The temporary Amtrak terminal at 21st and Wewatta streets is expected to be finished in early October. However, since the temporary tracks on the other side of Wewatta are still in the early stages of construction, the terminal will not be in use until the spring.
Hunter Sydnor, Kiewit‘s Public Information Officer, gave me a tour of the building on Friday afternoon. The photo on the left is the passenger waiting area. On the right is the ticket counter. Nice touch with the arches.
Behind the public areas of the building are offices, an employee lounge, shower facilities for train crews, and a large room for baggage.
The following photo is the scene across the street. Wewatta Street is to the right and Coors Field is to the left. The open trench is full of conduit. Much work remains before this area is ready for the California Zephyr. Foundations and utility work need to be completed. The tracks will be laid. And the passenger platform must be built.
Please see our Denver Union Station page at JobSiteVistor.com for more photos of the Amtrak building.
Looks like an awful lot of investment for a temporary structure. Aren’t they only going to use the station for 3 years?
Amtrak’s cooperation in this redevelopment was critical so they may have driven a hard bargain to get nice digs. Regardless, we wouldn’t want visitors to Denver to see a shabby, temporary station.
And, yes, Amtrak will occupy the building for about three years starting this spring.
As opposed to the shabby doublewide trailer Amtrak used as a temporary station in St. Louis for about 20 years!
As a PS – it’s hard to tell from the picture how big the waiting area is but at first glance it doesn’t appear large enough to accomodate the number of passengers who will be there at train time.
You’re right; it is hard to tell the size. It might help to know that I stood in approximately the same spot to take both of the side-by-side photos. The first one is straight ahead once I walked in the main entrance on 21st Street. I walked a few steps ahead, turned to my right, and took the second shot (ticket counter). It’s not a big space, but once they install the usual passenger seating, I expect it will accommodate several dozen people.
As a frequent Amtrak guest, I can tell you that that boardings in Denver frequently number in the several hundred.
Yes……. several dozen passengers boarding would be an atypically slow day in Denver. The temporary station may be fairly inadequate.