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?
Denver’s 16th Street Mall Stakeholders, led by the Downtown Denver Partnership, have been engaged in a technical assessment of the Mall’s current physical condition. This is being done with a view toward making a recommendation regarding the mall’s rehabilitation and sustainability over the next 25 years.
Historic Denver has expressed concern over courses of action that were publicly discussed in 2008, which would adversely impact or even destroy key aspects of the original Mall design that make it so special and unique, including the possible replacement of the granite pavers with other materials (such as concrete). It was for this reason that Historic Denver successfully nominated the Mall to Colorado Preservation’s Endangered Places List this year.
Thank you to those of you who provided feedback through the Downtown Denver Partnership's on-line survey. The intial results of a technical assistance on the mall's condition were released on April 15th, and all proposed alternatives included retaining the iconic granite pavers and honoring the original design, which is terrific news!
Additional information and a final rehabilitation strategy will be presented on
Presentation of Proposed Final Rehabilitation Alternative
Wednesday, May 20 5:30 - 7:00 pm
Colorado History Museum
For further information on this process, visit the Downtown Denver Partnership wesbite.
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. A process was started in December 2008 to investigate alternate solutions that could protect the original Mall materials and design.
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.
