Lots of construction is occurring on the campus, including new light rail lines along the outer edge of campus, and two new Metro State Buildings. The students, staff, and faculty excitedly await the reconstruction of the campus. “I can’t wait to see what the hotel looks like. The rates are probably super expensive, though,” said Molly Barbeau, 24, a Metro student, who is majoring in hospitality tourism and events.
It’s Metropolitan State College of Denver’s 45th anniversary. What better way to celebrate then by constructing two brand new buildings to add to the institution. Metro State is centrally located in downtown Denver off of Speer Blvd. and Auraria Parkway. Though the campus is the home to three separate schools, University of Colorado Denver, Community College of Denver, and Metro, until now, there have been no specific buildings owned by a certain school. The Student Success Building and Hotel Learning Center are the two learning institutions being built on the Auraria Campus downtown that are owned by Metro State. In April 2009, the Capital Development Committee (CDC) of the legislative committee approved unanimously the construction of both the Student Success Building and the Hotel Learning Center. Neither building will require any state funding.
Student Success- The Student Success Building is going to be located on eight and a half acres between 7th and 9th streets, parallel to Auraria Parking. It will be surrounded by the TAPS garage, the Tivoli Student Union and parking lot D. It is the first building to become part of the Metro State’s Neighborhood Master Plan. This is a segment of Auraria’s Master Plan, which encourages the construction of individual neighborhoods for each educational institution.
The Student Success Building is proposed to be 143,000 square feet and is expected to cost $62 million. The building is 100 percent funded by student approved fees. In April 2009, Metro State students voted 53 percent to 39 percent, with 8 percent abstaining, to assess a fee to fund the construction. The fee is based upon credit hours taken by each individual student. The fee is scheduled to gradually increase so that upperclassmen aren’t assessed unnecessary costs for the building.
The general contractor for the construction of the building is Saunder’s Construction. Saunder’s past projects include The Arvada Center, The Wildlife Experience, and Fiddler’s Green. RNL is the other main company that will be overseeing the building’s construction. RNL is an eight-division firm that was selected out of 20 applicants to carry out the construction of the Student Success Building. The design firm includes international architecture; planning, interior design, and landscaping architecture. RNL is also responsible for filling the vacancies left in the West and Central Classrooms, as well as the Administrative Building, when the new building is fully occupied. “I can’t fathom having a sufficient amount of classrooms. Professors not having to share offices would help out, as well,” said Jim Norton, a math professor for MSCD.
The building will increase space availability for classrooms and faculty office by 25 percent. Some of the programs that are housed in the new Metro building are the First Year Success program, the Center for Innovation, and a community action theater. The theater is designed to serve as a meeting facility that can connect Metro’s academic program to the community. The ground breaking occurred on December 3, 2010 and the proposed opening date is in 2012.
Student Experience- The Hotel Learning Center is the second project that Metro is working on. This building is being constructed west of the corner of Speer Boulevard and Auraria Parkway, formerly where the tennis courts were located. The building design was completed in 2010. RNL is also the architecture company for the Hotel Learning Center. MA Mortenson Construction & Development Company is the general contractor and Studio INSITE is responsible for landscaping.
The hotel is to be composed of 150 hotel rooms and conference facilities. 28,000 square feet of academic space will also be included, which will supply classrooms, specialty labs, as well as faculty offices for the over 500 declared hospitality, tourism, and events majors. The hotel will be a fully functioning hotel, partnered with SpringHill Suites by Marriot. This is the professional name the hotel will be operating under. The land will be leased from the Auraria Higher Education Center, as well, which makes this an innovative public/private partnership. The total estimated cost is $45 million. The funding for this building is though low-interest (4.34 percent) bonds, which were issued in November 2010, as well as private donations. Operational revenue will continue to support the hotel’s debts. No taxpayer dollars are being used in this funding.
The ground breaking occurred on March 31, 2011 and the opening date is scheduled for August 2011. This is the first educational hotel institution in the state of Colorado. Other campuses that house these types of hands on learning opportunities are Cornell University, University of Delaware – Newark, Michigan State, and Houston University. This new building will provide a hands-on opportunity for students who are interested in pursuing a degree in hospitality, tourism, and events.
“Having experience working in a hotel where I go to school would kill two birds with one stone. It’s going to be crazy convenient,” said Mike Gilbert, who wants to take his BA from Metro and manage his own hotel in Denver. Mike has two years until he receives his BA in hospitality, tourism, and events. He wants to manage his own hotel in the future, and the hands on experience provided by this building will give him an edge. This is an important aspect to many Metro students, seeing as there are 500 students sharing this major. That number has almost doubled since 2005, when the hospitality, tourism, and events major count was 258.
Student Convenience- The third major construction occurring on campus is the light rail re-routing. Regional Transportation District’s (RTD) West Cooridor Light Rail line is being routed through parking lots that previously existed on campus. The new line added to the West Corridor light rail service is scheduled to begin service in May 2013. This new light rail line will connect Denver to Golden. The train track s run along Highway 6.
The construction of the new lines started on December 20, 2010 and is expected to last through fall of 2011. RTD has planned to add a new station, as well as re-route the southeast and southwest Light Rail Line tracks. Many changes and detours have occurred due to the RTD Light Rail construction. Curtis and 5th street have had frequent closures, leaving students detouring to get around that corner of campus. Parking lot F was permanently closed is October 2010, while the lot across the street, B, was reduced in size and a new entrance was constructed on Old Colfax Avenue.
Driving along Speer Boulevard or getting off Interstate 25 on Auraria Parkway, you can’t miss the two new campus buildings that make Metro State a feature of downtown Denver. The campus is now even more accessible thanks to the new light rail construction that connects yet another city to the state’s capital. Lots of exciting changes are under way that is creating an ever lasting impression on the city right here on campus. The finishing touches are anxiously awaited and soon to be completed. “It’s going to be a whole new campus,” said Josh Englser, 27, Metro State student and avid light rail user.
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