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18th Street Pedestrian Bridge

Posted by Ken on March 8, 2010

The new 18th Street pedestrian bridge opened this weekend! The bridge, officially known now as the Union Gateway Bridge (although I suspect everyone will still call it the 18th Street Pedestrian Bridge), connects the Riverfront Park and Union Station districts in the Central Platte Valley. The bridge crosses over the Consolidated Main Line (CML) freight tracks and, in a few months, it will also span the tail tracks for the relocated light rail station that will be built a block away at 17th Street and the CML. Let’s take a trip across the bridge, starting from the Union Station side.

A view of the bridge with the Glass House and the Manhattan in the background, and the copper cladding on the elevator cores:

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The new streetscape along the northeast side of 18th Street, and an overview of site prep work for the big Union Station project:

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Looking back at Downtown, and a look down at where the plaza at the base of the bridge will connect to the northern end of the new light rail platform:

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More Union Station site prep work, and the bridge from the Riverfront Park side:

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Click here for a few more details about the bridge from a recent Denver Business Journal article.

Filed under Bicycles, Central Platte Valley, Infrastructure, Pedestrians, Union Station.
4 Comments

Upcoming Denver Union Station Events

Posted by Ken on March 2, 2010

With construction getting underway at Denver’s big Union Station transit project, it’s important to stay engaged with the project. To that end, here are three events coming up that you are invited to:

Union Station Advocates – DUS Loan Approval Celebration!
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
5:30 – 7:00 PM
Gumbos Louisiana Style Cafe – 16th & Wazee

Help Union Station Advocates celebrate the approval of the $304 million loan to the DUS project! Stop by Gumbos and enjoy free gumbo with the purchase of an adult beverage. You don’t have to be a member of USA to join in the celebration (although we’d love it if you do become a member).  Click here to download a PDF flyer about the event.

Denver Union Station: Portal to Progress – LoDo Film Premiere
Thursday, March 18, 2010
5:30 – 7:30 PM
Oxford Hotel Ballroom – 1637 Wazee

Did you miss the big premiere at the Hyatt in February of the new film about Union Station? Did you see the film already and loved it so much you want to see it again?  Either way, you’re covered!  Union Station Advocates, in cooperation with Havey Productions, is proud to present the LoDo premiere of the film Denver Union Station: Portal to Progress.

The program begins with a reception and cash bar, followed by the film and comments by Dana Crawford and Jim Havey. General admission is $15, or for $30 you can see the film and get the DVD, or for $60 you can see the film, get the DVD, and get a discounted membership to Union Station Advocates.  What a deal!  Click here to download a PDF flyer about the event.

Urban Land Institute Colorado – State of the Union
April 1, 2010
1:30 – 6:30 PM
Denver Athletic Club – 1325 Glenarm

ULI-Colorado’s next Explorer Series event, “State of the Union”, will provide an in-depth look at the entire DUS project. The program begins with a panel discussion about the project at the Denver Athletic Club then, after a Mall shuttle ride down to Union Station, tour the site with project experts and finish with a hosted reception inside the historic station.

To register, please visit the ULI-Colorado website. Click here to download a PDF flyer about the event.

Filed under Events & Meetings, Public Spaces, Transit, Union Station.
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#2: FasTracks and Union Station

Posted by Ken on February 7, 2010

I was thinking the other day that it’d be nice to do something big and splashy to celebrate FasTracks/Union Station coming in at #2 on our Denver’s Top 10 Urbanism Achievements of the Aughts list, so I arranged for the feds to give us a billion bucks and I threw in the Union Station movie as a bonus. I hope you liked it!  Seriously though, that was quite a happy coincidence of events as I was about to post that Denver’s FasTracks transit program and its redevelopment of historic Denver Union Station are #2 on the countdown. Friday was certainly a great day for Denver.

Cities around the world have wisely built and maintained balanced transportation systems that include rail transit, cars, busses, bicycles, and a variety of contraptions in between. In the United States, we started out well, with streetcar systems (first horse-drawn, then electrified) running on the streets of just about every major city in the country. But then we abandoned all of that after World War II and went on an automobile binge that we have come to realize may not have been all that wise. Cars are awesome machines and the personal freedom they provide is phenomenal. But just like so many other things in life… too much of a good thing can be bad. So better late than never, cities across the US, including Denver, are bringing back rail transit to provide some balance to our transportation systems. It’s called having a diversified portfolio of transportation assets. I am proud of Denver for taking such a bold step in the right direction.

FasTracks is more than just an ambitious regional public transit program. It will also positively influence our regional land use decisions. Major employment centers, residential developments, shopping malls, and other land uses that draw or produce high numbers of people will be/should be located in the future along our transit corridors. That is one of the principles on which Denver’s regional MetroVision plan is based. It’s also common sense.

But let’s be very clear about what FasTracks is and what it isn’t. FasTracks is a regional transit system primarily designed on the hub-and-spoke model to move people from the suburbs into and out of Downtown Denver. Such a system is absolutely necessary and I wholeheartedly support the FasTracks program, as should you. But we also have to recognize that for those of us in Denver proper, FasTracks is only one side of the transit coin. FasTracks doesn’t provide Denver with the transit connections we need and desire within and between our denser urban core districts. That is where a new Denver streetcar system would come in, but that’s a topic for future blog posts.

If FasTracks alone wasn’t enough, we have the whole Union Station redevelopment to celebrate as well. Many cities destroyed their historic train stations or converted them beyond repair into shopping malls or festival marketplaces or whatnot. Fortunately in Denver, our Union Station remains intact and is now poised to once again serve as the rail hub for the city and region. Along with its associated private sector development, the Union Station project will complete the transformation of the Central Platte Valley as a dynamic transit-oriented extension of Downtown. Downtown Denver just keeps getting better and better…

Filed under Plans & Policies, Regionalism, Sustainability, Transit, Union Station.
15 Comments

It’s Official: Union Station, Gold Line, East Corridor, Get Funding

Posted by Ken on February 5, 2010

Here’s Federal Transit Administration head honcho Peter Rogoff announcing that Denver’s FasTracks program will receive $300 million in loans for Denver Union Station and $1 billion in direct payments over several years for construction of the Gold and East commuter rail lines.

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This is a great day for metro Denver!

Filed under Economic Growth, Events & Meetings, Transit, Union Station.
3 Comments

FasTracks Funding Announcement Today

Posted by Ken on February 5, 2010

This is not unexpected, yet it is still huge news for the success of the FasTracks program:

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This federal funding commitment will allow the Gold Line and the East Corridor Line to move forward. Construction is expected to get underway on the East Corridor Line this fall. For more details, check out Kevin’s post at the Inside Lane.

Filed under Events & Meetings, Transit, Union Station.
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Denver Union Station: Portal to Progress Film Premiere

Posted by Ken on February 2, 2010

Havey Productions, one of Denver’s leading film production companies and producers of several historical and cultural documentaries of significance, will premiere their new film, Denver Union Station: Portal to Progress this Friday, February 5, at the Hyatt Regency Denver – Convention Center Hotel.  You are invited!

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At Union Station Advocates, we’ve been working for over a year to help raise funds for the film’s production. Along with many other community groups and contributors, we are thrilled that this feature-length movie on Denver’s Union Station is now ready for its big debut. General Admission tickets are $15 and available at 6:00 PM. Patron Level tickets are $100 and include a hosted bar and hors d’oeuvres reception at 5:30 PM. To purchase tickets in advance or to check out a trailer of the move, click here.

Denver’s Union Station redevelopment has been a long time in the making. First, Lower Downtown blossomed in the 1990s. Then, the Central Platte Valley emerged in the 2000. Waiting patiently in between those two vibrant districts has been our historic Union Station and its neighboring parcels, which is now poised to be the star of the 2010s.

The excitement about this project is palpable. This past fall, 800 people packed Union Station for a party the likes of which the old station hasn’t seen in generations. Fundraising is underway to bring back the Welcome/Mizpah Arch to the Union Station site. New projects like the relocation of IMA Financial’s headquarters to the Union Station site are being announced. Design work for the massive project is nearing completion and the project authority, DUSPA, has a new website with all the latest renderings, plans, and diagrams. And now… Denver Union Station-The Movie… is set to premiere. Please join us this Friday to celebrate not only a movie, but the launch of Denver’s most important civic project since Denver International Airport.

Filed under Events & Meetings, History, Media, Union Station.
5 Comments

Proposed IMA Financial Building at DUS

Posted by Ken on February 1, 2010

Here’s a quick follow-up to my post from earlier today.

Thanks to the good people at Union Station Neighborhood Company, here is an official (and high resolution!) rendering of the proposed Denver Union Station “north wing” building—the future headquarters for IMA Financial. Image credit goes to the project architect, Anderson Mason Dale.

Click to embiggen:

Proposed IMA Financial Building at Denver Union Station

Filed under Infill, Office, Transit-Oriented, Union Station.
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Denver Union Station North Wing Building Project Announced

Posted by Ken on February 1, 2010

Great news for Denver’s Union Station project: the first private-sector development deal on the DUS site was announced in Sunday’s Denver Post. IMA Financial, a Denver-based firm located in Lower Downtown, will relocate its corporate headquarters to the proposed north “wing building” next to the historic station at the corner of 18th and Wynkoop. The building will be five stories tall and 100,000 square feet in size, with IMA occupying the entire building except for the ground-floor, which will house retail and restaurant spaces. Click here for a PDF of the Denver Post article.

Here’s a rendering of the project obtained by denver-cityscape.com:

Proposed IMA Financial Building at Denver Union Station

I will check with the project architects, Anderson Mason Dale and Semple Brown Design, for additional or higher-resolution renderings and post them when available.

The Denver Union Station Master Plan calls for two buildings at the ends of the historic station’s two wings, one at 18th and Wynkoop, and the other at 16th and Wynkoop. Here’s a bird’s-eye view from Bing Maps of the site where IMA Financial’s building will go:

Bird's eye view of north "wing building" site at Denver Union Station

The two wing buildings are important not only to the financial success of the DUS project (tax-increment financing from the private-sector development will help pay for the project) but also to the success of thepublic plaza spaces planned for in front of the station along Wynkoop. The wing buildings will help define and enclose those public spaces and their ground-floor uses will contribute to activating the plazas.

The DUS project is now very close to closing on its two federal government loans. Once that happens, construction of the transit components will begin. The announcement of the IMA Financial project is another indication that the transformation of Denver’s Union Station is about to begin.

Filed under Infill, Office, Transit-Oriented, Union Station.
3 Comments

Party Jams Denver Union Station

Posted by Ken on November 12, 2009

Thank you to everyone who attended last night’s extravaganza at Union Station to raise money for the revival of the Welcome/Mizpah arch! It was a great time, and an excellent way to experience how Union Station can once again become the thriving hub of Downtown. As a board member of Union Station Advocates, I’m thrilled we were able to have such a great turnout and raise a bunch of cash for a great civic effort. Extra kudos to USA co-chair Dana Crawford for her masterful organization and execution of such a major event, and to my fellow USA board members and the hundreds of volunteers and contributors who made the evening a success.

Joel Warner at Westword has a nice recap of last night’s festivities. Thanks, Joel!

Filed under Events & Meetings, Historic Preservation, Public Spaces, Union Station, Urban Design.
2 Comments

Union Station Arch Party – This Wednesday!

Posted by Ken on November 9, 2009

There are just a few days left to get your tickets to the biggest event in Downtown this year: “A Night in Old Union Station” gala to raise money for the revival of the Welcome/Mizpah arch at our historic Union Station. Here are the details:



Check out that restaurant lineup! This is not going to be one of those events with lame banquet food, but instead will feature a variety of edibles from some of LoDo’s best restaurants. There will also be three bands, tours and cocktails inside an historic rail car from Phil Anschutz’s private train car collection, tours of the Platte Valley & Western Model Railroad Club’s awesome model room in the station basement, and a lot more.

The $40 Speakeasy tickets are SOLD OUT, but there are some of the $100 and $200 tickets left. This is a chance to have a great night out on the town and help a good cause (tax deductible too). See you Wednesday!

WEDNESDAY MORNING TICKET UPDATE:

I understand we found just a few of the $40 Speakeasy tickets left after all, but they won’t last long. However, all of the $200 Patron tickets are completely SOLD OUT. Your best bet is the $100 Main Dining Hall tickets–get them while they last!

Filed under Events & Meetings, Historic Preservation, Public Spaces, Union Station, Urban Design.
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