LAKEWOOD — Plain vanilla doesn’t cut it for Lakewood, which has an ice-cream-sundae vision for the Wadsworth Boulevard light-rail station.
Oak Street — the next station to the west on the 12.1-mile West Corridor line — also would get a few extra dollops of design in plans discussed last week by the City Council.
And Lakewood officials are willing to pay — an estimated $2.8 million — for what they call “betterments” to RTD’s standard light-rail designs.
They want riders of the Denver-to-Golden train to know they’ve arrived in Lakewood.
Lakewood also sees the Wadsworth station — with a crystalline canopy that flows like clouds across the platform — as a statement that the state’s fourth-largest city has arrived.
“It is very, very innovative,” said Councilman Ed Peterson. “It is a signature piece. . . . It gives a sense of place.”
At 400 feet in length, the Wadsworth station will straddle the road when the line opens in 2013. Passengers will board and depart trains 25 feet above the street, where 50,000 vehicles pass each day.
“I see this as a gateway to Lakewood,” said Al Colussy, whose Klipp architectural firm came up with the concept. “It is sculpted and has an artistic quality as well as a functional one.”
The price tag: about $2.6 million in urban renewal funds.
About $135,000 in upgrades to Oak Street’s pedestrian plaza will include raised planters, a rock seating wall, grass- inlaid resin wind screens and a shelter with a stainless- steel, fanlike roof.
City officials say the improvements are worth the investment as a focus for economic development.
“We think this is smart business all the way around,” said Lakewood City Manager Mike Rock. “This simply recognizes that this is a long-term investment on the part of the community and decisions we make today will live for the next 50 to 100 years.”
The Regional Transportation District’s designs are based on “themes from the community — the old Inter-urban trolley line and the Craftsman-type homes along the line,” said spokeswoman Brenda Tierney.
“Our stations are pretty standard, and communities like to do things we wouldn’t normally do, especially in these tough budget times,” Tierney said.
Greenwood Village Mayor Nancy Sharpe said light-rail area investment is worth it to develop community pride and economic opportunities.
Greenwood freed up land for development by spending $6 million to move the parking garage at the southeast line’s Arapahoe station.
The city added brick and stone work to the Arapahoe station, which Sharpe said “improves the appearance and does make a statement.”
Arvada has begun station planning for the Gold Line, which will open in 2015.
“It’s too early to tell what we might do above and beyond what RTD might plan,” said Arvada senior planner Kevin Nichols. “We do have a few ideas for Olde Town where the station could blend in with the historic fabric of the area a little bit better.”
Ann Schrader: 303-278-3217 or aschrader@denverpost.com
