Details of the proposed new Colorado History Museum emerged Monday night, including an emphasis on providing public spaces for gatherings, food service and shops, as well as the primary mission of exhibiting Colorado history.
Design of the new museum, at 12th Avenue between Broadway and Lincoln, will be finalized by January.
The $112 million project, which must be approved by the state legislature, includes $75 million for constructing the building. Additional expenses include purchasing the ground, moving expenses, furnishings, and three years of maintenance. The building will be paid for through certificates of participation, in which investors loan the money and are repaid by rent paid by the state, capped at $5 million per year.
With the rent payments capped, the interest rate determines the amount that will be spent on construction, which dictates the size of the building. The certificates should be paid off in 30 to 35 years, at which point the state will own the building, said project manager Bill Mosher of Trammell-Crow Co.
Officers of the Colorado Historical Society said they have toured 12 museums and public buildings around the country looking for ideas that work — and ideas that don’t work, like glass roofs that can’t be cleaned.
Of particular interest was the Salt Lake City library, whose “social spaces” impressed CHS President Ed Nichols. That library has three restaurants, a variety of stores, and spaces for civic purposes, he said.
An idea gleaned from the the Reynolds Gallery at the Smithsonian Museum is to have glass-enclosed storage and work spaces for public viewing.
Construction should begin next spring and be completed by summer 2011. The new museum, which is moving to make way for a giant state judicial complex that will cover a full block bordered by Lincoln Street, Broadway, 13th and 14th Avenues, should be open by the spring of 2012.
The judicial complex is slated to open by 2015, according to Mosher, who will manage both projects.
Mike McPhee: 303-954-1409 or mmcphee@denverpost.com
