Denver officials unveiled the expanded Colorado Convention Center
on Monday, heralding a massive venue intended to draw millions of
visitors to the city and boost its economic fortunes.
“This is a turning point in this city’s history,” Mayor John
Hickenlooper told an audience of several hundred gathered in the
center’s north atrium for the christening.
A wall of windows framed much of the skyline as sun streamed into
the open space.
“We have before us a spectacular new building – over 2.2 million
square feet of space ready to accommodate conventions and
conferences, meeting events, planners, concerts large and concerts
small,” he said.
Following remarks by several city and business leaders,
Hickenlooper used giant scissors to snip a large red ribbon
signifying the completion of the $310.7 million expansion. The
crowd then followed a giant Chinese dragon puppet as its handlers
danced into the center’s core.
Prior to the ceremony, officials dedicated a covered light-rail
station on Stout Street serving the convention center and the
adjacent Denver Center for the Performing Arts.
The public can experience the new civic space during an open house
at the Convention Center from 5 to 11 p.m. Thursday that will
include entertainment and food.
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The Denver Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau has booked 135 groups
to use the center in the next 10 years. All told, that represents
$1.4 billion in money for the metro area’s economy, the group
estimates. It predicts the center will generate $125 million more
in annual business than if the expansion had not occurred.
Hickenlooper noted that not only will conventioneers use the center
but so will nonprofit groups.
Nonprofit groups have scheduled 60 events at the center next year.
They include the Colorado Women’s Chamber, the Children’s Hospital
Foundation, the Denver Commission on Aging, the National Indian
Education Association and the Environmental Protection Agency.
Speakers at the ceremony did not dwell on negatives such as
competition from the expansions of convention centers in other
cities. And city officials insisted that the building’s
construction met its goals.
Jack Finlaw, the city’s director of theaters and arenas, said the
project “ultimately was constructed on time and substantially on
budget. Indeed, the Colorado Convention Center expansion was
completed almost one month ahead of schedule and with total
(project amendments) well within construction industry
standards.”
But construction, while completed within the schedule, did not
begin until nearly two years after voters approved the project in
1999. The delay stemmed from political haggling, especially over
plans for an adjacent convention hotel.
“We were absolutely on time in terms of months of construction,
but we were late getting started,” former Councilwoman Cathy
Reynolds said as she toured the center Monday.
In 1999, voters approved the sale of $261.5 million in bonds to
finance the expansion. To pay off the bonds, voters approved hiking
the city’s tax on hotel stays to 13.45 percent.
The $261.5 million was an initial estimate based on rough plans for
the project. In the years since, numerous additions to the project
– including the light-rail stop and the soaring cost of a building
leveled to make way for the expansion – pushed the tab to $310.7
million. Those extras required approval from the City Council or
other officials but not the voters.
Ultimately, Denver got an expanded center with a 14-acre exhibit
floor, a 5,000-seat auditorium, massive ballrooms and distinctive
architecture.
One casualty of budget constraints: A plan to install repeaters to
strengthen cellphone reception in the building. Thus, reception is
poor or nonexistent in the spine of the building and some
ballrooms. But callers can find a signal by walking 100 feet or
so.
Staff writer Kris Hudson can be reached at 303-820-1593 or
khudson@denverpost.com.
