Gov. Jared Polis’s pedestrian bridge is not without merit, nor does it have to be an assault on the historic district, as some critics have claimed. Adding an interesting and functional architectural feature and tourist attraction to a struggling part of the city is a good idea for an entire state that relies on tourist dollars.
The problem with the project, intended to memorialize the state’s 150th birthday, is that it jumps a long list of unaddressed capital improvement projects, and skimps on artistry and historic value. The state has a process for spending its limited dollars maintaining everything from the magnificent Gold Dome to ancillary storage buildings. While it is unclear if the money will come from some other source or not, it is true that all dollars are fungible. Cutting in line for a project only released to the public a few short months ago is very bad form.
We don’t blame the members of the Capital Development Committee for balking at the request for about $10 million toward the $28.5 million price tag.
Rep. Tammy Story, a Democrat who chairs the committee, struck a sound note when she wrote to The Denver Post: “This $29 million ‘art installation’ is financially irresponsible and completely tone-deaf.” Indeed, the state has some financial problems, and our economy is slowing.
But let’s not scrap the Colorado 150 Pedestrian Walkway. Rather, let’s tip the scales of the public/private investment more heavily toward donors.
Asking the committee for a few million dollars that will be used to leverage $20 million or $30 million in private donations is much more palatable than the current 60/40 split that has the state picking up most of the tab.
There is a price to cut in line of a carefully curated and considered list of projects, and the current plan to only raise $11 million for the project is not enough.
We appreciate that this state’s civic leaders are ponying up millions of dollars to invest in art, culture and, yes, pedestrian safety at one of the state’s busiest intersections — Colfax and Lincoln. We’d love to see this bridge completed with Colorado artists getting paid for their work.
The state’s Capitol complex is a true gem. From the steps of the Capitol looking west, visitors see a panoramic view that includes our iconic skyline, art museum, Central Library, Denver’s beautiful city hall and our majestic mountains. Adding an architectural marvel at the ugly intersection will only enhance the view of Lincoln Veterans Memorial Park and Civic Center Park.
Several times a year, these parks are filled with visitors coming for festivals and protests. And while our unhoused neighbors do spend time in the park, gone are the unsanitary and unsafe encampments that for a time after the Black Lives Matter protests and COVID shutdowns took over the area.
Tammy Story is right to question the appropriateness of spending public dollars on something that is nice-to-have while deferred maintenance and other needs go unmet.
And John Deffenbaugh, president and CEO of Historic Denver, is right in his call for the bridge to conform to the design principles of the Denver Civic Center Historic District.
“We welcome change and believe that with sympathetic design and under the right circumstances, preservation and progress go hand in hand,” Deffenbaugh wrote in a scathing letter that picked apart the design of the bridge as an affront to the “formal order, symmetrical balance, and neoclassical expression,” that dominates the district today.
We are shocked that the architectural firm employed for a portion of the $1.5 million already spent on design and planning didn’t take into consideration the district’s design guidelines, which have been in existence since 2009. Given this gross oversight in their performance, we are certain they will redraft plans that will mesh seamlessly with the neoclassic architecture that dominates the park. Imagine a marble bridge spanning from the Capitol to the City and County building in undulating waves like Colorado’s white water rapids.
These are not insurmountable obstacles, but Polis needs private donors and a visionary architect. Time is short before the state celebrates its birthday, and Polis leaves office. We wish him luck.
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