Denver Explores The Future Of The 16th Street Mall
The City and County of Denver and the Regional Transportation District, with support from CH2M, will kick off the downtown 16th Street Mall alternative analysis and environmental clearance effort to determine the future of the 1.2-mile corridor.
The idea to create a mall on 16th street in Denver began as early as 1959, but was not given serious consideration until 1971. Following years of planning and construction, the 16th Street Mall, designed by the internationally renowned architectural firm I.M. Pei & Partners of New York, opened on October 4, 1982 to a crowd of over 200,000 people. The main features of I.M. Pei’s design include poly-chromatic granite pavers, wide sidewalks, and a central tree lined corridor flanked by iconic lighting fixtures. Now, decades later, the 16th Street Mall has evolved into the veritable “heart and soul” of downtown Denver and a top visitor attraction in the metropolitan area. Its free shuttles serve an average of 55,000 commuters and tourists per day, creating significant wear and tear that jeopardize the original design and materials. However, in May 2008 a panel of experts from the Urban Land Institute declared the 16th Street Mall to be “public art of the highest international quality,” and strongly urged Denver to fix, not physically modify, the Mall.
16th Street before the construction of the 16th Street Mall. Image: Denver Public Library’s Western History and Genealogy Department / The Thorney Lieberman Photographs (C Photo Collection 445)
The 16th Street Mall, with its high quality design, transit capacity and unifying function, was the grand idea. After a decade of planning, and two years of design and construction, the 16th Street Mall opened on October 4, 1982 to great fanfare and a crowd of over 200,000. Designed by internationally acclaimed team of architects I.M. Pei, Henry Cobb and landscape architect Laurie Olin, the 16th Street Mall was masterfully created to connect the City’s two modernist gems at the time, Zeckendorf Plaza (completed by I.M. Pei in 1960) and Skyline Park (completed by renowned landscape architect, Lawrence Halprin in 1976). Today, of these three modernist designs, only the 16th Street Mall remains.
The Mall was designed as a cohesive whole. Its pattern, inspired by southwestern imagery — including the Navajo rug and a diamondback rattlesnake — was intended to dissipate as it stretched toward its edges in order to not distract from the building façades or retail displays within. The pattern, consisting of granite tiles in charcoal gray from Minnesota, light gray from Massachusetts, and Colorado red, helped to ground the surface and reduce material monotony, which can plague streetscape interventions of this size. The lighting was designed to complement the honey locusts and red oaks planted precisely within the field of the paving pattern. The trees provide a highly formalized nod to the natural surroundings both within and near the City, while the lighting provides a unified glow along the promenade that was intended to fade and brighten according to the daily rising and falling of the sun. Each design element on the Mall was special and inter-connected, making planning and problem-solving on the mall particularly complex.
16th Street before the construction of the 16th Street Mall. Image: Denver Public Library’s Western History and Genealogy Department / The Thorney Lieberman Photographs (C Photo Collection 445)
For this reason the Mall has sometimes been described as a “Swiss watch.” In 2008, an Urban Land Institute study commissioned by RTD, the Downtown Denver Partnership and the City of Denver proclaimed that “the Mall is a unified concept and public art of the highest international quality.” The panel explained that “the lighting, landscaping and paving all form part of a single unit” and that any changes “must be made cautiously and with full respect for the original design.” It even went on to state that “the panel recognizes the need to address challenges posed by deferred maintenance and failed construction technologies; nevertheless, upgrades and repairs should be made with full respect for the original design.”
16th Street before the construction of the 16th Street Mall. Image: Denver Public Library’s Western History and Genealogy Department / The Thorney Lieberman Photographs (C Photo Collection 445)
On February 5, 2009 the 16th Street Mall was named to Colorado Preservation, Inc.’s Endangered Places Program. Historic Denver nominated the mall last fall due to concerns about the future of the granite pavers, which have suffered significant deterioration. The Endangered Places program was launched in 1997 with the purpose of identifying historic sites throughout Colorado that are in danger of being lost. Modeled after the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s list of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places, Colorado’s Endangered Places program has been touted by the Trust as one of the best in the nation. Since its inception, the program has won the Stephen H. Hart award from the Colorado Historical Society and has been designated as an official Save America’s Treasures project. The program has generated interest, recognition and funding for over one-hundred-twenty sites around the state, and has provided intensive technical assistance to seventy-four sites that have made the program’s Most Endangered Places List.