USA January 2009 News Update

Best wishes for the New Year from the board of Union Station Advocates!

Project Status

Progress on several fronts took place in December 2008 including:

* The Denver Union Station Project Authority (DUSPA) initiated planning activities for the project. Several members of DUSPA and other project team members met with (federal) officials in Washington DC to discuss the notice to proceed for the sale of bonds in May 2009. Indications are favorable for meeting this timeframe.
* The Federal Environmental Impact Statement process appears to be proceeding on schedule.
Regarding the public realm design, no public meetings took place in December and none are scheduled for January. Our current understanding is that the Design Guideline and General Development Plan presentations will take place in late February or early March. USA is preparing a letter with our comments on the public realm design for submission to the project team in mid-January. To receive a copy of this letter, please send your request to: info@unionstationadvocates.org.
* The initial Union Station citizen organization, Friends of Union Station, was officially dissolved at a meeting on December 15, 2008 by a unanimous vote of the board. It is succeeded by Union Station Advocates and Open Space Initiative Group.

Public Realm Financing Update

Although the specific allocations for the various elements of the public realm are yet to be determined, the overall funding is set at $28,000,000 for the design treatment of the public spaces which includes Union Station Plaza (Wynkoop side of station), Kinetic Plaza (bridge and deck over the tracks), Linear Park (along 17th Street west of the station), and the Light Rail Plaza. Additionally, $17,000,000 is allocated for the station itself including infrastructure improvements and some design elements, like replacing current lighting in the train room with (replicas?) of the original chandeliers. These funds are not subject to any future budget cutbacks.

Notice of Upcoming USA and Public Meetings

The only public meetings currently scheduled for the balance of January 2009 are DUSPA meetings which are held bi-weekly on Thursdays at 1:30 P.M. at Hogan & Hartson, One Tabor Center, 1200 17th Street. The next meeting is January 22, 2009.

USA’s next board meeting is January 26, 2009 in Kentwood City Properties’ conference room at 4 P.M. Kentwood City is located at the corner of 17th and Wynkoop Streets.

Roundtable Meetings

Our next Roundtable meeting will also be held on January 26, immediately following the USA board meeting at 5:30 P.M. at the same location, the Kentwood City Properties’ conference room. This will be the new home in 2009 for all Roundtable meetings. Roundtable meetings are held every two weeks, and are open only to USA members and their invited guests. Led by USA board member and architect Levi Reeves, each Roundtable meeting provides the opportunity for attendees to discuss in-depth a topic associated with the Union Station project. A few days before each Roundtable, all USA members will receive an invitation notice for the upcoming Roundtable meeting, with an opportunity to RSVP. We hope we’ll see you at our next Roundtable meeting!

Union Station Advocates Blog

USA has now added a blog on our USA website! Now that the blog is up and running, we’ll begin to post most of our project updates, meeting notices, and other commentary about the Union Station project to the blog. Bookmark our blog at: http://unionstationadvocates.blogspot.com/ and check in often as the Union Station projects heads towards the start of construction this year.