When the Colorado Historical Society decided at the end of January to give up plans to relocate the Colorado History Museum to Civic Center after months of heated debate, it seemed reasonable to hope that the whole idea of adding more buildings to the park would disappear as well.
But, sadly, that is not the case. In an interview last week, Mayor John Hickenlooper said he remains open to the possibility of some kind of construction in the park.
“If a different organization came forward and wanted to do something in the park, we’d have to go through the whole same process and reach out to the same parts of the community and see whether it was appropriate for our park,” he said. “This is, for many people, hallowed ground.”
The lesson he seems to have taken from the controversy over the society’s original plan to build a proposed four-story building near the Greek Theater is that most of the public is amenable to the addition of an appropriately scaled structure.
“Of course, you never get everybody agreeing to something, but we got a fairly strong voice that (a) people want to see more activity in the park, and (b) that there wasn’t a dramatic problem with a modest building out there.”
It certainly makes sense to renovate the McNichols Civic Center Building, an old Carnegie Library on the northwest side of the park, as called for in the Civic Center Master Plan. Ideas for the historic building include a terrace restaurant, visitors center or some kind of museum.
But can’t we all agree that Civic Center should not be seen as a potential site for new buildings other than perhaps a small gazebo or pavilion? Its 16 acres are not a real-estate opportunity. Civic Center is a park, a welcome expanse of green, and it should be left that way.
The good news is that plans are proceeding to restore and refurbish three of the key neoclassical components of the park, which Edward Bennett conceived in 1918 as part of the nationwide City Beautiful movement.
“This is what is funded and what we are planning to do regardless of larger conversations about what would happen with the park,” said Amy Mueller, Hickenlooper’s deputy chief of staff.
The $9.5 million bond issue for the improvements was part of $550 million in capital projects approved by Denver voters in November.
The funds will be distributed as follows: $5 million, rehabilitation of the Greek Theater; $2 million, refurbishment of the Voorhies Memorial and upgrades to the Seal Fountain; and $2.5 million, Broadway Terrace improvements, including restoration of balustrades and replacement of walkways.
No timetable has been set for the work. The project management firm recently hired to oversee the citywide bond projects is still putting together an implementation schedule.
Rehabilitating Civic Center’s historic features is a key component of the master plan, and, unlike other ideas put forward to upgrade the park and draw more visitors, there has been little if any disagreement over that initiative.
“I’m not aware of any controversy,” Mueller said, “and I’d be surprised to hear of some, considering that this was a two-year process that led to those projects getting on the ballot.”
With the restoration efforts funded and soon to be underway and the dropping of plans for a new building for the Colorado History Museum, the question again is: What’s next for Civic Center?
Kim Bailey, manager of Parks & Recreation, said the answer lies in sticking to the master plan, which lays out a series of steps that should be taken to return the park to its former glory.
“When we completed our master plan in 2005, we laid out some pretty clear goals around activation, restoration and enhancement, and I would say that those continue to be our goals. Those continue to be our focus,” she said.
That sounds good, but, as usual, the devil will be in the details. Expect more controversy as the process moves forward.
Kyle MacMillan: 303-954-1675 or kmacmillan@denverpost.com
