Months of construction at the Denver Pavilions finally wrapped up on November 10th at their Grand Re-Introduction Event held in Welton Plaza in front of the new stairway and escalator.  Having followed the renovation closely it was gratifying to see all of the work that has been completed.   To celebrate there was an escalator fashion show as well as remarks from the Mayor, the owner and other Downtown leaders. 

It was amazing to see what a difference was made from just a week prior when I had thought in the back of my mind that they might miss the deadline.  The event drew a large crowd and I am optimistic that the next chapter in the history of the Pavilions is off to a great start.  To cap off of the ceremony a portrait by Malcom Farley of Mayor John Hickenlooper was presented.  I will be posting a final construction update with photos shortly.

On the evening of Veteran’s Day I attended “A Night in Old Union Station”.  This was a gala to benefit the revival of the former welcome (Mizpah) arch which was originally built in 1906.  Located at 17th & Wynkoop, the arch was removed in 1931 when it was deemed a traffic hazard.  We entered the cavernous waiting room and it surprisingly brought back fond memories of taking the train back to Chicago to visit family in Wisconsin for Christmas ages ago when I was a kid .  Buffet stations and bars were set up in various locations and it was fun mingling about to see the who’s who of guests in attendance.  My favorite part of the evening was when we took the tunnel under the station out to the train tracks where two of the luxury club cars from the former Ski Train cars were open to tour.  Having never been on the Ski Train it was so fun to experience the different rooms, wood paneling and elegant furnishings which made you feel like you were stepping back in time.  It felt like I was in that scene from White Christmas where Danny, Bing, Vera and Rosemary sing “Snow!”.  We ended the evening on the second floor balcony overlooking the main waiting room which was gave us a great vantage point to watch the film that was commissioned for the event.  Denver is very lucky to still have a station like this and I will remember this night for many years to come.

Recently I attended the grand opening of the Cornerstone Residences located at the corner of Park Avenue West and Curtis.  I first posted about this project when I attended their groundbreaking last June.  I was amazed at what a transformation had been made and how similar the final project was to the rendering I had seen over a year ago.  When you look at what was there before there is no question as to how good this is for this part of Downtown.  The first part of the ceremony took place in the new community room and culminated with the ribbon cutting at the front entrance to the building.  I really hope this continues to spur further development for this part of Downtown.