Construction has started on the Buell Public Media Center at 21st and Arapahoe in Downtown Denver’s Arapahoe Square district.

Our announcement post on this project was in May 2017. Since then, Rocky Mountain Public Media (the parent company to Rocky Mountain PBS) has been engaged in a capital campaign to raise the $34 million needed to build the project. An initial $6 million grant from the Buell Foundation kicked off the campaign, and since then all but $3.5 million has been raised—a total sufficient to allow construction to get started. A formal groundbreaking ceremony was held on November 29, 2018.

The three-story project will provide expanded state-of-the-art facilities for Rocky Mountain PBS, which produces local public television at KRMA (Channel 6) and public radio at KUVO (89.3 FM). Their currently facility is in the Golden Triangle.

Since the initial concept renderings were released, Tryba Architects has been refining the building’s design to match the program and budget. Here are the final renderings, courtesy of Tryba and Rocky Mountain PBS.

Buell Public Media Center rendering, courtesy Tryba Architects

The new 63,528 SF facility will include on the ground floor a black-box broadcast studio, a live-performance broadcast studio, a production studio, a children’s learning and programming center, classrooms, volunteer offices and conference rooms, a community kitchen and event space, a cafe with outdoor seating, and a private courtyard.

The second floor will house the Rocky Mountain PBS and KUVO offices, an additional studio, a lounge, and the digital infrastructure for distributing media content statewide. The third floor will contain space that can be leased out to local media enterprises.

Here are some site photos from yesterday. The site was previously occupied by a surface parking lot and a one-story windowless warehouse that was demolished earlier this year. The new Buell Public Media Center will extend all the way over to the elegant historic Paris Hotel Building at 22nd and Arapahoe and its adjacent tree-covered courtyard and patio for The Lobby.

Here are the views from the corner looking along 21st toward Coors Field and along Arapahoe toward the Paris Hotel Building.

View along 21st Street of construction of the Buell Public Media Center
View along 21st Street of construction of the Buell Public Media Center

From Arapahoe Street near the historic Paris Hotel Building:

View from Arapahoe Street of construction of the Buell Public Media Center

From 21st Street looking over the site toward 22nd Street and Arapahoe Street:

View from 21st Street of construction of the Buell Public Media Center
View from 21st Street of construction of the Buell Public Media Center

Congratulations to Rocky Mountain Public Media on their successful capital campaign and their future home in Arapahoe Square!

The Buell Public Media Center is scheduled for completion in early 2020.