Part 2 of Two Denver Museums and the Areas Around Them by DenverAztec

[denveraztec]

Part 2 of Two Denver Museums and the Areas Around Them by DenverAztec

If you missed part one, here is the link:

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=143312

Here are photos I shot of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Denver, sections of the Central Platt Valley, Lower Downtown (LoDo), Ballpark, Prospect and Riverfront Park areas during the months of September through early December. This thread is a mix of pics from summer to fall as the seasons don’t really matter with respect to the structures and all the new development that is occurring in this part of Denver. This area will dramatically change within the next two years as this is a hot bed of construction activity on a low-rise and condo basis. It’s location to highways, light-rail, sports venues and downtown Denver is significantly the best at the moment. It is a mixture of Denver’s oldest areas and buildings combined with the newest.

We will start out with the Tivoli Brewery. Currently, it is named the Tivoli Student Union and houses the student union for the Auraria Campus combining Community College of Denver, Metropolitan State College and University of Colorado at Denver. Built in 1866 as the original Tivoli Brewery and large brewing equipment still remains. It was converted to student union in 1984. We start our tour here as it is one of the most visible landmarks on Auraria Parkway along with the Pepsi Center and Six Flags Amusement Park.









The Observation Tower at Six Flags Amusement Park



The Pepsi Center – home to the Denver Avalanche, the Denver Nuggets and used as a large concert venue along with Red Rocks ampitheater . It will also be the main site for the 2008 Democratic National Convention in August! Denver beat out NYC for this convention, about time as they get all the big stuff. I have volunteered to work the event in hopes of shaking the hand of our next President.





For those who moved away from Denver, this used to be Thirsty’s Nightclub. Glad the building is still there.











Let’s cross over Speer Blvd.





The Central Platt Valley had many residences along the Platt River and the Cherry Creek River when Denver was first founded in the mid 1800s. However, the rivers consistently flooded their banks when the snow melted in the Colorado Rocky Mountains (spring run off) and many folks lost their homes and lives without warning. Brick structures became incredibly popular over wood as they were not washed away but mostly warehouses sprung up in this section of town as too many homes were lost. Eventually, Chatfield and the Cherry Creek reservoirs were created upstream to prevent flooding in Denver. Many of those old buildings and warehouses remained in this area and some are used as such but also since the early 80s most have been altered into residential lofts.





Wazee Super Club – Long time great place for burgers and beer.







Crane for Sugar3





Heading down 15th Street





Crane for the Alliance Center Phase 2









The Museum of Contemporary Art opened in October 28, 2007 at 16th and Delgany Street. From their web site, “Our New Home - The New MCA, designed by David Adjaye, one of the leading architects in the world today, is at once bold and refined, meeting all the criteria set forth when a permanent home for MCA was first envisioned…The design clearly articulates the Museum's exhibition and program requirements…The construction cost for the new building is $16.3 million…MCA is actively pursuing LEED certification, which would make MCA the first contemporary art museum in the country to achieve such status.



This little guy was fascinated by the sensory activated sliding wall/door as he watched it move from the museum store.









To the contemplation room and roof top café.





Waterside Lofts. The parking lot below will be developed into the Komorebi, 7 stories with 43 residential units and retail at street level. Construction is expected to begin within the next few months.



The turquoise four story structure is the Steel Bridge Lofts Annex. This view is going to change dramatically within the next two years as three building will enter the picture and each will be in the 50 floor range, Four Seasons, 1401 Lawrence and the Spire.



Looking back up 15th Street





Looking below you will see construction on 1900 16th Street. From www.denverinfill.com , “The 1900 16th Street project consists of a 1200-space parking garage facing 15th Street and two office towers that will front 16th Street. One will be a 335,000 SF, 17-story tower planned for the corner of 16th and Delgany. The second will be a 13-story 250,000 SF tower planned as a future phase at 16th and the railroad tracks at the base of the Millennium Bridge. Construction began November 2007.” The Glass House can be seen on the other side of the Millennium Bridge spire. Dozens of projects will infill this once vacant area, much of which was one time owned by Arnold Schwarzenegger (boy did he make a profit or what).



Monarch Mills



Rooftop café



Look up!





No Hoochies were harmed in the making of this exhibit, only their hooves were removed!













My favorite exhibit was these thirty televisions, each running independently, made up of Jamaicans singing Bob Marley songs in unison. It sounded like a Marley choir with their voices resonating throughout the entire museum.













Three incredibly different sides to the Gates building across the street from the museum. It was designed to follow the flow of the space allowed by the surrounding streets.

Side One



Side Two



Side Three



Art House Townhomes behind the MCA.











Along the Riverfront of the Cherry Creek River











The Delgany

















Summer



Winter









View of 16th Street Mall from the Daniel and Fisher’s clock tower looking toward LoDo.



16th Street







EPA Region 8 Headquarters, it better be a Green building! Zimmer/Gunsul/Frasca Architects and was just recently completed.



17th Street







New building trying to fit in with the historical gems.



Barth Hotel









Front side of Union Station, circa 1880



Back side with the light-rail train and the ski-train in the distance.



Denver Millennium Footbridge - tapered 200ft (61m) tubular steel mast of the Denver Millennium Bridge. A central marker and icon in a new residential and commercial development, the bridge is intended as a pedestrian crossing over rail tracks from Commons Park and over the Regional Transportation District light rail-system. It carries the extension to Denver’s renowned 16th Street Mall. Completed to a tight timescale, the bridge won a Gold Award at the New York Association of Consulting Engineers ‘Engineering Excellence Awards 2003.’







The Denver City Cable Rail Way building will remain but there will eventually be a 17 story tower attached to it becoming the Cable Railway Hotel. The building was built in 1889 to operate Denver’s cable car system.











The old Rock Island went through rehab this fall and is now cleaned up. This was the site for the Punk scene of the 80s and the entrance was actually under a viaduct connecting to the highway. That viaduct with a few others were raised when the lofts developments began.



Neighbors, one has a loft and the other does not.













Tattered Cover bookstore



Heading out toward Coors Field





















My favorite place for breakfast – Snooze Restaurant











Flour Mill Lofts, the right half is the original mill but the left half is a new addition meant to match the old. Excellent units inside with spectacular views of downtown and the Rocky Mountains.















Inside the INCA Lofts





The nice thing about Coors Field where the Colorado Rockies play is that the structure itself does not dominate the neighborhood. You can see it looking down these streets but it is not offensive or overbearing like so many ballparks/stadiums.





































Pedestrian bridge that opened last summer connecting the Highlands to Lodo



I will cover some local churches in my next thread.



In the meantime, a few more snow shots in my neighborhood.