Fillmore Plaza - Hybrid Design
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BACKGROUND
The CCNBID has been exploring possible design concepts to Fillmore Plaza, including a hybrid plan that would allow for both events and limited two-way vehicular access. On April 14, the BID Board voted unanimously to select the hybrid design as the preferred option.
“Fillmore Phil”
Do you remember the movie Groundhog Day starring Bill Murray? City of Denver District 10 Councilwoman Jeanne Robb does, and she used it as a reference in a recent Life on Capitol Hill editorial. In the movie, weatherman Phil Connor gets stuck in Punxsutawney in a snowstorm and begins living the same bad day over and over. Every day is Groundhog Day until the cycle is finally broken.
Councilwoman Robb compared the 2006 discussions regarding the Fillmore Plaza designs to a situation like the movie. Robb said, “Since it’s 2010 and we’re re-debating the Fillmore Plaza issue we debated in 2006, I’m thinking of the movie Groundhog Day.”
For the past 20 years, Fillmore Plaza has struggled – struggled to be a vital place for commerce and pedestrian activity. Just like in the movie with Phil, we have the opportunity to “take advantage of the situation to improve [the conversation].” We don’t have to keep reliving a bad Groundhog Day; is it time to “look at Fillmore Plaza differently?”
That’s why the BID Board is using a collaborative approach to make, as Robb says, a “real hybrid” that works for the BID and the community as a whole.
Towards that end, the BID is reaching out to its constituents to create the best possible Fillmore Plaza. The BID is keenly interested in what merchants, property owners, and other businesses in CCN think about the Plaza and will continue active outreach in a variety of ways. The BID wants to make sure that constituents have complete and accurate information upon which to base their opinions rather than misconceptions. This is important because it is BID tax dollars, not City tax dollars, that are paying for the improvements and ongoing maintenance of the Plaza.
In addition to its own constituents, the District is reaching out to community stakeholders. The BID has been in discussions and made presentations to community stakeholders and resources including neighborhood organizations, the Cherry Creek Arts Festival, Transportation Solutions, the Cherry Creek Chamber, the Cherry Creek Design Advisory Board, the Cherry Creek Steering Committee, as well as City officials.
The BID’s goal is to move forward with a collaborative approach that serves the interests of the entire community, including businesses, the City, and residents. That way “Fillmore Phil” can be freed from the “bad old days” and Fillmore Plaza can have the “new day” it richly deserves.
To review more information regarding the Fillmore Plaza Hybrid Design (what is a Hybrid? What are the Benefits? What will it look like? etc), please click here.
To review Councilwoman Robb’s presentation about Fillmore Plaza, click here. To review the City’s presentation on Urban Public Spaces, click here.
“The New North”
The BID’s upgrade to Fillmore Plaza is just a small part of a much larger neighborhood-wide Streetscape Renovation project. Three key components of the BID’s Streetscape Project are:
1. District-wide infrastructure and aesthetic upgrades (lighting, landscaping, signage, etc)
2. Redesign and construction of Fillmore Plaza
3. The installation (by the City) of Smart Meters throughout the District (replacing kiosks)
The three projects together are necessary for the District to be even more competitive in a rapidly evolving and challenging retail environment. For more information about The New North streetscape project, please click here.
