Rendering of Tivoli Commons courtesy Pinkard Construction Company

Construction manager and general contractor Pinkard Construction Company is currently underway on the two-phased re-development of the Tivoli Commons and Quadrangle on the Auraria Campus. The project consists of the build-out of a tiered patio adjacent to the Tivoli, a multipurpose natural grass quadrangle, site, infrastructure, and stormwater modifications.

The Auraria campus is home to three institutions– Metro State University, Community College of Denver, and the University of Colorado Denver. 

Phase one includes the development of the tiered patio, demolition of the softball infrastructure, and fencing, and modification of the softball field and irrigation to create an irrigated natural turf quad with permeable and unit paver installation, a beer garden, stair and ramp access from existing building, site and activity lighting, new storm sewer lines, a new detention pond with decks and landscaping, new transformer for event electrical requirements, utility and stormwater infrastructure.

Phase two includes roadway and streetscape build out of Larimer, 11th and Walnut Street, sidewalks, paver systems, 75 new bollards, utility and storm water infrastructure, site and activity lighting and site finishes and amenities.

Photo of Auraria softball field before work began. DUR 2015

Phase one construction cost is $3.3 million; phase two is $3.2 million. Pinkard provided preconstruction services to assist the owner with budget and scope development during design. Wenk Associates of Denver, a landscape architecture firm is the primary designer for the project.

Wenk Associates also designed the upgrades to Confluence Park that are currently taking shape in front of the REI store.

Pinkard Construction has been headquartered in Colorado for 53 years. This is Pinkard’s first project on the Auraria Campus in over a quarter century. Pinkard built a parking structure on the campus in 1990.

This is not the only construction activity taking place at Auraria Campus. Last week ground was broken on Metro State University’s future Areospace and Engineering Sciences building. This $60 million building will be home to programs in aerospace sciences; civil, electrical and mechanical engineering technology; computer information systems and computer science; and industrial design.

The Tivoli Building, which is featured in the rendering was originally built as a brewery. In recent years the building has served as a food court and a hub for Auraria Campus student services. This summer, a portion of the building is now once again utilized for brewing beer under the name Tivoli Brewing Co.

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Chihuly glass at the Denver Botanic Gardens 2014. Photo Credit: Urban Safari Photography.

The Denver Botanic Gardens has announced that it was the most visited public garden in North America in 2014 with 1,411,116 visitors. This was due in part to the popular display of Chihuly glass.

“One of the best outcomes from 2014 was the vast increase of visitors from all 50 states and dozens of countries around the world,” said Botanic Gardens CEO Brian Vogt. “The most important statistic is the fact that we have 2,700 volunteers who, arm in arm with the staff and Board, are utterly fearless, passionate and dedicated.”

Next year the Botanic Gardens will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of the iconic Tropical Conservatory. The charter for the gardens was established in 1951 by the non-profit Botanical Gardens Foundation of Denver. Landscape architect Saco R. DeBoer was hired to design the grounds. The first plants were placed at the York Street location in 1959 and the Tropical Conservatory was dedicated in 1966 featuring tropical and subtropical plants.

Chihuly Glass at the Denver Botanic Gardens in 2014.
Photo credit: Urban Safari Photography

In addition to the attendance record, the Gardens is honored to be included in the North American Garden Tourism Conference’s ‘Top 10 North American Gardens Worth Traveling For’ 2015 Awards. The Garden Tourism Awards are presented to gardens that have distinguished themselves in the development and promotion of the garden experience as a tourism attraction. Now presented annually, the inaugural Garden Tourism Awards were bestowed at the 2011 North American Garden Tourism Conference in Toronto, Canada.

Photographs courtesy Urban Safari Photography.

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“The design of the newest neighborhoods at Stapleton has been a very thoughtful effort to intersect urban living with the beauty of the high plains,” says Heidi Majerik, Director of Development at Forest City Stapleton, Inc. “There is respite in the peace and serenity that is inherent to the prairie while the urban form and park design provides interconnectedness not only with the environment but also with one another.”

Rendering of the Stapleton parks with native prairie landscaping incorporated into the project. Image courtesy Civitas

Stapleton is a master planned community that sits on the site of the former Stapleton International Airport which served as Denver’s primary airport operating from 1929-1995. Aviation operations ceased at Stapleton in 1995 when Denver International Airport opened allowing for a massive development opportunity at the former airport site.

With the open space-directed plan for Stapleton’s newest neighborhoods, north of I-70, featuring Conservatory Green and Willow Park East, Civitas has reversed the landscape typologies it established in Stapleton’s earlier neighborhoods. “Instead of living adjacent to the prairie, Stapleton’s newest residents will be living in the prairie,” explains Civitas design principal Craig Vickers. “The landscape will reflect the natural and organic qualities of the prairie and the cultural influences that made it habitable.”

Civitas studied the natural ecology of this location to determine what it would have been like before jet aircraft were landing and taking off from runways that were constructed at this location. The designers of this project state that there will be both ecological and human benefits captured from the design of these public spaces.

Rendering of Stapleton’s network of parks on the north side of I-70. Image courtesy Civitas

The parks and native prairie included in the development include:

• Uplands Park, an area that will include sculpted earthworks and a traditional lawn
• Prairie Meadows Park, which will stand as the nexus of the park system and will emulate the indigenous landscape with wind-swept dunes and high and low bridges for access to the landscape across drainage ways
• Cottonwood Gallery will allow runners and walkers the opportunity to recreate on trails that meander along creek sides and native vegetation
• Sandhills Prairie will incorporate tall-grass prairie and will segue into athletic fields

Rendering of Prairie Meadows Park designed by Civitias in Denver’s Stapleton neighborhood. Image courtesy Civitas

“Our objective, as Stapleton neighborhoods expand to the north, is to regenerate this ecosystem for both environmental and human benefit,” said Civitas president Mark Johnson. “People love the parks, but they love the scale and natural form of the open space even more”

More than 250 acres of park, recreational, and open space land comprise this project.

Landscape architects Ann Mullins and Mark Johnson founded Civitas in 1983. Civitas has also designed Denver’s Commons Park and is designing a rooftop park at the San Diego Convention Center.

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