Generals Park/ Waterfowl Preserve

Alfred Henry Gutheil of Gutheil Park Investment Company constructed Gutheil Park and Gutheil Gardens in 1888. The small pond currently at Generals Park was first constructed in 1900 as part of Gutheil Park Nurseries, and by 1927 Col. Paul C. Hutton established the pond as a wildfowl preserve after he was given a few mallard ducks. The one-acre sanctuary stocks the pond with trout and the federal permit No. 29756 protects the birds.  

Before Fitzsimons Army Medical Center occupied the 600 acres of land as a self-sustaining medical institution, the land belonged to Alfred Henry Gutheil. Alfred Henry Gutheil of Gutheil Park Investment Company sold his Gutheil Park subdivision to the Army Medical Center but continued to operate the nursery called “Gutheil Gardens” attached to the park and lived in a two-story residence until his death in 1955. Colonel George E. Bushnell spent two years in Colorado recovering from tuberculosis and was later sent back to the state to inspect undeveloped sites for a tuberculosis recuperation hospital. Colonel Bushnell decided on Gutheil Gardens and ground was broke in April 1918 for Fitzsimons General Hospital No. 21 and its 48 temporary buildings. The pond remained later becoming Generals Park and the landscape of Fitzsimons used young trees from the old Gutheil Park and transplanted them throughout the campus.  

Originally located in the south west corner of the Fitzsimons Army Medical Center, the former nursery and stocked pond at Generals Park also attracted President Dwight D. Eisenhower during his seven-week hospital stay in 1955 following a heart attack. Generals Park remains in the same location it did during the operation of Fitzsimons Army Medical Center, and reflects the transition of the medical institution into Anschutz Medical Campus.

1.   Payne, Emily Thompson. “Fitzsimons General Hospital, Neuropsychiatric Ward.” Historic American Buildings Survey. August 2009. http://lcweb2.loc.gov/master/pnp/habshaer/co/co0900/co0978/data/co0978data.pdf
2.  “Fitzsimons’ historic past, redevelopment clash several buildings’ fate up to Aurora council.” The Denver Post, July 5, 1999.
3.  Johnson, Elizabeth. Historic Aurora Walking Tour Fitzsimons Army Medical Center. Aurora, CO. 1983.
4. A Guide to Aurora Historic Preservation Landmarks. May 28, 2020.
5. Simmons, Thomas H. and R. Laurie. "Fitzsimons General Hospital, Swimming Pool," Historic American Buildings Survey. (Denver, Colorado: Front Range Research Associates, 1998).