Friday, August 28, 2009

USA August 2009 News Update

Included in this News Update is a first announcement of a gala event to benefit the re-creation of the Welcome (Mizpah) Arch. Also included are additional comments on the July 23rd Panel Presentation, and reports on two DUSPA meetings and a Peer Design Review meeting.

Save the Date!! October 15, 2009: A Night in Old Union Station Announcement

Famed and photographed, the Mizpah/Welcome Arch framed the entrance to Denver’s Union Station from 1906 to 1931. A new collaborative campaign plans to return a replica of the arch to the area surrounding the proposed rehabilitation of the historic Union Station building.

A fundraiser party “A Night in Old Union Station” will be presented for ticket holders and corporate sponsors on Thursday, October 15, this year. Primary organizer is Union Station Advocates (USA) a 501(c) 3, citizen group dedicated to excellence for the evolving transportation hub in LoDo and the Platte Valley.

The re-creation of the Mizpah Arch has been discussed and a contemporary version was designed by Mario Botta in collaboration with Anderson Mason Dale. Its design triggered a lot of controversy and conversation about the Mizpah Arch and its function and symbolism for the city.

Evan Makovsky of Shames Makovsky Realty Company has been a champion for the reinstallation of the original arch. Large photographs of the monumental entry arch, which was first introduced by Mayor Robert Speer during train travel’s heyday, are featured in Makovsky’s Residence Inn.

“A Night in Old Union Station” festivities will utilize many parts of the historic station with a corporate sponsor “raw bar” repast on the mezzanine, a speakeasy in the train departure tunnel, and conductor tickets are assigned to the Great Hall.

Cuisine from Lodo’s premier restaurants will be donated with the coordination of The Arrangers, Amy Evans of McCormick’s restaurant and John Imbergamo, of the Imbergamo Group. The growing number of restaurant participants include Jax, McCormick’s, Mortons, Gumbos and Bistro Vendome. Beer will be donated by Coors.

The main fare for the festivity scheduled from 7 pm to 11 pm will include troupes of mimes, contortionists, entertainment and palm readers performing throughout the station. Guests are encouraged to don historic attire for a sense of participation in “A Night in Old Union Station”. Prizes for best costumes will be awarded.

The celebration will culminate in the Great Hall historic reception room at the end of the evening. Its open span, 65 foot high ceiling’s architecture will provide for a spectacular finish as planned by Al Kraizer, LoDo Jazz Fest creator, and Charlie Prideaux, producer of Times Square’s annual New Year’s Eve Ball Drop.

Honorary Chairpersons of the celebration are Mayor John Hickenlooper and Helen Thorpe as well as Judy Montero, Councilwoman for Denver’s District 9. For more information, please contact Dana Crawford, Union Station Advocates, at (303)892-1888 or dana@danacrawford.net


Additional Commentary on the July 23, 2009 Panel Presentation

The Executive Summary slides provided in the July issue of USA’s News Update captured the main points of the presentation. An article in the July 16th issue of Westword by Joel Warner entitled “Engine Trouble?” in the paper article and “The plans for Union Station could be off-track” on the Westword website provides additional insight into the status of the project. The article can be accessed at the following web address:
http://www.westword.com/2009-07-16/news/the-plans-for-union-station-could-be-off-track/

Based on the information conveyed in the August 6 and 23, 2009 DUSPA meetings (see following reports), the project appears to be progressing “on-track” with the caveat that both DOT loans must come through before the construction phase commences in earnest.


August 6, 2009 Summary of DUSPA Meeting

Chad Fuller, Senior Financial Analyst for the City of Denver, reviewed the highlights of a financial planning sub-committee meeting. He stated that Scully Capital, financial advisors to the City, had recently reviewed the credit structure for the RRIF and TIFIA loans requests with DOT. He thought the meeting went well and said that Scully was a strong advocate for securing the loans.

Peggy Catlin talked briefly about Senate Bill #1. She stated that, given the continuing changes in the project, the City was advocating for expanding the initial narrow scope of use to a more flexible, wider range of scopes,.

Alex Brown, financial consultant to the City, stated that the project team was re-engaging discussions with Standard & Poors regarding credit assessments for the RRIF and TIFIA loan requests. He stated that the New Market Tax Credit could possibly be used for the project.

Jerry Glick next addressed two agreements under consideration by DUSPA:


-The first was an agreement between RTD and the Federal Government. Bill Mosher stated that DUSPA was not assuming any responsibility for Federal Compliance as that responsibility would defer to the Agencies. The vote regarding this agreement was tabled.

-After several final negotiating points were clarified by Cole Finegan, the second agreement between DUSPA and USNC was approved unanimously, with Tom Gougeon of USNC abstaining.

Bill Mosher then discussed four handouts related to financials:

-Financial Statement in which he highlighted a $700,000 payment by the City to USNC.

-Project Cost Tracking report highlighting a $33,000 historic assessment fee

-Status of the Project Budget

-Budget – adjustments included financing costs up to $1M; snowmelt to zero; vulnerability up from $1M to $2M with the comment that RTD is applying for a $2M grant to cover this cost; AMTRAK payment reduced by $1.5M; and the CML land purchase has been adjusted.

Discussion of the Critical Issues List was deferred to next meeting. Mention was made of an AMTRAK solution and a temporary solution for a ski train.

The Peer Design Review will next meet on August 20th with the train shed as the primary subject. On August 19th there will be a formal public meeting at 3:00 PM at the Webb Building on the urban design for Package 1.

Regarding the selection of a Public Outreach firm, 20 RFQs were sent out, 10 firms responded and three have been chosen for the short list. Interviews will take place next week.

The DUSPA board then moved into Executive session.


August 20, 2009 Peer Review Meeting Summary

Ellen Ittelson and Tyler Gibbs in the Planning Office reviewed the LRT plaza and the ventilation/air intake shafts and how they might be treated. Then they talked a little about how to handle the egress stair from the bus box that comes up in the 17th St. public space and whether that access point could be a full access point and the implications of other elements of the bus facility. They also looked at the location and length of the two moving walks.

The majority of the session was on the main CRT canopy. SOM described a number of potential modifications that could be made in response to comments received. These included creating wider spacing between columns in the 160’ zone behind the historic station, adding braces to the trusses above to handle the loads associated with the greater spans, modifying the shape of the opening in the canopy somewhat (more oval, less rectangular). They also showed some different options for how to suspend the lights, information displays from the trusses crossing the opening (basically an alternate scheme running parallel rather than perpendicular to the tracks). They also discussed the small canopy extensions that cover passengers moving from the main canopy to the historic station and from the main canopy to Wewatta. They did not propose changes to those, but there were still some questions about the current approach. They also brought a sample of the PTF fabric material and the details for how it is stretched and secured by a metal clamp and bolt system. They also talked briefly about paint colors for the steel and will bring samples to the next meeting. The reaction to most of the changes was positive. No one has yet quantified whether there are cost or schedule implications of making any of the changes discussed. The team will be working on those aspects and will report back.


August 20, 2009 Summary of DUSPA Meeting

Main discussion points included:

Status of applications for the RRIF and TIFIA loans and the associated credit rating issue. Current expectation is the loan commitment will occur in November, 2009.

The August 20th Peer Review Meeting – see above report.

The possibility for a ski train. DUSPA had received a formal letter from the company that is pursuing this initiative, Iowa Pacific Holdings. That company has to obtain permission from Union Pacific Railroad for rights to use tracks that he owns. Although favorable to the initiative, DUSPA will wait until the track issue and other issues are resolved before taking a position on this matter.


Union Station Advocates Roundtable

The Roundtables continue to be an effective and engaging meeting allowing our members to have informal discussions on important issues of the Union Station project.

Roundtable meetings are generally held the second and fourth Mondays of each month, and are open only to USA members and their 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 via email for the upcoming meeting with an opportunity to RSVP. The Roundtable committee is currently identifying agenda topics for the next series of Roundtable meetings coming this fall. If you have a suggestion for a Roundtable meeting, please send us an email to info@UnionStationAdvocates.org

To download a PDF of this July 2009 USA News Update, click here.

Friday, August 14, 2009

Roundtable Monday - 10 Best Uses Follow-Up

Greetings!


After our late summer hiatus, we will restart our roundtables this coming Monday. We will have some short discussion on the summer DUS happenings, then follow up with a continuing discussion of the "Ten Best Uses of the DUS South Plazas."


Union Station Advocates Roundtable

Monday, August 17, 2009, 5:30-6:30 PM

Location: Kentwood City Properties Conference Room (17th & Wynkoop)


Levi Reeves

Roundtable Director


Reminder: Roundtables are a benefit to USA members. If you are not a member, we would love to have you join! It's simple: sign up through our website, or just come to the Roundtable on Monday and we will give you information on how to join.