Heart of Golden: Moving Forward

The Heart of Golden project aims to make the Clear Creek Corridor more useable and desirable for residents while providing needed space for Police and City services.

Clear Creek Corridor Needs & Vision

Residents told us they want the Clear Creek Corridor to have more open space and gathering places. They want a usable and special place for residents.

After talking with hundreds of community members over many years, it’s clear residents support making room for more open spaces, natural areas, and places to gather within the corridor through the relocation of Police and City facilities. The City Council, City staff, and the community agree that open spaces and community amenities would be a better use of the space where City facilities along the creek currently sit. Redevelopment should not include building homes or other private development.

City Facilities

We do not have adequate space to house Police and City services. Our current buildings are dispersed, dysfunctional, in need of repair, and ineffective in meeting residents' current and future service demands.

The Police Building, City Hall, City Hall Annex, and Public Works/Community Development buildings are inadequate, outdated, insecure, and inefficient. These buildings were simply not built for their current purpose.

Spreading services across multiple buildings creates redundancy and inefficiency. These buildings are not addressing current service demands, and won’t work for what Police and City residents will need/demand in the future. They do not meet sustainability goals and renovations would be costly and inadequate to meet long-term community goals.

Solution

Constructing a Police and municipal building on the former Coors property means we can relocate City services and transform the Clear Creek Corridor into more of an asset for residents.

In 2019, Molson Coors put 7.27 acres of land and an office building up for sale. This created a rare opportunity for the City to free up the Clear Creek Corridor for resident use by relocating Police and City services. An expert study found that fixing up the old office building to meet Police and City needs would cost almost as much as building a new place that would work better for the City. Plus, purchasing the property presented an opportunity for the City to control the future of this property rather than it being controlled by a developer.

So, the City Council decided to buy the land and tear down the building, ensuring we can design a building that fits what the residents want and the Police and City require. The current state of this property and portion of the corridor is unsightly and under-utilized. It’s ripe for improvement and revitalization.

Why This Option?

The police and municipal building can be built without raising taxes. It will improve service delivery for residents and meet sustainability goals.

• We can transform the Clear Creek Corridor into a point of pride for residents.
• We can build a Police and City building without raising taxes.
• We can improve customer service, efficiency, and sustainability.
• Short-term solutions can only partially address current needs.
• Renovation and maintenance of existing buildings and acquiring office space is almost as expensive as building new and will not achieve sustainability or service delivery goals.
• This is the most financially responsible, long-term solution.
• Construction costs for a Police and City building will only increase as time goes by.

Next Steps

The City recently hired experts to design and finalize cost estimates of the Police and City building.

We’ll reach out to the community again—using traditional and new methods—to help fine-tune the details of the Police and City building to ensure it meets residents’ needs. Follow this project to stay up-to-date.

Part of our outreach and engagement efforts will include talking more with the community to figure out what amenities should be included throughout the Clear Creek Corridor.

Final Takeaways

This project is a big and rare chance to make Golden even better.

It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to enhance our community, improve Police and City services, and ensure that the Heart of Golden reflects the values and wishes of our residents.

Why This Option?

After a thorough evaluation of options, relocating Police and City services to a new building on the old Coors property provides the best opportunity to accomplish the goals of the Heart of Golden initiative.

Decision Matrix

Comparing Four Options

The City of Golden considered four different options:

• Remodel existing buildings and lease additional space (Cost: $30,000,000)
• Complete renovation of the Coors building (Cost: $45,000,000)
• Renovate City building and build a Police building (Cost: $50,000,000)
• Build a Police and City building (Cost: $65,000,000)

When evaluated, only the final option of "Build a Police and City building" met all of the decision factors considered. Those factors are:

• Strategic investment: accomplish without raising taxes
• Improves customer service, efficiency, and sustainability
• Better security
• Transforms corridor
• Strategic investment: build/renovate now vs later
• Strategic investment: build vs renovate
• Addresses current and long-term needs
• Meets sustainability goals
• Revitalize Coors property

1960: City Hall Built

2006: Shops Building Built

2011: City Completes Clear Creek Corridor Plan

2012: Planning and Public Works Building Built

2015: City Leases Office Space at Visitor Center

2017: Purchase City Hall Annex

2018: Space Needs Study Completed

2019: Purchase of Coors Property & Heart of Golden Community Engagement Kick-off

2022: Heart of Golden Plan Adopted

2023: Updated Space Study: Preferred Building Option Identified

2024: Council Considers Contract for Design Team