This is a very short Denver Union Station development update.
The first fabric panels are being installed on the commuter rail canopy structure!
Archive of posts filed under the Infrastructure category.
RTD West Line Countdown at DenverUrbanism!
We’re now only four days away from the grand opening of RTD’s West Line to Golden! To celebrate the occasion, we are doing a five-day countdown over at DenverUrbanism: each day a new transit-related post. Then, after our Opening Day post this Friday, we’ll do another five-day’s worth of transit posts (a “countup”!) to continue the celebration.
Photo credit: Ryan Dravitz
So, make sure you check out DenverUrbanism every day to help commemorate Denver’s rail transit system growing by another 12 miles!
Denver Union Station Update #113
Beyond the obvious importance to the region’s transportation future, one of the other benefits of the Denver Union Station project is the addition of several new public spaces to Downtown Denver. In particular, Wynkoop Plaza will be not only the largest of Union Station’s new public spaces, but potentially the best public plaza in all of Downtown.
The southern part of Wynkoop Plaza will feature a signature fountain: the pop-up water-jet type that allows kids (and adults and dogs) to play in the water on a warm day. People love interacting with water, and people love watching people interacting with water. Therefore, the fountain at Wynkoop Plaza is likely to be a hit with visitors and locals alike.
In case you haven’t seen some of the concept renderings of the Wynkoop Plaza fountain, here are a few (courtesy of SOM/Hargreaves Associates, the project’s design consultants). First, the larger context: the Downtown side of the DUS project and the south part of Wynkoop Plaza.
Ground-level concept views:
How is construction of Wynkoop Plaza and its signature fountain coming along? Here’s a shot I took this weekend:
Lots of serious fountain infrastructure there. That’s going to be one impressive fountain!
By the way, because I know some of you are going to bring this issue up, I’ll address it now. Denver doesn’t have a very good track record when it comes to keeping fountains in good working order on a long-term basis. Our typical fountain experience in Denver is like this: 1.) New public fountain gets built. 2.) Fountain works great for a few years. 3.) Fountain stops working. 4.) Fountain sits unused and in disrepair for a long time. 5.) Concerned citizens eventually say “What a shame. We should get this fountain going again!” 6.) Fountain repair fundraising and/or Denver bond issue ensues. 7.) Fountain gets fixed and works great for a few years. 8.) Rinse and repeat.
So what will be different this time? Well, that issue has been a primary focus of Union Station Advocates, an organization that I’ve been involved with for many years. We want to make sure that not only the fountain, but all of Denver Union Station’s public spaces are well maintained over the long term. Currently, RTD, the Denver Union Station Project Authority, and other stakeholders like Union Station Advocates and the Downtown Denver Partnership are working together to craft a funding and management plan for Wynkoop Plaza that will ensure that years from now, kids (and adults and dogs) will still be splashing around in the fountain at Wynkoop Plaza. Stay tuned…
Meanwhile, thank you to the 31 people who attended our walking tour of the Denver Union Station project yesterday! That was a great way to start of our 2013 tours of this exciting project. Our next tour is scheduled for Saturday, March 30, at 10:00 AM. More info on that as the date approaches.
Denver Union Station Update #111
Today we have a short but fun update on the Denver Union Station project: the last of the major arches for the canopy structure over the commuter rail platforms has been installed.
Here’s a photo, courtesy of Kiewit’s Union State web cam, showing the view from this morning:
What’s also clearly in view here is the excavation and rectangular footprint of Holland Partners’ new 1650 Wewatta tower located between the canopy and Wewatta Street.
Sweet!
Denver Union Station Tour This Saturday, May 5, 2012
Our next Union Station walking tour is this Saturday, May 5, 2012 at 10:00 AM. Please note: this will be the only tour in May. Our Union Station tour following this Saturday’s will be on Saturday, June 2, 2012.
We’ve had some great turnouts lately! Thank you to everyone for your interest and enthusiasm in this project that will transform Downtown Denver and the region.
Here’s how it works: Head on down to the LoDo side of the historic station at 17th & Wynkoop at about 9:50 AM. Whoever shows up, that will be our tour group. We’ll start promptly at 10:00 AM and conclude around 11:00 AM at the new light rail station by the Millennium Bridge. The suggested donation for the tour is $10 per person and all proceeds go to the non-profit Student Chapter of the American Planning Association at the University of Colorado Denver, but you’re welcome to attend regardless of what you can donate.
On the tour, we’ll see and talk about all four aspects of this major project: the transit elements, the public spaces, the renovation of the historic station, and—as you know from following this blog over the past week or so—lots of private-sector developments!
See you Saturday morning!
Denver Union Station Update #97
By Andy Vuong
Sorry for the long delay in updating the Union Station project… I’ve been out of the country for several weeks and didn’t have time to take some new pictures for a little while after I returned.
Let’s start by checking out the progress of the pavers near the light rail station and Chestnut Pavilion. At the time this picture was taken, the crew had laid down almost all the preliminary pavers between the station, Chestnut Street, and the 16th Street Mall Ride access road. I say preliminary because cause after the general pattern of varying colors is laid down, the crew goes back and makes the necessary cuts where two or three colors meet to make the curved patterns you see below.
Also, check out the trees that have been added to the large tear drop planters! I counted three large trees in the planter closest to the 18th Street Pedestrian Bridge, and about 15 smaller ones in the planter directly next to it. While the trees were bare when the picture was taken, they have already started to green up a bit since they were planted.
Staying on the same side of the project, work continues on the remaining half of the bus box directly behind Union Station. In our last post, I mentioned that the floor of the bus box was completed–connecting the bases of both halves of the box. Currently, crews are pouring the side walls of the box, with what appears to be about 30% of the work complete at the time of this posting. I wasn’t able to get a good picture of the walls this time around, but will try to get a good shot in the next couple of days.
The other major areas of progress to report are the public works related projects taking place next to and in front of the station. After installing new pipes and wires, crews have started to rebuild the lane of 16th Street between Wynkoop and Wewatta. Once that section of 16th Street is completed, crews will begin to work on the other side of the street–eventually widening 16th Street in that block to match the width of the street between Wewatta and the Millennium Bridge.
Unfortunately, I was not able to get a good picture of the work being completed on 18th Street. The street, which formerly ended at Wynkoop, is being extended into what was part of the parking lot next to the Ice House lofts. This will allow for car access to the upcoming IMA Financial building that will flank the Station, as well as bus access to the underground bus terminal.
Finally, crews have started to excavate a large section of land in front of the Station entrance. This will eventually house a water overflow tank that will collect water from around the station during a heavy rainstorm–reducing the chance of any sewage overflow issues.
Andy Vuong is a management consultant who lives and works in the Union Station neighborhood and is an avid proponent of urban density. Andy will be providing updates on the Union Station project as a back-up to Rick, our regular Union Station project blogger. DenverInfill’s Andy Vuong is not the Denver Post writer of the same name.
