{"id":2442094,"date":"2019-03-25T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-03-25T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/?p=302439"},"modified":"2019-03-25T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2019-03-25T06:00:00","slug":"group-mobilizing-to-change-design-of-aspens-new-city-office-building","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/group-mobilizing-to-change-design-of-aspens-new-city-office-building\/","title":{"rendered":"Group mobilizing to change design of Aspen\u2019s new city office building"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"swift-gallery\" readability=\"6.56038647343\">\n<ul id=\"imageGallery-302439-43\" class=\"gallery list-unstyled\">\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/03\/Cityoffices-atd-032519-1-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/03\/Cityoffices-atd-032519-1.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Anna Stonehouse\/The Aspen Times | Construction to demolish the old Aspen Chamber Resort Association building is nearly complete to make way for new city offices at Rio Grande Place.\" class=\"h-100\">\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\" readability=\"6.5\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/03\/Cityoffices-atd-032519-1.jpg\" alt=\"Construction to demolish the old Aspen Chamber Resort Association building is nearly complete to make way for new city offices at Rio Grande Place.\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"8\">\n<p><strong>Construction to demolish the old Aspen Chamber Resort Association building is nearly complete to make way for new city offices at Rio Grande Place.<\/strong><br \/>Anna Stonehouse\/The Aspen Times<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/03\/Cityoffices-atd-032519-1-1-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/03\/Cityoffices-atd-032519-1-1.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Courtesy rendering | A view of what the upper level of a new city office building on Galena Plaza will look like.\" class=\"h-100\">\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\" readability=\"6.5\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/03\/Cityoffices-atd-032519-1-1.jpg\" alt=\"A view of what the upper level of a new city office building on Galena Plaza will look like.\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"8\">\n<p><strong>A view of what the upper level of a new city office building on Galena Plaza will look like.<\/strong><br \/>Courtesy rendering<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/03\/Cityoffices-atd-032519-1-2-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/03\/Cityoffices-atd-032519-1-2.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Courtesy rendering | A view of the new city office building at Rio Grande Place and Galena Plaza.\" class=\"h-100\">\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\" readability=\"6\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/03\/Cityoffices-atd-032519-1-2.jpg\" alt=\"A view of the new city office building at Rio Grande Place and Galena Plaza.\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"7\">\n<p><strong>A view of the new city office building at Rio Grande Place and Galena Plaza.<\/strong><br \/>Courtesy rendering<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/03\/Cityoffices-atd-032519-1-3-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/03\/Cityoffices-atd-032519-1-3.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"|\" class=\"h-100\">\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/03\/Cityoffices-atd-032519-1-3.jpg\" alt>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"caption-toggle\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/local\/group-mobilizing-to-change-design-of-aspens-new-city-office-building\/#\" class=\"show-captions\">Show Captions<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/local\/group-mobilizing-to-change-design-of-aspens-new-city-office-building\/#\" class=\"hide-captions\">Hide Captions<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">A group has emerged that wants the city of Aspen to open up a public process to redesign the municipal office building that is going up between Rio Grande Place and Galena Plaza.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cThe whole thing feels like a wall,\u201d said Bill Stirling, a former Aspen mayor, who along with local architect <a id=\"N0x19669a0N0x1ba2fd0:N0x19669a0N0x19daa60\" href=\"https:\/\/www.teaguearch.com\/\">Harry Teague<\/a> and concerned citizen Peter Grenney, plans to address Aspen City Council tonight. \u201cWe think it is lacking in some ways and we want to see if they like our ideas.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">They said they will request the city pause the project for a couple of weeks and ask for a public design process so the building better connects the Rio Grande Park area and the downtown core.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cWe are not criticizing the design but want to improve it through a public process,\u201d Teague said last week. \u201cWe want to take the hard work that is gone into it and work off it. \u2026 The current design physically creates a confrontational barrier and we want a building that is a catalyst.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Stirling said the building should serve as a connector and the interface from the urban core to a popular public area, which includes the park, the John Denver Sanctuary, Theatre Aspen and the Roaring Fork River.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">He added that the new City Hall should be an iconic building.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cIt\u2019s the most important building in that area for the next 100 years,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Those behind the redesign effort feel that there hasn\u2019t been an emphasis on architectural design in the approval of the building, or the lead-up to the recent election approving the site location.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Jeff Pendarvis, the city\u2019s capital asset director, noted that there were several meetings prior to the land-use approval in spring of 2017 with the Planning and Zoning Commission and City Council. Less than a half dozen people commented, according to city records.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">In 2015, council requested additional architectural views and 3D models. A public open house to present schematic designs of the new City Hall was scheduled for February 2016, according to a memo from then asset manager Jack Wheeler to council.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Council at one point had city project managers change the design to \u201cmake sure the building was humble,\u201d Pendarvis said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">In February, council approved the construction drawings and didn\u2019t ask staff to change course.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Pendarvis said not much could change with the building, based on the land-use ordinance approved by council.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cThe elements we can change are very limited,\u201d he said. \u201cIf the size, mass and scale or the architectural palette of the building change, it may trigger a new land-use review.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cIf we make any substantial changes to this project, additional costs will be significant.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The 3,500-square-foot building has an estimated price tag of $30.5 million. The existing Rio Grande building next to the new offices will require $1.2 million for renovation, and another $13.9 million to renovate the current City Hall is part of the plan that <a id=\"N0x19669a0N0x1ba3030:N0x19669a0N0x19db2d0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/local\/city-of-aspen-is-full-steam-ahead-on-new-office-building-after-voters-give-green-light\/\">voters approved<\/a> this past November. The total package is estimated to be <a id=\"N0x19669a0N0x1ba3090:N0x19669a0N0x19db360\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/local\/aspen-considers-how-to-finance-new-city-office-building\/\">$45.7 million.<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Pendarvis noted that the city has had 100 interactions with the public on the project in the past five years.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Grenney said he brought his concerns to the attention of elected officials last summer and fall. He was met with responses that indicated a public process would continue to happen before final design is decided, he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cWill the new city offices architecture stand the test of time and will the community understand and appreciate its significance?\u201d he wrote to council. \u201cThis building is your legacy and I want it to be something that the community can be proud of for generations to come. I welcome an explanation of how the new city offices architecture is in harmony with other civic buildings and has substance that will make it historically significant in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Grenney said with the forced public vote last fall and the city\u2019s review leading up to the land-use ordinance, the process hasn\u2019t been linear and not focused on details like architectural design.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cThere are a few renderings and no model,\u201d he said. \u201cThere has never been information about design.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">He and others said this is not about not accepting the outcome of the November vote and the building\u2019s location.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cWe have the opportunity to make something great,\u201d Grenney said. \u201cWhat\u2019s the narrative of the building? The architecture was never part of the focus.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\"><a id=\"N0x19669a0N0x1ba30f0:N0x19669a0N0x19db7e0\" href=\"http:\/\/www.cunniffe.com\/\">Charles Cunniffe<\/a>, the architect on the project, didn\u2019t return a call seeking comment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">But city officials have said that specific criteria were set in the municipal government\u2019s request for proposals and Cunniffe met those parameters.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Pendarvis said he and other staff members in charge of the project would need direction from council to go astray from the current plan.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Stirling said he hopes council will listen to their concerns and take a brief pause on the project to consider architecture possibilities.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cLet\u2019s make City Hall a great building with great architecture,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Tagline\"><a href=\"mailto:csackariason@aspentimes.com\">csackariason@aspentimes.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/local\/group-mobilizing-to-change-design-of-aspens-new-city-office-building\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Construction to demolish the old Aspen Chamber Resort Association building is nearly complete to make way for new city offices at Rio Grande Place.Anna Stonehouse\/The Aspen Times A view of what the upper level of a new city office building on Galena Plaza will look like.Courtesy rendering A view of the new city office building [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2442094","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-15 18:12:53","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley&#039;s Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2442094","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2442094"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2442094\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2442094"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2442094"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2442094"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}