Today we’ll review the other major public space planned for Denver Union Station: Wynkoop Plaza.
Wynkoop Plaza is proposed for the east side of the historic station along Wynkoop Street. It’s hard to not call that side the front of the station, since that has effectively been the case for decades. But with the new transit elements going in to the west and with all the new vertical development in the Central Platte Valley, both sides will now be the “front”. Fortunately, the historic station was designed with equally attractive east and west facades.
Currently, ugly surface parking lots occupy the key corners of 16th and Wynkoop and 18th and Wynkoop. Both of these will be replaced with “wing” buildings as they’ve been called, given their location at the end of the historic station’s two wings. The north wing building at 18th and Wynkoop will be the new home of IMA Financial and will look something like this. The design of the south wing building hasn’t been completed yet but it will be of similar scale and quality. Both buildings are critical to the success of Wynkoop Plaza for two reasons: they define the plaza edges and help visually enclose the space to make it feel more intimate, and they provide the ground-floor retail and restaurant uses that will help enliven the plaza with people and activity.
Wynkoop Plaza consists of north and south sections, with each having a different programmatic and design emphasis. Here’s an overview:
The south (left) plaza will be more open and sunny than the north (right) plaza. Given the south plaza’s proximity to the 16th Street Mall and the end of the commuter rail platforms, it will experience more pedestrian traffic, which the open design facilitates.
The south plaza will also include an area with pop-up fountains that, during the warmer months, will engage the senses and draw more people into the plaza. The fountain will be computer programmed to allow for a variety of effects, such as the jets of water popping up in different shape and timing patterns. The height of the water jets can also be adjusted depending on wind speed and other factors, and up-lighting can make for dramatic nighttime displays. Of course, during the colder months and during larger events in the plaza, the fountain can be turned off entirely to create an unobstructed hardscaped area. A row of trees closer to the historic station will provide shade to restaurant patios. Movable chairs will be used throughout the plaza along with a few permanent seat walls that will help delineate the primary pedestrian paths.
While the south plaza is the sunnier, more open and active section, the north plaza will be a bit more quiet and shady, although still a great people place.
The north plaza will feature a bosque of trees that provides plenty of shade for both permanent seat walls/planters and movable tables and chairs. The far north end of the plaza closest to the IMA Financial Building will remain open to provide a sunny space and clear sight lines to the pedestrian bridge/plaza spanning over the commuter rail tracks.
Like the 17th Street Gardens, the Wynkoop Plaza has been designed for both passive use as well as programmed events, such as stage performances, festivals, vending carts, games, etc. The diagrams below show two of the many ways different events can be configured into the space.
Regarding Wynkoop Street itself, many people have suggested that the street be rebuilt between 16th and 18th so that the Wynkoop Plaza’s paving surface and streetscape elements can extend across to the storefronts on the other side of the street, thereby making the street itself part of the public space. Everyone thinks this is a great idea, but currently there is no money in very-tight project and city budgets for this to occur at this time. However, nothing in the Wynkoop Plaza design would preclude that from occurring in the future when funding is available, so it’s just something we have to keep on the front burner and eventually we’ll find a way to get it done.
About the revival of the Welcome/Mizpah Arch: You may recall Union Station Advocates held a big gala event in the historic station to start raising money for the return of the arch. Currently, there’s no consensus among the Downtown community as to the arch’s design or location. Some people feel it should be an exact replica of the original arch (at the same scale or perhaps at a smaller scale) and some people feel it should be a contemporary arch inspired by the original. Some people favor the original location at 17th and Wynkoop, while others favor a new location on the west side where there are more potential sites available. Regardless of the ultimate design and location, it would be several years at the earliest before the arch could be constructed and installed anyway, given the funds that will need to be raised to pay for it. So for now, a healthy debate over the arch continues while a longer-term fundraising plan and decision-making process is devised.
Finally, it is the hope and goal of Union Station Advocates and many of us throughout Denver that Union Station becomes much more than a transportation hub. The station’s location between our beloved Lower Downtown historic district and the exciting contemporary developments in the Central Platte Valley, along with the infusion of masses of people every day, creates the opportunity for Union Station and its surrounding public spaces to become a nearly perfect urban nexus for Downtown. It can become the place where, when asking what not to miss when in Downtown Denver, first-time visitors are told “go to Union Station”. It can become the place where locals hang out even if they have no plans to travel by transit. Paired with its likely-to-be-very-dramatic Calatrava-designed sister station at Denver International Airport, Union Station will be the gateway to Denver for millions of people every year and may become Downtown’s most important single place.
Some patience will be required for Union Station to achieve its full potential. While the basic layout and urban design elements of the public spaces are being constructed now, the area will evolve and improve over time as the trees and plantings mature, public art is added, the private-sector developments are built out, and other enhancements (like the Mizpah Arch or extending the plaza across Wynkoop) are implemented. Union Station won’t be perfect on opening day, but the planning and design framework is in place for it to get off to a great start.
Movable chairs? how do you keep them from moving down the street or blocking walking paths?
It’s really no different than the yellow and purple movable chairs on the Mall. You stack and lock them at night and during the day enough people are around (including security) to keep them from wandering off.
I’m disappointed with the north wing building, which looks dull and suburban. It could almost pass for a school district administration building or a post office you might find in Broomfield or Littleton. I’m not opposed to buildings like it occurring here and there Downtown – in fact I think cities are well-served to have the majority of their buildings appear as run-of-the-mill structures, decent but not overly fancy, to better frame the bigger structures that do stand out. But in such a high profile spot there should be a building that goes farther in design and stature. It should be primarily glass, not red brick, and it should be about 6 stories high.
The rest of the development will be great, though. The fountains should be especially appealing – they have similar features on the 16th Street Mall in Boulder and they are a very successful draw. I hope they are able to install ice rinks on the spot during winter months and I hope they follow through on plans to convert the space into booths for festivals on summer weekends.
Here’s to hoping the south wing building does a better job at connecting Union Station to the 16th Street Mall, and looks more modern and urban. As THE connector between Downtown’s two most important public spaces: the 16th Street Mall and Union Station – This is the most high-profile location in the entire Denver Metro Area, except perhaps the state capitol building. Lets do a good job on it. It doesn’t have to be exceptionally big or exceptionally tall, it just has to have a distinct surface material and present itself as an important place.
Excellent post, Matt. A small correction: I think you are referring to the Pearl Street Mall in Boulder.
Sundays Farmers Markets anyone? Or the Wednesday ones they keep trying to hold in Civic Center Park. It took my whole lunch break just to get there and back. The Station would be a much better place. And would be sans as many of the crackheads that hang around the Park.
As for the arch, isn’t the whole reason for the return of it for the return of it? Not some lousy, blue steel “contemporary inspiration”?
I love the idea of having a farmer’s market in Wynkoop Plaza. It would really draw people to the area even if they have no need to use the transit. The ferry building in San Francisco draws tons of people to the farmer’s market just for the market. Of course, they’ve added lots of restaurants and unique food shops inside the building so that helps. It’s a very lively place all the time. I can see the same for US if they can add some similar components inside the station too. I haven’t heard of any plans for that though.
And I have a totally random question…
I’ve really been enjoying following the progress on Union Station on the jobsitevisitor website. I’ve noticed that they have poured retaining walls for the light rial station right next to the Millennium Bridge. Does anyone know what these walls are supposed to retain? Is there a rendering somewhere of JUST the light rail station that would explain the need for retaining walls? Everything seems to be at grade there so I can’t figure it out.
I have to take two exceptions-
1. Closing Wynkoop would be ridiculous.
How about the merchants/tenants along Wynkoop on the other side of the street?
What are they to do to gain access to their buildings and businesses? Wake up guys!
I know you all hate cars- but really.
How about truck deliveries to their homes and businesses?
2. How can I to drop someone off at the union station complex? What about taxis?
I don’t see any provision along Wynkoop for taxis and a pick up/drop off point. Just a long line of double row trees along the entire front of the union station building.
Thanks!
I never said Wynkoop should be closed, just rebuilt using the same materials as the plaza to create a unified design effect. Taxi drop off will occur in front of the station at 17th and Wynkoop or on the west side at 17th and Wewatta.
Also, I don’t hate cars. I’ve never once said I hate cars. Cars are amazing machines. But, cities–particularly downtowns–should not be designed around them. People should be the priority, then transit, then the private automobile,
There are no plans to make Wynkoop a pedestrian-only corridor.
But even if Wynkoop were made pedestrian-only for part of the year, the merchants and tenants would gain access to the buildings the exact same way that merchants and tenants already gain access to the building, which is the exact same way that merchants and tenants along the pedestrian-only 16th Street Mall gain access to their building: through the alley behind the building.
The reason alleys exist is for loading furniture or merchandise and throwing out trash. Storefronts are used to attract customers and look nice, not for loading.
When have you ever seen a business bringing enormous boxes of clothes, kegs of beer or cases of grape jelly through the front of the store? They will go through wider double-doors or special loading garages in the back.
My guess is that the businesses along Wynkoop are already elated that their site is suddenly going to become so busy with pedestrians when Union Station builds up – their land values just shot up dramatically and their customer base will expand – and and having the street become integrated with Union Station would not detract from that elation.
I completely agree with you Pizzuti. I think the plazas are great and show a lot of thought. I’m not very impressed with the North building. These wing buildings with Union Station are going to one day possibly be the “face” of Denver. So far, these buildings look like they could be in Highlands Ranch. I think there should be a lot more creativity and innovation with these two buildings. They shouldn’t over power Union Station but should be magnificent pieces of architecture in their own right. I also saw some renderings of the South wing building at a recent Union Station meeting. I know the architects said they where looking at the form and mass of the buildings, however, their renderings seemed pretty far along. My heart dropped when I saw the South building. It looked worse than the North building. The side bordering 16th was a giant flat brick wall with boring square windows. The building looks like a giant brick cube with some glass. I’ll give them the benefit that those renderings where more for mass so hopefully the form will be better and the materials a lot more contemporary. These architects have the project of a life time, I hope they produce some buildings worthy of it.
Here are my thoughts:
1) The history of fountains in Denver is not good. Look at the fountains in Skyline park. If they’re ever on it is only for about a week a year. Also, if you look at the history of the fountains in City Park, they’ve been dry for most of the last 20 years, though the city has turned them on more recently–often water shortages are claimed as the reason, but neglect seems to be a factor also. Another example: the fountain at DIA the city now wants to remove. While fountains seem like a good idea, the fact that we have a lot of calcium in our water makes water fountains difficult to maintain, and the city just isn’t committed to them.
2) Also, since this is a residential area, the so-called ‘park like’ surroundings seem like they’ll just become doggie-doo parks for nearby residents. Who will find this attractive? Look at the barren patches in the revised Skyline Park. We would have been better off keeping the old 1970’s design than what is there now.
3) The porte cocherie at Denver Union Station is the ideal location for Taxicabs. I take the train into Denver sometimes, and I find this rather handy. Claiming that ‘both sides’ of the union station are now the ‘front’ when there is really only one historic ‘front’ the station seems misguided. When someone arrives at the station, they will want to go to the front and catch a taxi or a local bus (the Route 20), not walk by a dry foundain in a doggie-poo park.
While I appreicate your optimism, I just don’t think the plans that are being developed for the front of Union Station to be either desirable nor maintainable.