Center might not fit in neighborhood, critics say
The Boulder Convention Center is taking criticism before even being approved or built.
The idea of a convention center — one with space for six to eight hundred people and a 20,000 square foot ballroom (the Glenn Miller Ballroom has 9,418 square feet) — has been in the works for several years now. Boulder City Council finally chose the area southeast of Canyon Boulevard and 13th street in early 2006.
The trouble is that this will put the center adjacent to several other downtown Boulder attractions: the Dushanbe teahouse (a gift from Boulder’s sister city in Tajikistan), the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art and the Farmer’s market on 13th street.
Some people are worried about the negative effects to these places.
This issue is contentious among Boulderites and will inevitably come up during the upcoming city council elections.
Five of the seven Boulder City Council seats are up for grabs on Nov. 6. Also at stake is ballot item 2A. This issue will allow the city to lease property for 40 years instead of the current maximum time of 20, and might make it easier for the city to build a Convention Center without taking the issue to the citizenry for a vote.
Molly Winter, director of the downtown and University Hill management division and parking services, said that the center would require several parking lots and government buildings to be demolished. The teahouse and BMOCA would remain intact, but would be surrounded on three sides by the center.
“You want to be in the center of things,” Winter said of the downtown location.
She pointed out the close proximity to hotels, eating and shopping for convention goers, who “spend more money than just the usual citizen.”
Reid Holcomb, a manager for the Dushanbe Teahouse, said that if such a center were built, “aesthetically it might not be (the same) atmosphere as we have right now,” but then added that it would be “great for business.”
Penny Barnow, co-executive director and senior administrator for BMOCA, had similarly mixed feelings.
“It’s a good use of the space that’s presently used by parking lot,” Barnow said.
Barnow also hoped that more people would visit the museum but feared that it “could create a congested feeling.”
“The city’s goal is to keep all of the uses (teahouse, BMOCA, farmers’ market), and even make them better,” Winter said.
Several businesses on the same city block declined to comment. However, teahouse customers were generally disapproving.
“It always makes me sad when little places where there isn’t much go away and become these gigantic areas,” said Robin Chestnut, a graduate student in mathematics.
Contact Campus Press Staff Writer Sam Dieter at sam.dieter@thecampuspress.com.
