Congratulations to this year’s recipients of the prestigious Downtown Denver Award!
Last night at the 47th annual Downtown Denver Awards dinner sponsored by the Downtown Denver Partnership, six projects that made a significant contribution to the improvement of Downtown Denver in 2007 were honored. They are:
16th Street Pedestrian Bridges. The finishing touches made to the Highland Bridge in 2007 marked the completion of the trio of iconic pedestrian bridges linking Downtown with the Central Platte Valley and Highland districts. The Millennium Bridge, the Platte River Bridge, and the Highland Bridge provide not only a safe pedestrian connection across three major barriers, but also represent strong architectural symbols of Downtown Denver’s resurgence and spirit of optimism for the future.
Denver Urban Renewal Authority’s 50th Anniversary. For half a century, DURA has worked to help revitalize Downtown Denver and provide funding to projects that were financially challenging or impossible. Some of the major downtown projects made possible by DURA include the Denver Dry Building, Magnolia Hotel, Boston Lofts, Mercantile Square, Bank Lofts, Pepsi Center, Elitch Gardens, and the Denver Pavilions.
Museum of Contemporary Art Denver. In 2007, the new Museum of Contemporary Art building at 15th and Delgany was completed. Designed by world renowned architect David Adjaye, the museum’s new home represents a remarkable achievement for an institution founded only in 1996 and a cultural and architectural anchor for the booming Lower Downtown and Central Platte valley districts.
Denver’s Road Home. Mayor Hickenlooper’s plan to end homelessness reached a milestone in 2007, only the third year of the ten-year program, by reducing chronic homelessness in the city by 36 percent and Downtown panhandling by 90%, by providing 789 new residential units for homeless individuals and families throughout the city, and for helping find jobs for over two thousand homeless persons.
The Curtis Complex. Sage Hospitality and Semple Brown Architects completed in 2007 the transformation of the drab Executive Tower hotel building at 14th and Curtis into a vibrant mixed-use tower featuring the retro-hip Curtis Hotel, 14 floors of housing for Auraria campus students, and a new pedestrian-friendly ground level with the Oceanaire Seafood Room, the Corner Office bar, and public art.
Downtown Area Plan. The new Downtown Area Planwas sponsored by the City and the Downtown Denver Partnership and was guided to a successful completion in 2007 by the Downtown Area Plan Steering Committee. The highly regarded plan sets the stage for the next 20 years of downtown growth and development and was created through a successful public involvement program that included over 2,000 citizen participants.
In addition to the six Downtown Denver Award winners, the Partnership also presented the annual Kent Rickenbaugh Community Service Award, which is given each year to an individual who has made a long-term contribution to the Downtown community. This year’s Rickenbaugh award winner is Dennis Humphries, prominent local architect dedicated to architecture preservation and education who helped start the Denver Architectural Foundation in 1991 and the Doors Open Denver program, among many other accomplishments.
Last year, the 2006 award winners were the Denver Art Museum’s Frederick C. Hamilton Building, the National Western Stock Show’s 100th Anniversary, the new EPA Region 8 Headquarters Building, Red Peak Properties’ renovation of 1600 Glenarm, Snooze Restaurant, and website you may have heard of called DenverInfill.com.
