Denver's publicly owned but privately leased Union Station has had a bumpy 10 years since the iconic building received a $54 million remodel and became an active retail and community space.
Now another round of change is coming to mark a decade of economic activity in the transit hub that first opened in 1891 -- though it's not going to be as drastic as the 2014 remodel.
"We're really elevating what we currently have," Denver Union Station Area General Manager Ed Blair told Denverite.
In the years since the 2014 renovation, Union Station has been dubbed everything from "Denver's living room" to a "lawless hellhole."
It's been touted as a stunning example of urban renewal and the benefits of public-private partnerships and as proof that Denver -- particularly since the pandemic -- has been in a state of urban decay.
Through it all, it has been a gathering place for civic celebrations.
Mayor Mike Johnston threw his watch party and inauguration party there. High-end restaurants surround the station. In the summer, the fountains outside become one of the top play areas for Denver families trying to stay cool. Transit users charge their phones and relax.
"Denver Union Station has been so deeply embraced by the local community," Blair said. The "extensive refresh" will honor that embrace.
Changes include a new lobby for the Crawford Hotel with live music and cocktails, updates to the hotel's 112 rooms, fresh furniture, lighting and an update to retail in the Great Hall, a renovation of the Cooper Lounge and more.
Despite the changes, the programming plans for the space are largely the same: Keep hosting free community-wide events and serve as a gathering place for those who can shop, dine and stay on site.
Bathrooms and the cozy seats in the center of the Great Hall will be reserved for patrons.
"There will always be seating and space for transit passengers as there has been in the past, as there was 100 years ago," Blair said. "Then there will be that central Great Hall space for patrons of all of the restaurants, all of the retail, the Crawford hotel guests themselves."
Denverites have been avoiding swaths of Downtown Denver, particularly the 16th Street Mall, through a slow construction process and in the wake of office spaces shuttering in the city center.
Happily, for the public, Union Station and the Crawford Hotel will remain open through construction, though some businesses will be temporarily closed for renovations on a rotating basis.
"We understand what Denver Union Station is to the community, and so we won't be making a mess for them," Blair said.
Once construction begins on the Great Hall, temporary walls will be set up.
"The thousands, sometimes tens-of-thousands, of people that are used to just walking through -- that will not be disrupted," Blair added. "And we'll protect them from the potential dust flying around the building."
