Henry Dubroff and John Huggins use the planning process related to the Denver Central Library as an example of the type of commitment needed to keep Denver’s major civic projects moving ahead, while responding to neighbors’ concerns. It is a thoughtful analysis, but the Library’s public process was greater than just architectural design, which they emphasize in the
Denver Post column (
Dubroff and Huggins: Drawing on experience, 5-17-15).
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| Wellington Webb |
The public process that accompanied the Denver Central Library project started with site selection, arrangement of the building to protect the historical front (north side), and finally the size and cost of the final design. Meetings with Capitol Hill, Golden Triangle, historical preservation, and city finance and elected officials were extensive and stretched over more than a year.
The project had a host of significant advocates. Along with the administration, City Council leaders, such as Cathy Reynolds and city auditor and future mayor, Wellington Webb, were ceaseless in pushing the project forward.
Our firm represented the Denver Central Library as it prepared for the $92 million bond campaign, which was held in the August 1990 Denver party primary election. The baseball stadium also decided to go in August on the six-county ballot (pre-Broomfield).
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| Federico Pena |
The Library was a user of Mayor Federico Peña’s new neighborhood and major project process that was inaugurated after his election in 1983. Previously, neighborhoods angry over city hall decisions felt their complaints were ignored. The new process gave them considerable sway over a host of planned major infrastructure investments. Aware that getting voter approval of major projects required a public buy-in, the Peña administration threw itself into tiring, and in some cases tiresome, public consulting processes that mostly produced success. The Library’s $92 million bond passed by 75 percent in the 1990 election.
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