The Denver Botanic Gardens plans to build a music venue at its Chatfield location in Jefferson County.
The garden’s existing venue at the site is a temporary stage and a flat field.
While details for the project are still vague, economic-development officials say such a project would prove an asset to the community.
As part of its plan, the Botanic Gardens would contour the dirt on the site to form a three-sided bowl and build a more permanent stage, said Brian Vogt, chief executive of the Botanic Gardens.
“We have a summer music festival we want to enhance,” he said. “It’s been part of the master development plan for Chatfield for several years.”
Vogt said the venue would be larger than that of its York Street music facility, which seats about 2,200 people per event during its summer concert series.
The cost of the new venue, combined with other projects, such as playgrounds, a flower garden, a visitors center and a parking lot, is about $1 million, Vogt said.
“We want to maximize the potential,” he said. “It costs a lot to move dirt.”
The Chatfield improvements are in addition to a sweeping, $48 million redevelopment of the Botanic Gardens’ main Denver facility on York Street that was unveiled last week. Proposals include a new greenhouse complex, a new irrigation system, a covered parking garage, several new gardens, a new visitor center and gift store, and renovation of the Boettcher Memorial Center.
A sold-out concert bill
The Botanic Gardens hosts about a dozen concerts each year at its York Street location. Last year, those artists included Linda Ronstadt, Steve Winwood, Wynton Marsalis, Gordon Lightfoot and David Bromberg. It also has one concert, as well as the World Music Festival, at the Chatfield facility.
Tickets for the wildly popular concert series at the York Street location are primarily available to Botanic Gardens members. Ticket-holders line up hours early for good seats.
The Botanic Gardens will unveil more detailed plans for the Chatfield venue this spring, Vogt said. The plans include other features to enrich the visitor experience.
“Chatfield is about to enter a renaissance,” Vogt said.
Preston Gibson, president and chief executive of the Jefferson Economic Council, said any aesthetic improvements help economic development efforts.
“It makes a difference in our ability to attract companies and employees,” he said. “Open space, recreational opportunities, the kinds of things that are available in Jefferson County are very, very important. Any time we can improve the aesthetic quality of the community, it’s huge.”
A draw for south metro
A new facility would be a huge benefit to the south metro region, agreed John Brackney, president of the South Metro Denver Chamber of Commerce.
“An amenity such as a significant concert facility and potential meeting place is always an awesome asset to a community,” he said. “This could be a seed to south metro’s success. We hope they go through with their thinking. It would be a great resource.”
None of the money the Denver Botanic Gardens is getting from a bond issue voters approved in November will be used on the Chatfield project.
About $12 million of the $18.6 million in bond funds will pay for the new 34,000-square-foot greenhouse at York Street. The irrigation system being replaced there is more than 40 years old.
Staff writer Steve Raabe contributed to this report.
Margaret Jackson: 303-954-1473 or mjackson@denverpost.com
