Judge Denies ColoRail Temporary Injunction!
Read all about it in the Denver Post: http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_14700902
USA March Events and ULI Program in April
To highlight the loan approval and the start of construction for Denver’s Union Station transit project, USA sponsored two events in March, and we are promoting one in early April.
The March events were a DUS Loan Approval Celebration at Gumbo’s Restaurant on Wednesday, March 3rd to commemorate the Federal loan of $304 million for the DUS project, and the LoDo Premier of the Havey Productions’ film Denver Union Station: Portal to Progress at the Oxford Hotel Ballroom on Thursday, March 18th. The film program began with a reception and cash bar, followed by comments by Dana Crawford, the film, and closing comments by Jim Havey.
The April event is the Urban Land Institute Colorado – State of the Union, April 1, 2010, 1:30 – 6:30 PM, at the Denver Athletic Club – 1325 Glenarm Place. The program will provide an in-depth look at the entire DUS project. It will begin with a panel discussion about the project at the Denver Athletic Club followed by a Mall Shuttle ride down to Union Station, a tour of the site with project experts, and finish with a hosted reception inside the historic station.
Reports from USA’s Roving Reporter in the Field
Starting this month, the USA News Summary will include reports from our Roving Reporter in the Field (a USA member who has a bird’s eye view of the project). Here are the first reports:
At 7:26 the morning of March 17, 2010, the biggest of the Kiewit excavators started digging the hole for the bus box at the point where buses will enter and/or exit the box. At 7:00am there were 9 tractor-trailer dump-trucks lined up to haul away the dirt. It takes only three excavator scoops (about 2 minutes) to fill a truck. The trucks move the dirt only about a mile away so they make the round trip quickly enough that the excavator does not have to wait for returning trucks. I can see the dumping spot over the top of some commercial buildings to the east.
On Monday March 22nd, Kiewit brought in a second driller. For the past 7-10 days, the first one has drilled 35 holes 20-30 ft deep for vertical placement of i-beams along a line parallel to and 50 ft from the CML. I assume the i-beams will support the eventual shoring wall for the bus box hole. The second driller has not yet been used, but I assume they brought it in to speed up the drilling process.
The second driller went into action today, Thursday March 18th. Also on the 18th, I talked with three Kiewit employees for about 30 minutes this afternoon, and learned the following:
- The vertically-placed i-beams are for the shoring wall, as I suggested previously.
- The shoring wall will not surround the entire bus box hole. It goes along the entire CML side of the hole and turns the corner for about 100 ft onto the 16th St side. The rest of the hole will have sloping walls.
- Currently, they are using a huge excavator to remove the dirt and put it into dump trucks which haul it off site. Later, they will use bulldozers to push dirt into a hopper that will feed a conveyor system. Some of the dirt will be stockpiled on site to be used later for backfill behind the cement walls of the bus box.
- Based on the bus box dimensions provided by one of the construction supervisors, the hole will be 1300 ft by 165 ft by 25 ft. That's nearly 200,000 cubic yards of dirt to be removed. 54,000 cu ft of concrete will be used to build the bus box.
- Work began this afternoon to redirect water into the bypass water line that was installed on the Union Station side of Wewatta St last summer. The current water line will be removed and replaced once the bus box is dug. From the street level, one can see an excavator digging up the CML-side of Wewatta St.
- In two weeks, work will start on the new light rail station.
- The employees I talked with were working on a productivity study. They were timing various tasks ... load time for trucks, round trip time for trucks, drilling holes for i-beams, etc. The results of the study help to determine resource requirements for each task. Interesting!
Here's a run-down on dump truck activity as of March 22nd:
- At 7:10 this morning, there were 21 tractor-trailer dump trucks in a long queue, waiting for the excavator to get started.
- At 7:15, the first truck pulled away full of dirt.
- By approximately 7:25, that first truck had returned to the queue.
- At 7:41, the 21st truck (the last truck in the original queue) pulled away full of dirt.
- At 7:53, 30 trucks had been filled. It took 38 minutes to haul away 30 trucks of dirt.
- The interval between the time the excavator dumps the first bucket load of dirt into one truck and it dumps the first load into the next truck is only 75 seconds.
At peak times, there are 30 trucks per hour (or more) hauling dirt. However, the operation does not continue at that pace all day. The excavator is able to out-perform the supply of trucks so it keeps busy doing preparation work when the truck-queue runs dry. By 8:05, there were no trucks in the queue. I think there are traffic jams at the dumping location, where three more excavators are at work. I can see that location over the top of some commercial buildings on the other side of Park Ave.
Note: For official construction notices, sign up to receive project updates and notifications at: www.denverunionstation.org and, in the lower right corner of the home page, enter your email address, then click on GO. You can also follow along with DUS construction updates, including photos, at the DenverInfill Blog (www.DenverInfill.com/blog/)
March 4, 2010 DUSPA Meeting
The DUSPA meeting was short with little significant topics. Chad Fuller reported that TIFIA/RRIF loan agreements were in progress with loan disbursement expected by the end of March. A limited notice to proceed has been issued and work is progressing, in particular dewatering and storm sewer work. The bus box excavation is scheduled to begin March 15th. Bill Mosher discussed the DUS canopy and stated that they still had to finalize the design, which they are hoping to do by April 20th. He also stated that the design of the north building is 85% completed and plaza design is 15% completed.
March 18, 2010 DUSPA Meeting
The meeting started with a TIFIA/RRIF Progress Report and an update by Claude Pumilia, Chad Fuller, and Alex Brown.
Representatives from TIFIA and RRIF have toured the project and met with USNC. The project team is waiting for another draft of the loan agreements - TIFIA first followed the RRIF agreement which should parallel the language in TIFIA. The team plans to have a conference call with the rating agency to update them on the project in advance of submitting the final loan documents.
In the Finance Committee Report, the following agreements are in process:
- DUS Project Mill Levy Pledge Agreement
- DDA/TIF Agreement
- DUSPA/CPVMD Agreement – Construction of Improvements
- DUSPA/CPVMD Agreement – Second Amendment to Infrastructure Open Space
In the Owner’s Representative Report, Bill Mosher presented a project update and discussed Federal Compliance issues. The excavation had started. Also, the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with Amtrak is agreed to in principle, but still no signatures. Design work continues with a focus now on Wynkoop Plaza. In a public meeting, the design team is presenting the latest round of results on Thursday March 25th. Design of the plaza is coinciding with the design of the north and south wing buildings. These concepts are being presented to the Landmark Preservation Committee on April 20th.
March 22, 2010 USA Roundtable Report
On Monday, March 22, 2010, the monthly USA Roundtable took place at the offices of Union Station Neighborhood Company (USNC). Frank Cannon of USNC and Andy Nielsen of Anderson, Mason, Dale Architects presented the current status of plans for the two wing buildings to be constructed on the DUS plaza (alternately referred to as the Wynkoop Plaza).
Frank talked about the design review and approval process with the Landmark Preservation Commission which will start April 20, 2010 with a presentation (open to the public) for preliminary approval (mass and bulk) and culminate late summer for final approval (color palette and material board) of the North Wing Building (located on the 18th Street side of the plaza). Final approval for the South Wing Building (located on the 16th Street side of the plaza) will be held until later. Construction on the North building is slated to break ground in the spring of 2011.
The two wing buildings will not be identical, but the architecture/design will be coordinated. As Frank put it, “rather than identical twins, they should be ‘close relatives’.”
Anchor tenant, IMA Financial Group, will occupy 7000 square feet of the North wing building.
USNC is obligated to purchase the land for these wing buildings in 2010 and the site for the triangular building at 16th and Wewatta in 2011.
Plans for the parking garage on the site behind the Ice House garage have been downsized to accommodate the 160 spaces required for public parking.
Andy Nielsen of AMD showed a slide of the solar context for the two wing buildings. The North building will experience more sun; the South building will have less sun due to shade from the EPA building across 16th Street.
As he highlighted aspects of the current plans, he emphasized the governing Design Standards and Guidelines, as follows:
- Service areas shall not directly face the pedestrian or public spaces
- Building entry faces to be visible from the DUS plaza, Wynkoop and 16th Street
- Reduce the sense of bulk
- The new structures, public spaces and the station will work together as a powerful destination and urban ensemble.
The four-story South wing building will have extended underground parking to accommodate 104 spaces. The five-story North building will accommodate 120 spaces. These spaces will also be available for public use after business hours and on weekends. Issues associated with color, tone and materials are being considered in light of setting off (emphasizing) the historic station. The preferred ground floor uses of both buildings are food-oriented services, restaurants, and retail.
A DUSPA audit will be required for 2010. The Audit Committee will have a plan in place to meet the requirements.
March 25, 2010 Public Meeting on Wynkoop Plaza Design
Bill Mosher opened the meeting by describing the intended uses of the new wing buildings on the Wynkoop Plaza. He indicated that both buildings would accommodate office space (upper floors) and that the ground level would most likely be food and beverage type establishments. He also indicated that the wings of the historic station are slated for retail. He then framed the meeting to include four presentations as follows:
- Review of current public space framework – Mary Margaret Jones of Hargreaves
- Plans for new wing buildings – Andy Nielsen of Anderson, Mason, Dale
- Review of previous public comments – Ellen Ittelson of the City of Denver
- Three options for revisions of the public design – Mary Margaret Jones, Hargreaves
The slides presented by these speakers are available at: www.denverunionstation.org.
Following the presentations, the meeting opened to questions and comments. One comment, made by Mary Margaret, was that the design team has heard “loud and clear” from the public and the Peer Group that a red color tone for the paving should be seriously considered. Another comment related to the tree border along Wynkoop Street, which in the slide presentation appeared as a double line of trees. A suggestion was made that there should be visual openings in logical places along the street edge.
Membership Renewal Time!
For those of you that joined Union Station Advocates in late 2008 or early 2009, it is now time to renew your membership! Your continued support is much appreciated. Please keep an eye out for an email concerning your membership renewal or you can go to the USA membership webpage and renew today: http://www.unionstationadvocates.org/membership.html
Thank you for your continued support!
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.
Union Station Advocates Is Now On Facebook!
Are you a USA member or just excited about our historic Union Station and its big transformation? Join us on Facebook by being a fan of Union Station Advocates! Here’s a link:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Union-Station-Advocates/43803914945?ref=ts
To download a PDF of this News Summary, click here.
