The Denver Coliseum site south of Interstate 70 is a candidate for redevelopment as part of the National Western plan. (Joe Amon, Denver Post file)
Re: “$856M National Western plan draws praise; stock show to rally donors,” Feb. 17 news story.
The mayor’s office wants nearly a million new tourists and visitors each year at the proposed National Western Complex. It envisions managed growth “along the lines of the Central Platte Valley, Lower Downtown and Union Station.” The Post reports the total cost will be “well north of $1 billion.” This doesn’t include an estimated $1.8 billion for improvements to Interstate 70 east of the mousetrap, which the state and city are now trying to get their arms around. One obvious question is whether an expanded I-70 freeway, which cuts through the project, will help or hurt the vision to remake the area into a year-round tourist attraction and magnet for growth, thus ensuring its financial success. Some community groups and professional planners would prefer rerouting the freeway a few miles to the north, as was proposed years ago by the state, and replacing its footprint with a more welcoming tree-lined urban boulevard. Closer scrutiny by City Council members and candidates, as well as by state legislators, is called for.
Reuben C. Espinosa Jr.,Denver
This letter was published in the Feb. 19 edition.
It never ceases to amaze me how often the taxpayers of Denver hear the same song and dance from our elected officials. Our elected officials have asked for tax increases or debt funding for a myriad of items: improved schools, art district improvements, improvements to Denver International Airport and, most recently, upgrading 300 miles of roadways in Denver. And our fine elected officials seem to respond to their fiduciary responsibility by shelling out millions in lawsuit settlements. So now onward we go again with the stock show complex. I am sorry, Mayor Michael Hancock and members of City Council, but until I see the DIA improvements done under budget, better education results, improved public safety management and the potholes filled in this town, you can count on the vote of “no” for any tax increase.
Jeff Jasper,Denver
This letter was published in the Feb. 19 edition.
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