One of Jefferson County’s closed schools is for sale and residents are fighting to preserve the property as open space or even a park.

The residents of the now closed Vivian Elementary School They fear that as more development occurs, traffic will increase and safety risks will increase. They believe that the donated land should continue to serve as a meeting place for the community.

This came about a year after parents’ efforts to keep the school’s doors open to students failed.

“This is a gem that you can’t just bulldoze. You can’t pave over paradise and build a parking lot. This is perfect, you just leave it as it is,” said Toby Crisp.

Even after the school closed, neighbors, some of whom were new to the area, assumed their children would attend Vivian School.

“We thought our children might go to elementary school here,” said Dana Schmitt.

Others who had called it home for decades continued to come.

“There’s a playground on the other side,” added Gary George. “The kids come and play.”

They have been working together for months to make it clear to the school district and city authorities that it is worth preserving this open space.

“I want them to know that this is critical for this neighborhood,” said Nancy Sprole, who has lived here for 10 years.

In April, the school district concluded that the building was surplus property and, in accordance with its procedure, initially contacted the school’s hometown – in this case, Lakewood – but the school district said the city expressed no interest in purchasing it.

But community members say they didn’t have their first opportunity to voice their opinions until June.

“I live in the first house on this side,” said George. “We didn’t get any notification.”

The process has now progressed and opens the door for further development in this area.

“I’m not against housing, but there are only so many places like this left in Colorado. There are other places for housing, but no other places like this,” Crisp said.

CBS News Colorado asked the city if it was now interested in the property and, if so, what steps it was taking to purchase it. They did not give a definitive answer, but in a statement referred to all of Lakewood’s closed schools and said, among other things:

“The city is currently in discussions with Jeffco Public Schools about these properties to determine what options are viable. The city is focusing on properties in the older parts of Lakewood that were developed before the city was founded, when creating park space was not a priority.”

Vivian Elmeneatry is located in a part of the city with the fewest parks.

For this reason, neighbors are convinced that this property is now an integral part of their community.

“I think it really comes down to what would be taken away from us,” Schmitt said.

Residents were told that up to 70 housing units could be built in the area, and if the city did not purchase land of that size, it could demand that an entire acre be set aside for a park.