Denver’s plan for revamping its Performing Arts Complex promises to transform the venue “from a fortress to an arts district.” Its description of the present facility may be a little harsh, but let’s face it: The 38-year-old arts complex is indeed dated in style, amenities and physical aloofness. It could benefit from a major overhaul.
And that is exactly the sort of bold vision the city recently unveiled, calling it the “Next Stage.” While the plan is shy of a few details — such as, ahem, the cost and sources of funding — it nevertheless amounts to an exciting and worthwhile goal for the city to embrace.
The most obvious, nagging issue the plan resolves is finding a new home for the Colorado Symphony Orchestra. The symphony has long lobbied for smaller quarters than the 2,600-seat Boettcher Concert Hall — a facility that also happens to be in need of costly renovation and deferred maintenance.
The symphony’s new venue would be less than half that size, and Boettcher itself would succumb to the wrecking ball.
Boettcher’s present site would then become home to the Denver School of the Arts — one of several creative ways Denver officials intend to inject life into the district throughout daytime hours and make it, to use one of their own somewhat breathless phrases, “an enlivened, vibrant, thriving, public regional center of cultural activity in the heart of downtown.”
Along those lines, the plan would elevate and repurpose Sculpture Park, which runs along Speer Boulevard between Arapahoe and Stout streets, adding a bandshell for outdoor performances. Elsewhere in the complex, the plan foresees “incubator studios” for arts groups as well as a food hall and other amenities.
A critical component of the blueprint, however, is not entirely within the city’s control — namely, private investment. Although Mayor Michael Hancock has acknowledged he isn’t sure how the city will pay for the full buildout, his team responsible for Next Stage clearly foresees a public/private partnership fueled by the private sector’s desire to build high-rise residential buildings on the 12-acre site.
“Renderings show the buildings, which could house 1,000 residents, reaching as high as 40 stories.”
Other commercial opportunities include hotel, restaurant, office and retail space.
Given Denver’s hot real-estate market and demand for downtown housing, this Next Stage calculation makes sense. But markets have a way of losing steam, so it’s probably impossible at the moment to forecast just how much developers might be willing to chip in to boost the city’s vision
“I want Denver to be known for its commitment to arts and culture,” Hancock said. It already is, actually, but Next Stage would raise that commitment to another level — if the money for it can be found.
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