At the meeting, the library commission will be soliciting feedback from business owners and other community stakeholders to select a site for a new 28,000 square foot library.  The BID support the selection of the Shuffle Inn site at Yates and W Colfax, as part of a larger multi-use development.

The Shuffle Inn site provides the opportunity to leverage a $12MM investment from the city to obtain a prominent, high visibility $30MM building that will draw patrons from near and far. The location on West Colfax Avenue, the second busiest bus line, within two blocks from the West line of FasTracks and down the street from two elementary schools, offers outstanding access for school children, commuters, and public transit riders.  The prominent character of this library building and the accessibility of the site will make the library a vibrant center of community life on the Westside.

This site also presents an unparalleled opportunity to stimulate revitalization on our business corridor. Like the recently built library on East Colfax in Aurora, a library on West Colfax would fuel a rebirth of the community, with investments in housing and educational or arts institutions.  We therefore believe that a West Colfax Avenue location paves a clear path toward successfully revitalizing West Colfax Avenue, while also providing a premier location and structure for the library.  For all of these reasons, and because the Shuffle Inn site is the only site where the builder is ready to go and has begun to design a library, the BID board has endorsed this site.  (Click here for Shuffle Inn design.)

In contrast, neither of the other sites will promote revitalization of the commercial corridor, and both have significant deficiencies. First, converting park land for other uses runs counter to the West Colfax Plan, which identifies West Colfax as a neighborhood in need of more, not less, park space based on having only ¼ the amount of recommended park land per capita.  Further, our research indicates that the Sloans Lake Park site could well face a legal challenge based on restrictions on using park land for non-park purposes. There also appears to be a water table issue at Sloans Lake Park and there will be the added expense of relocating the existing facility now located on the proposed site.  Likewise, the lay of the land at the Sheridan Blvd site makes it difficult (and expensive) to build on.   And, because neither of these sites is adjacent to commercial areas, they would not stimulate additional investment in retail.

Economic Stimulus

The BID is seeking stimulus funds to green West Colfax, including streetscaping (more information  here) and business energy audits and improvements.   The economic stimulus also provides aid to small businesses--for more information click here.