That the 16th Street Mall is I.M. Pei and Partners only linear landscape? And, the granite pavers are laid in a pattern intended to resemble the scales on a diamond-back snake?
As many of you know, Historic Denver has been actively involved in the planning process for the 16th Street Mall for more than a year. Last Spring, the Downtown Denver Partnership, along with a Steering Committee of community leaders, city staff, and RTD representatives, released the findings of a technical assessment, which evaluated the mall’s infrastructure and options for rehabilitation.
The result of this study was a recommendation to retain the iconic granite pavers, and to use a two-pronged approach that includes cleaning those in the pedestrian walkways and actually removing, flipping and reinstalling those in the transit-ways, where the wear and tear is greater.
After the completion of the technical assessment the Steering Committee launched a planning process to evaluate the mall’s design and make recommendations on its rehabilitation, all with the aim of making the mall successful for another thirty years.
The Steering Committee and a consulting team then presented three design alternatives. Historic Denver has participated in the public meetings and preservation stakeholder sessions on these options, evaluating how to best honor the mall’s significant original design while allowing for desired evolution over time.
To read about the options visit the Downtown Denver Partnership website.
This evaluation led Historic Denver to identify the features of the mall that are most integral to its original design and most important to retain. These include:
1) The “carpet-runner” of granite pavers designed to mimic a rattle-snakes back
2) The unique lighting fixtures
3) The pattern of interspersed trees
Because of the importance of these elements, Historic Denver formally endorsed Design Option 1, as presented by the Steering Committee. in a letter submitted to the Partnership on June 24, 2010.
Historic Denver 's board reached this decision because we feel Option 1 best respects the mall’s essential and iconic elements, as well as the mall’s varied symmetrical/asymmetrical block structure. Option 1 also leaves room to modify the furnishing plan, improve universal access and upgrade the design and use of the corners where the mall meets the side-streets so that retail upgrades can be accommodated.
On July 23, 2010 the Steering Committee also voted to recommend Design Option 1, based in large part of the extensive public feedback indicating preference for the current block pattern. Thank you to everyone who expressed their opinion about this important "young" landmark.
BACKGROUND ON THE MALL:
The suggestion of creating a mall on 16th street in Denver began as early as 1959, but was not given serious consideration until 1971. Following years of planning and construction, the 16th Street Mall, designed by the internationally renowned architectural firm I.M. Pei & Partners of New York, opened on October 4, 1982 to a crowd of over 200,000 people. The main features of I.M. Pei’s design include polychromatic granite pavers, wide sidewalks and a central tree lined corridor. Now, decades later, the 16th Street Mall has evolved into the veritable “heart and soul” of downtown Denver and a top visitor attraction in the metropolitan area. Its free shuttles serve an average of 55,000 commuters and tourists per day, creating significant wear and tear that jeopardize the original design and materials. However, in May 2008 a panel of experts from the Urban Land Institute declared the 16th Street Mall to be “public art of the highest international quality,” and strongly urged Denver to fix, not change, the Mall.
Further concern over the future of the Mall arose in mid-2008 because the Regional Transportation District (RTD) expressed interest in removing the pedestrian median and replacing the intricate pattern of granite pavers in order to address recurring and expensive maintenance concerns.
Historic Denver, Inc. is working with RTD, the City and County of Denver and the Downtown Denver Business and Improvement District to reach solutions that will be viable to all concerned.
On February 5, 2009 the 16th Street Mall was named to Colorado Preservation, Inc.'s Endangered Places Program. Historic Denver nominated the mall last fall due to concerns about the future of the granite pavers, which have suffered significant deterioration. The Endangered Places program was launched in 1997 with the purpose of identifying historic sites throughout Colorado that are in danger of being lost. Modeled after the National Trust for Historic Preservation's list of America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places, Colorado's Endangered Places program has been touted by the Trust as one of the best in the nation. Since its inception, the program has won the Stephen H. Hart award from the Colorado Historical Society and has been designated as an official Save America's Treasures project. The program has generated interest, recognition and funding for over one-hundred-twenty sites around the state, and has provided intensive technical assistance to seventy-four sites that have made the program's Most Endangered Places List.
Now in its thirteenth year, the purpose of the annual Colorado's Most Endangered Places List is to build awareness of and assistance for endangered historic places. Of the seventy-four places named to the list from 1998-2009, fourteen have been saved, thirty-five have experienced forward progress in the form of rehabilitation, stabilization, protection, preservation planning and/or assessment. Of the other eighteen, twenty-two remain in alert and three have been lost. For more information on the Endangered Places program and to learn of the other 2009 sites, visit Colorado Preservation Inc.
