Heart of Golden

Update: April 4, 2024

During the City Council Study Session at 5 p.m. on April 9, 2024, Council will receive an update on the recommended funding plan for design and construction of the municipal and police building phase of the Civic Campus and overall Heart of Golden / Clear Creek Corridor improvements.

• Golden Civic Campus Additional Studies | Jan. 23, 2024
• 2024 Space Study | April 2024

City Council and staff continue to work diligently toward refinement and implementation of the recommendations of the Heart of Golden Planning Effort as approved by City Council in the summer of 2022. A brief update of activities since that time includes the following:

• In the fall of 2022, City Council authorized the release of a Request for Qualifications for an architectural consultant team, to complete a feasibility analysis of the recommendations to relocate certain municipal facilities to the eastern end of the corridor on the lands acquired from Molson Coors in 2019.
• This analysis and received preliminary information was shared with the community and City Council in August and September 2023. In their discussion on September 12, 2023, Council made a number of points and provided direction to staff as follows:
  • City Council supported the continued investigation of this Municipal Civic Campus opportunity to consolidate many municipal functions in the eastern section of the corridor, and to provide community desired amenities throughout the length of the corridor.
  • Staff should consider options to utilize existing surface parking near 10th and Archer Streets for an initial phase of new municipal facility construction, while preserving the opportunity to convert to structured parking in future phases to address initial phase cost concerns.
  • Staff should evaluate options to repurpose the existing City Hall facility combined with a reduced size new facility to be constructed east of Archer Street.
  • Regardless of which alternative proves most appropriate, Council emphasized the need to address suitable facilities for public safety staff and functions.
• Based on Council’s direction to continue to pursue new municipal facilities, staff recommended several activities for the balance of 2023 to enhance the level of detail and scope of information available to Council on this matter. The consultant team continued with cost estimate validation and the investigation of five separate design alternatives as suggested by Council. The results of these efforts were presented to City Council on February 13, 2024. The alternatives included three where a new building to house general municipal office and police functions would be constructed on the site of the prior 311 10th Street office building, and two where a smaller building would be constructed, and city hall would be renovated. The Library could be included in the new construction in four of the five options, if the City and Library board so determine.
• In the February 13, 2024, discussion, City Council reviewed the design alternatives for both the initial phases (many of which continue to utilize existing surface parking on the north side of 10th Street) and the longer-term phases. Council provided the following direction:
  • Council prefers the options where municipal general office and police functions are consolidated into a new structure on the prior 311 10th Street site, rather than the options to repurpose the city hall building for some of these uses.
  • Council supports the option that includes the 58,000 square foot municipal and police building with the potential to include the library at an additional 19,000 square feet, but in a configuration that preserves sufficient space on the site for the future structured parking.
  • Council felt that this option would increase the efficiency of the municipal and police uses and maximize future opportunities on the parcels north of 10th Street.
  • In addition to starting the process to assemble the project team, Council wanted to review the financing and funding proposal, which will occur on April 9, 2024.
• It is important to review the overall purpose of the project and how it supports several community priorities. One of the strongest areas of consensus in the Heart of Golden planning effort from 2020 through 2022 was the community desire to enhance and improve the Clear Creek corridor through downtown (the Heart of Golden) as an incredible community amenity. Improved spaces and opportunities for recreation, contemplation, and community activities were recommended for the central portion of the corridor west of Washington Avenue, along with the enhancement of Parfet and Vanover Parks and the newly acquired lands to the east. Concurrently, the consensus was that Golden would really benefit from a consolidation of scattered municipal functions in a new facility to be located east of Ford Street. Such a new facility would address deficiencies in the existing city hall that affect both municipal and especially police operations, while greatly enhancing the effectiveness of service delivery to the community by means of co-located departments and improved facilities. The realization of both the community amenity and effective service delivery goals requires the relocation of municipal and police functions to the proposed new building.

Community Meeting | August 15, 2023

Facing higher-than-expected construction costs, city staff will begin to explore alternative solutions to the Heart of Golden Phase 1 project scope for new municipal facilities. As City staff consider the next steps on the project, we are seeking your engagement.

On Tuesday, August 15, a community meeting took place to share new ideas and reassess ways to move forward with important facility improvements.

During the in-person meeting, participants provided ideas and feedback on seven different boards that look at different parts of the Heart of Golden plan. If you could not attend the meeting in person, you can still be involved by reviewing the presentation and giving us your feedback and ideas on the same seven topics using the Ideas & Feedback tools below.

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Update: July 12, 2023

The Heart of Golden is a special project for the City that asks our community and leaders to imagine the future of Golden in 10 years, 20 years, and beyond. After three years of careful planning, City Council approved the Heart of Golden Planning Document in August 2022.

The plan aligns with what the community envisioned for the Clear Creek Corridor, which started in 2011 with the Clear Creek Corridor Master Plan. That plan suggested moving several city facilities east of the Clear Creek Corridor on property purchased in 2019 to create more open space and community amenities in the Heart of Golden area.

As part of the next steps, in late 2022, City Council authorized an evaluation to consider the costs and benefits of moving the city hall and police department facilities to the east zone. City Council wants to make sure that the construction of a new building is in the best interest of the community in terms of money and quality of life. The evaluation is currently happening this summer 2023, and Council is considering several factors:

• How the workplace may change in the future and how that could affect the type and amount of space that would be necessary to best serve the public. The City will update the 2018 Needs Analysis based on recent and expected workplace trends. This analysis will consider the future space needs of the city organization as well as technology and design requirements that current facilities do not address.
• How will improvements in services for residents and businesses, and employee productivity compare to the investment required?
• How much more efficient would it be to have a single central location instead of scattered offices in six different buildings in the corridor to meet the needs of residents and businesses?
• How will open space and community use benefit from consolidating city facilities? Moving city facilities outside of the central zone could open current sites for more community-friendly spaces such as open space and parks.
• What other uses in the east zone would complement the vision outlined in the Heart of Golden plan?

Keep watching for updates on this important project to provide feedback and and help decide what the Heart of Golden (the Clear Creek Corridor) will be for the community into the future. Please read through the adopted Heart of Golden plan and let us know what you think!