Mayor John Hickenlooper pushed forward a compromise today to resolve the conflict over where to relocate the Colorado History Museum.
The proposal, which has not been accepted by any of the parties yet or by the City Council, calls for the state to renovate the city-owned McNichols Building on the northwest corner of Civic Center with state funds, then have the museum occupy the entire 48,000-square-foot building.
The state also would excavate a large area underground, south of the McNichols Building, to be used for storage and exhibition space.
At the south end of the excavation, the state would build a one-story, 16,000-square-foot building for entrances and exits, safety amenities and a cultural facility that would be operated by the city’s Office of Cultural Affairs.
Hickenlooper didn’t provide specifics about the new building, other than to say it would be constructed mostly of glass to be transparent and well-lighted and would have the same footprint as the McNichols Building.
Finally, the proposal has the Colorado Historical Society locating its offices in the city’s vacant permit-center building at West 14th Avenue and Bannock Street, basically on a diagonal across the intersection from the glass building.
The permit center, which also would be renovated by the state with state funds, would house several nonprofit groups paying a reduced rent of anywhere from $12 to $15 a square foot to the city, which would use the money to clean up the neglected Civic Center.
Ed Nichols, president of the Colorado Historical Society, said he hadn’t been told about the proposal yet. However, he said he would have a reaction after a 2:30 p.m. press conference in the mayor’s office.
Nichols and others had proposed erecting a four-story building south of the McNichols Building in a mirror image of the older building. That plan also includes the same size underground excavation.
Mike McPhee: 303-954-1409 or mmcphee@denverpost.com
