Denver mayor wants to hear from GES dwellers on National Western Center Triangle plans

The new home of the Denver Stock Show is 185,000 square feet.Photo byCity and County of Denver

Michael Bouchard of Denver Mayor Mike Johnston’s National Western Center office gave the City Council an update Tuesday on the campus.

He emphasized that the mayor’s office has invested in an intense stakeholder’s process to try and collect the voices of the Globeville-Elyria-Swansea neighborhood. He said they will continue to seek out these voices as part of a committee that will be formed.

Council member Serena Gonzalez Guttierez said she hopes that more than two people from the community will be on the board. She was referring to the National Western Center Authority. The new body will be a working group, Bouchard said during the Mayor-Council meeting.

Gonzalez Guttierez called the authority board “very unbalanced” adding the “rest of the board are people who have shared interests in what they want (the National Western Center) to become and look like.” Bouchard said the engagement will be a city-led process and added, “I definitely understand and hear you.”

Council member Amanda Sawyer thanked Bouchard for bringing voices from the GES community to the table. “There have been so many hands in the pot in this place,” Sawyer said. She said the city must “ensure each stakeholder is able to come together to share a voice of diverse needs and goals.”

How much flexibility will working group have?

Council member Sarah Parady wondered how much flexibility the working group will have with project ideas. She pointed out that a visioning process already happened under the former mayor and council. She said she wants to make sure residents have a voice on what development happens in the adjacent “triangle” property. “We just want to make sure we are extra inclusive,” Johnston said.

Bouchard said 22 people have applied to be on the working group so far, including five people who never before have been part of the National Western Center visioning process. He said he was excited to see new voices expressing interest.

New stock show home constructed

So far, a new home for the stock show and an equestrian center have been built on the National Western Center property. Development of the Triangle will be next.

The 185,000-square-foot stock show building is the largest city construction project since the Colorado Convention Center, Bouchard said. He said it will be used during the off season for everyone from graduations to concerts. He noted the ceiling is high enough for volleyball and basketball to be played in the venue. He envisions it being a hot spot for pickleball tournaments.

In July, the National Western Center unveiled its plans to transform the historic Exchange building.

“Reviving this historic building honors the cattle industry, the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association, the National Western Stock Show, and Colorado’s rich western heritage,” said Robert Farnam, president at Colorado Cattlemen’s Association, in a news release.

Exchange once held newspaper, saloon

At one time, the Exchange held offices, a bank, a saloon, a newspaper, a radio station and a barbershop, according to the news release. “By the early twentieth century, cattle and other livestock trading represented the largest industry in Colorado, with daily receipts sometimes totaling over a million dollars,” the news release states. “The Exchange is also closely associated with the history of the National Western Stock Show, an annual event held each January since 1906 by the Western Stock Show Association. Maintaining this legacy, The Exchange will act as a dynamic hub for the next evolution of traditional Rocky Mountain industries, including agriculture, food, water, and energy, alongside Western-heritage restaurants and artisan retailers.”