In the past couple of days, the Rocky‘s Art & Architecture section has featured two articles about projects that will shape the future of Speer Boulevard through the heart of Downtown.
First is Mary Chandler’s article on the proposed Bell Tower project. The article includes yet another view of the tower, this one even more clearly shows the articulation of the tower’s facade. Here it is below (credit Jason Knowles/Fentress Architects):
The other article, by the Rocky‘s Mark Shulgold, is about the presentations that were recently made by the six finalist architecture firms competing for the chance to do the redesign of Boettcher concert hall. Of note in this article is the concept, presented by a couple of the firms, of the possibility that the new Boettcher could extend forward toward Speer as a new building rather than being rebuilt entirely within the footprint of the existing concert hall. Intriguing.
Both projects illuminate the opportunity we currently face in deciding what we want Speer Boulevard to become when it grows up. Named after our great City Beautiful-era mayor, Robert W. Speer, the boulevard itself is our city’s grandest, with its special relationship to Cherry Creek, its enhanced streetscape, integrated pedestrian/bike path, and the various parks along its journey from Highland to the Cherry Creek district. Yet the building forms that line Speer Boulevard’s 4.5 mile length is a total mixed bag. In Northwest Denver, the buildings are low-scale but sit right up against the Speer right-of-way. Through the Central Platte Valley and Downtown, the boulevard’s wide setbacks give Speer a less intimate, more automobile-dominant feel. From Colfax south to Downing, a loose string of high-rises punctuate a low-rise fabric of historic street-edge commercial and suburban-like strip commercial with setbacks and surface parking.
Two of the seven Transformative Projects from the Downtown Area Plan (Grand Boulevards and Connecting Auraria) deal with Speer Boulevard. But what we really need to do is to create a vision for all of Speer Boulevard, and clearly define how Speer will serve in the future as the backbone of our urban core. I was recently in Atlanta, and that city’s Peachtree Street functions much like Speer does in Denver, as it connects Downtown with Buckhead, their equivalent to our Cherry Creek district. Along the eight miles between the two, Peachtree Street has become the premier urban street in Atlanta, complete with their main cultural centers and museums, and dozens and dozens—hundreds perhaps—of residential, office, and hotel towers of varying height with vibrant ground-floor retail everywhere. It’s an amazing corridor that could certainly serve as a model for what Speer Boulevard could become, if that’s what we want. Either way, it’s been almost a hundred years since Mayor Speer left us a remarkable, unique boulevard through the heart of our city. It’s time we articulate a vision for Speer Boulevard that will allow it to live up to its full potential.
McKinney Avenue in Dallas is not as trafficed as Speer but it has a street car that connects its boutique Turtle Creek neighborhood with the Dallas Museum of Art and then into downtown Dallas. A street car connecting Cherry Creek with downtown and feeder off shoots to the the cultural center would also be nice. Speer right now serves more as a main artery of traffic for the city not a grand boulevard you want to visit. Re-visioning it with shops,galleries and restaurants is an inspired vision. Bringing people closer to the creek is a good idea to rather than having it just be a canyon for joggers which is ignored by autos. Bigger access points to the creek with plaza type centers would help this as well.
I don't see where this "need" comes from to have this "grand avenue"? Speer's nice the way it is right now. More so it's an important auto route through the city that isn't easily replaced. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Put the resources for redevelopment into an area that could really use it like 5 Points or Barnum.
Awesome…Go Buzz
While I would love to see Speer developed along the lines that Ken suggests, I'm not sure that we'll ever actually get to that dream, what with the various kinds of development that already exist. Like Anon 10:16 says, Speer is basically an artery permitting cross-town traffic flow. It is, at times, full of cars. Is this the kind of street along which a retailer would want to have business? In some cases, I suppose, but I doubt that we'll every have many restaurants overlooking Speer. Personally, I think Devner's show-case streets will eventually be Colfax, Broadway, Park, and Colorado. Those streets should be set up with street cars (Speer too). Now that would be terrific!
Is this model the exact same design as the other computer graphic renderings we have seen? If it is, it looks 1000 times better. I like it, where before I thought it was kind of a jumbled mess. Nice color scheme also. It could probably use a little more refinement, especially with the parking garage.
Oh, what I thought was a parking garage is actually the lower, commercial building on the other side of the creek.
I might include University and 6th as showcase streets as well, which would be highly served by street cars.
As for Speer – this is the one boulevard in the city that follows a natural element of the river. It's amazing to me that for a city as dry as Denver, more emphasis wouldn't go to expanding the role that the river could play in development. Everyone loves the water, but with the exception of the fairly recent creation of Confluence Park, there isn't really any area that the public can access the water – except for the jogging trails. Not one reatuarant with an over-hanging balcony. Nothing.. It's a beautiful natural resource that is being under-utilized by the city.
Agreed about the river. Every time I ride down there, I wonder why they didn't create a riverwalk-style commercial development. It's kind of impossible now for at least a generation. The ideal place to do it would have been on the LoDo end, and they built condos right up to the edge along the whole stretch. The rest of the stretch along Speer has traffic lanes on both sides, and it would be prohibitively expensive to reroute all the lanes to one side to allow things like restaurants on the other.
Some of that decision was probably due to flooding- I've seen the water almost up to the top of the wall, so anything you did would have to be up above that level, and couldn't come down close to the water. Still, it's a shame they didn't take advantage of the opportunity when they had it.
the bell tower is the exact type of cutting edge architecture denver needs to erease the "cow town" image we have fostered for so long. To have this building near the convention center and somewhat close to the new museum would be put an exclamation point on the idea that Denver no longer wants to merely flirt with the idea of being cosmopolitan and begin the transformation of a city which has every intention of not just allowing new ideas, but rather one which welcomes them. Kudos to Geller and Fentress for their bold visions. Hopefully, this "gateway" building will be built and prove that Denver is a home for innovation and the destination for others wanting to erect somthing great
Are they going to release the renderings/models of the six finalists for the Boettcher redesign…I would love to see them!
The six finalists are just competing for the right to do the design. None of them have done any kind of real design yet (beyond conceptual). Once the winning firm is selected and they start the actual design process, I'm sure they will at some point present their design to the public in the form of renderings, models, etc.
They better pull it up to Speer. That was my understanding (although apparently a false one) when I voted on it.
Some thoughts on Speer… some streets are meant to be connections, and some are meant to be gathering places. Very few, if any, can serve both masters effectively. Responding to scott Bennet, I am not sure a "riverwalk-tpe" plan is as wonderful as we all seem to think it might be. While San anonio's riverwalk is a wonderful place, it is effectively removed from the fabric of downtown by the grade change, rendering the balance of the CBD a ghost town. That is not something I'd like to see.
Good point. As you drive it you'd see it as one big streetscape, but the reality is a long street connecting several neighborhoods. I would bet the zoning is based on the 'hood in question. It may be hard to come up with consistency of the entire route because of that. I do think there is more potential for more high rise development. I also think a streetcar will organically develop. I don't see the character changing much. I think it will remain an inner city express way, perhaps with a train attached in the future. I still like speer very much.
One thing the city needs to do with Speer Blvd in the immediate future is significantly update the landscaping. Instead of the traditional dead grass that now lines it, the city should plant natural grasses, shrubs, and flowers that flourish in the arid climate. The landscaping along the bike path of the Cherry Creek just east of Colorado Blvd is a good example. Landscaping along with smart and unique infill projects will allow Speer to shine for years to come.