Union Station: All aboard for a final vote on which proposal will redevelop the facility

In the 1860s, the town fathers of baby Denver realized the city would never grow without the railroads -- but the transcontinental route was moving full-steam ahead through Wyoming. So Denver boosters funded a spur line that ran from Cheyenne to Denver, and saved the city. That move involved a lot of maneuvering -- but no more than the wheels turning over the proposed Union Station redevelopment.

Next Tuesday, the RTD board is scheduled to finally, really decide which of two development groups will get the go-ahead to renovate Union Station, the crown jewel in the multi-modal project now transforming the Platte Valley. This past Tuesday, a committee that consisted of fourteen boardmembers recommended that RTD go with the Union Station Alliance proposal -- but there's no guarantee the vote will go the same way next week when all fifteen boardmembers, including new appointee Kathi Williams, give the final sign-off.

That's because the public will be allowed to speak at that special board meeting, and the Union Station Neighborhood Co. proposal also has plenty of supporters.

The meeting starts at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, December 20, at the RTD office at 1600 Blake Street. All aboard!

And just hope it doesn't go as long as last Thursday's Boulder County Commissioners meeting to hear comment on the Cropland Proposal that would allow GMOs on public lands -- that meeting lasted over nine hours. When the Boulder commissioners take their final vote, also slated for December 20, there will be no more public comments.

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