Colorado Creative Industries

economic development downtown revitalization

Redevelopment & Revitalization efforts across Colorado are showing that integration of cultural amenities is key to project success.

Belmar redevelopment- Lakewood, Colorado
Villa-Italia Shopping Mall Redevelopment Becomes Regional Cultural Center

The City of Lakewood and Continuum Partners have redeveloped the site of the old Villa-Italia shopping mall into 22 city blocks of entertainment, stores, office space and residences. Belmar has incorporated the arts along with cultural amenities into its master plan, programming and urban design- creating an opportunity for the area to become a regional arts center.

Continuum recruited local expertise in the form of Denver Art Museum master teacher Adam Learner and the result has been the promulgation of several exciting and world class arts projects that will in no doubt contribute to the success of Belmar and the City of Lakewood. Efforts in Belmar include; The Lab, an arts research center that will feature world-class exhibitions, scholarly publications and regular symposiums; Urban Anatomy, a public arts project that incorporates small works of art, fragments of poetry and other creative vignettes to the site; and Block 7, a design workshop and gallery that will serve as the center of the Denver design community.

In the case of Belmar, Lakewood is generating a favorable alternative to the static retail-only shopping district. By incorporating culture and the arts Belmar is creating a heightened sense of community and attracting a greater breadth of customers and businesses from across the region to its location.

Stapleton redevelopment- Denver, Colorado
Nations largest mixed-use urban redevelopment incorporates the arts to build community

Along with its parks and recreation master plan and its education master plan, Stapleton has also incorporated a public arts master plan in order to enhance the quality and vitality of neighborhood life, encourage broader engagement in diverse cultural opportunities through Lifelong Learning, and advance the neighborhood’s international reputation as one of the premier mixed-use urban communities.

Through its public arts master plan, the Stapleton neighborhood hopes to establish a public arts program that will include public forums to facilitate community arts discussions, opportunity development for artists in residence activities, arrangement of community cultural events and celebrations, assistance for artists advancing their careers in public arts and the expansion of promotion of the arts to encourage community engagement.

Furthermore, the public arts master plan outlines the decision process for public art approval and the required procedures for the procurement of public art.

Stapleton’s aspirations for its public arts program go beyond the limitations of readily available funding sources. This includes Denver Urban Renewal Authority’s (DURA) “percent for the arts” program which requires a public art piece valued at one percent of the gross maximum reimbursable expenses of the funded project be included in all development projects receiving tax increment financing and also revenues from the Park Creek Metropolitan District (PCMD). Supplemental funds have been sought from the Board of the Park Creek Metro District, Forest City Stapleton and The Stapleton Foundation.

Downtown Grand Junction- Grand Junction, CO
A variety of arts programs serve as cornerstone to Downtown Grand Junction’s revitalization strategy

The Downtown Grand Junction Partnership, a cooperative effort between Grand Junction’s Downtown Development Authority, Downtown Association and the City of Grand Junction is promoting and organizing events and programs centered on the arts to facilitate economic revitalization.

Facilities/programs that Grand Junction is using in its cultural economic development strategy include: Art on the Corner, a unique yearlong outdoor sculpture exhibit that is displayed in the Downtown Shopping Park of Grand Junction and the Avalon Theater, a historic venue that brings independent and foreign films to Grand Valley. Both are now included in the city’s expanded enterprise zone which means Colorado taxpayers who donate to these organizations will receive a 25% tax-credit on cash contributions. Also, all new sculptures displayed for the Art on the Corner program are for sale and 25% of the proceeds go to funding the program.

Downtown Grand Junction also heavily promotes its arts and entertainment venues such as the Grand Junction Symphony, the Greenshoe Theater Company, the Mesa Theater and the Cabaret Dinner Theater to spur economic and community development.