Now that a fundable, buildable design for the transportation component of the Union Station project has been devised and a letter of intent signed between the master developer and the public entities managing the project, attention can now be paid to some of the other aspects of the big Union Station project, such as the design of the public spaces.

The consultants for planning the public spaces will be selected soon, and this summer the design and program for the public realm areas of the whole Union Station redevelopment district will be determined. Ensuring the public’s participation in exploring what those public spaces could look like and in deciding their final design is critical. To that end, there are two meetings scheduled this week that the public is invited to regarding Union Station’s future public spaces.

First, this Tuesday, May 13, the graduate students in the Advanced Urban Design Studio at the University of Colorado-Denver’s College of Architecture and Planning will be presenting their final design concepts for Union Station’s public spaces. Led by professor Jeremy Németh, PhD, four student teams have been evaluating and developing different design concepts for the public spaces around Union Station. Their presentation will take place from 6:00 – 7:30 PM at the Wellington Webb Building – Room 4.F.6. If you plan to attend, please RSVP to the email address shown on the presentation invitation. For more information on the student project, please visit the class website at www.cudenver.edu/dus.

Then, this Thursday, May 15, Union Station Advocates will be hosting a meeting open to the public to discuss several topics relating to Union Station and its future public spaces. The meeting agenda includes an update of the Union Station project, a recap of the four UCD student teams’ concepts and a discussion about their studio experience, a presentation on Union Station Advocates’ planned Union Station Video Project, and a Union Station public space “branding” exercise. Should be fun! The meeting will take place from 4:00 – 5:30 PM at the Oxford Hotel, Theatre Room (17th & Wazee). Cost is $10 at the door and includes hors d’oeuvres and beverages. A cash bar will be available during the meeting and afterwards, join Union Station Advocates for happy hour at the Oxford’s Cruise Room. Please RSVP to the email address shown on the meeting invitation or visit USA’s website at www.unionstationadvocates.org. (By the way, I’m on the Union Station Advocates’ Board of Directors and will have more to say about the organization and its mission in a blog coming soon.)