at some point in the days following July 4th. From that point, it’ll operate from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Saturday and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Sunday.
Street and Valmont Park the first week of July.
(Justin Riley | Boulder Food Park | Co-Founder & CEO / Courtesy Photo)
The site has 40 parking spaces but is also located near a multi-use path and many houses and apartments. Thus, Riley said hopefully in an interview Friday, reeling folks in shouldn’t be as difficult as the park’s distance from downtown might indicate.
“There’s a ton of traffic there,” he added. “People biking, walking, skating, pogo-sticking down this multi-use path. “So we see ourselves attracting a ton from there, as well as the surrounding community.”
Outside, Riley said, there will be a “beer garden kind of feel” accompanying the food truck staging area — complete with bocce ball and four cornhole sets — plus an indoor space sponsored by Avery Brewing Company, where live music will be performed.
The inside will feature a bar and a seating area in addition to the event space. The outside will have the game area, seating, two entrances and, of course, the food trucks.
The owners of the park are in touch with 50 different trucks that hope to be involved in the rotation, Riley said. Offerings will vary widely.
“There’s a pho food truck, there’s another group with falafel and all the pita sandwiches,” Riley added. “Of course we’ve got the taco trucks like Verde and McDevitt. We’ve got Burger Radio, french food from the French Twist. It’s a ton of different trucks.”
Riley and his partners, Hank Grant and Matt Patrick, have hired a general manager and plan to expand in coming weeks to about 15 employees.
“It’s a place where you kind of self-serve, set your own pace, choose your own adventure,” Riley said. “You kind of just roam around and use the space as you please, so there’ll be some customer education that needs to happen and our employees will teach people how to enjoy the space at their own pace.”
City Councilman and former Planning Board Chairman Aaron Brockett said he’s excited about a “family-friendly place where you can have some food, some beer and your kids playing oudoors in a safe space.”
“We’re lacking that in Boulder,” he said.
When Brockett served on the Planning Board, one of the board’s biggest concerns in the concept phase was that the park had potential to be disruptive to those who live near the site. One stipulation in the project’s management plan: no live music outside.
“They’re a decent distance away from the neighboring houses and they have to close not too late at night,” Brockett said. “So I think people will be respectful and I think the food park owners are really interested in being good neighbors.”
http://www.dailycamera.com/news/boulder/ci_29975354/boulder-food-truck-park-opening-valmont-july
