On Saturday, Denverites will gather to celebrate the long-awaited completion of 16th Street construction after more than three years.
This is the second reopening party for the street this year — a few blocks were still closed when they celebrated in May. Now, the city is finally opening up the whole thing, including new art, 1 million pavers and new infrastructure beneath the street.
The city has also ditched the “16th Street Mall” name and the pianos that people used to play on the strip.
Mayor Mike Johnston and former mayors Michael Hancock and Federico Peña will be there for the festivities. Soccer teams will offer activities for kids. Big Denver bands like the Flobots and Los Mocochetes will grace the grounds with music. Vendors will offer $16 specials.
The free 16th Street shuttle bus also will return on Sunday, after Saturday’s fun.
But there’s a long way to go.
The street may be reopening, but many storefronts remain shuttered. The strip has a 25 percent retail vacancy rate (10 percentage points higher than downtown overall), said Britt Diehl, a spokesperson for the Downtown Denver Partnership. Many stores closed as construction choked business.
The group is looking for hope, though. It says foot traffic is up 15 percent from last year
The city also has expanded policing and security, and the Partnership has subsidized kiosks for small businesses. A local government district also plans to buy the Denver Pavilions mall on 16th Street. The Downtown Development Authority also is funding an expansion of Milk Tea People on the mall.
Once the weekend’s celebration is wrapped, downtown boosters say they will work hard to fill up retail spaces and turn around the area’s reputation.
Johnston is counting on 16th Street’s success to drive up sales taxes and ultimately rescue the city from its economic doldrums.
The schedule:
The festivities kick off at 11 a.m. Saturday at 16th and Cleveland streets and run through the day, up and down the street.
The mayor will cut the ribbon around noon. Dignitaries will have a chance to walk through a big golden doorway the Partnership has been dragging out for 16th Street festivities. (If the partnership gets its way, the door will wind up in the Museum of Denver — if that proposed museum ever opens.)
The Colorado Rapids and the Denver Summit — the city’s men’s and women’s soccer teams — will both have offerings for kids at Skyline Park.
REI and the Urban Egg will host scavenger hunts.
Dancers, DJs, buskers, costume makers, bands, and vendors with $16 deals will be doing their things all day long, while DJ CYN, Flobots, Los Mocochetes, DOGTAGS and Graham Good and the Painters will be headlining the main stage throughout the day.
For a full list of deals, bands, and other happenings, visit the Downtown Denver Partnership website.
