By Marianne Goodland | Denver Gazette
One of the major steps in approving a pedestrian walkway linking the state Capitol to Lincoln Park won an 8-4 vote on Thursday from a building advisory committee.
The vote by the General Assembly’s Capitol Building Advisory Committee followed testimony from neighborhoods groups and local residents opposed to the project, as well as from supporters, including a group advocating for people with disabilities.
One of those four “no” votes came from Sen. Matt Ball, D-Denver, whose Senate district includes the state Capitol.
The pedestrian walkway bridge, which Gov. Jared Polis is pushing, could come at a cost of $28.5 million, according to an analysis by 9News. That’s as much as 60% higher than the original forecast. Under the plan, the bridge would be completed in time for Colorado’s 150th anniversary on Aug. 1, 2026.
The project’s initial funding came from discretionary American Rescue Plan Act dollars in the governor’s office
In its review of the project, History Colorado noted the walkway is not really intended as a pedestrian thoroughfare; instead, it is “primarily envisioned as a monument, not a pedestrian bridge.”
“We feel that this distinction is important. As a monument, the walkway adds to the long tradition of using Civic Center to celebrate Colorado and American history through the creation, erection, and display of artwork, statuary, memorials, and monuments,” History Colorado said.
The building committee heard from the project’s designers on Thursday. Studio Gang’s Juliana Wolf told the committee that telling the story of Colorado is one aspect of the bridge.
“We are doing that by integrating through art many different stories of the state and thereby making the project a monument in its own right as part of this family of monuments that are in the park and vicinity and have been added over time,” Wolf said.
The bridge has attracted criticism from several groups in the past month, including History Denver, the Capitol Hill United Neighborhood and local residents. It has drawn support from the Colorado Cross-Disability Coalition.
Julie Johnson, until recently the chair of the Denver Landmark Commission, said that, while she thinks the design is beautiful, it isn’t appropriate. It will affect what people can see and could over time lead to rendering the Civic Center area “unrecognizable,” she said.
The $28.5 million construction cost doesn’t appear to cover maintenance. Who will pay for that? asked Christopher Mansour of Capitol Hill United Neighborhood.
The group raised worries over the project’s design and lack of compatibility. The Denver Civic Center historic district embodies a balanced and formal layout, Mansour told the committee, but “a winding elevated walkway would disrupt this design and permanently alter the character of the space rather than enhance or protect it.”
The group also raised safety concerns, including dangers to pedestrians, motorists or anyone who might use the bridge as a shelter. Putting a bridge at Colfax and Broadway is not a practice or efficient route and one that won’t be used in inclement weather, Mansour said.
Brad Cameron, president of Neighbors for Greater Capitol Hill, said after a recent presentation from the governor’s office and the design team that his group voted, 30-2, to oppose the walkway. The bridge will add unnecessary and disruptive visual clutter to the beautiful and historic green park space of the Capitol, the Lincoln Veterans Park, and the entire of Civic Center, Cameron said
It will also detract from the main purpose of Veterans Park, and it’s expensive at a time when the state and its citizens face much more important issues, he said, adding there’s been little meaningful public outreach and is rushed.