DENVER — Union Station is celebrating the fifth year anniversary of its grand re-opening. The Denver landmark re-opened in July 2014 after a major $54 million renovation.
“Back in 1999 when we purchased the land, Denver Union Station itself was – I guess I would say – a shell of its former self,” said East West Partners Managing Partner Amy Cara. “The station building itself had fallen into disrepair. All of this land between the station and the river was vacant.”
East West Partners collaborated with Continuum Partners to revitalize the train station that was originally opened in 1881. The original building burned down in 1894 due to an electrical fire and it was re-built to its current structure in 1914. Over the years, the station hosted famous dignitaries like Presidents Taft, Roosevelt and Eisenhower, but things started to change a century later.
“Denver was such a small town in the 1870’s that our rail yards were only three or four blocks from the center of town,” said Continuum Partners founder Mark Falcone. “A lot of these large freight yards began to get decommissioned in cities in the 80’s and 90’s and when they did, many cities saw it as exciting redevelopment opportunities.”
The Denver Union Station Master Plan was the blueprint for redeveloping and preserving Denver's historic Union Station and the 19.85 acres of surrounding land.
“Whether people are traveling and using the transit, or they just are trying to come to a place that has some vibrancy and excitement, people are moving through it,” Cara said. “And people will pass through the station – the station building itself – even when they’re not traveling – when they’re just going from A to B – because it’s a nice experience.”
The grand re-opening was a chance for Colorado to connect with the rest of the world… through nine modes of transportation.
“Even people who are not using that train platform to commute actually enjoy walking through it and passing through it because it’s just a nice public space,” Cara said.
The station got a well-deserved celebration from a neighborhood it’s been serving for over 100 years.
“We wanted to celebrate with the community,” said Union Station’s Director of Community Relations and Marketing Sarah Hendricks. “And to be able to showcase how we‘ve come from almost being demolished to this beautiful place that is home and is Denver’s living room essentially.”
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