Photos: Marine 1 and President Obama will take a City Park detour today

By Jonathan Shikes Tue., Apr. 24 2012 at 11:25 AM

Categories: News, Politics

A helicopter lands in City Park on Sunday.

Residents who live around City Park got a bit of a surprise -- and a little mystery -- on Sunday when five massive military helicopters landed inside the park around 10:30 a.m. near Duck Lake. The copters, which all appeared to be Marine vehicles, hung out for a bit before flying off. But no one got out. Was it a covert mission to rescue an animal at the Denver Zoo? A training exercise? A bathroom break?

Amber Miller, spokeswoman for Mayor Michael Hancock, said Monday she didn't know the answer. But on Tuesday, the mystery looks to have been solved by the Denver Police Department.

According to DPD information obtained by Westword, Marine 1 will be landing in City Park tonight and discharging President Barack Obama, who is scheduled to be in Boulder this evening to talk about student loans on the CU-Boulder campus.

East 17th Avenue between Colorado Boulevard and Esplanade will be closed to traffic from 7:45 to 8:15 p.m. today and again tomorrow from 9 to 10 a.m.

Several streets will also be closed in Cherry Creek North between 3 p.m. today and 10 a.m. tomorrow, Wednesday, April 25. They include Clayton Place; East 2nd Avenue at Detroit Street and Clayton Street.

Could this mean the President will be staying overnight, as Channel 7's Jayson Luber has speculated -- possibly at the Marriott? Maybe, maybe not. But it's no surprise that he won't stay at the Brown Palace, which had hosted every president since Calvin Coolidge. Obama snubbed the Brown last year as well.