City of Golden, Colorado breaks ground on new city hall, police department building
Wednesday, the City of Golden, Colo., broke ground on a project nearly six years in the making. The municipal building, which will house the city hall and the police department, will be moved from its current location in the center of town on 10th street to a plot on the east end of Golden near the Coors plant. A patch of dirt that will soon become a new symbol of the future of the city.
"I was really excited about it because it is, as you put it, the anchor," Golden resident Gerchard Pfau told CBS Colorado. "Golden continues to evolve, but the great thing about the city is it preserves."
The move to this plot was part of the city's longtime plan to evolve the Clear Creek corridor to meet the demands of increasing traffic, visitors and residents. Moving the municipal building to the east end of town will put an anchor on an otherwise underdeveloped area of Golden.
"This project will start the revitalization of this area of downtown, bring people and more opportunities for the future," said Mayor Laura Weinberg.
The move instantly makes the old building one of the most valuable and coveted pieces of real estate in the city, located just off the central corridor of Washington Street and right next to Clear Creek, with access to the area.
"When we purchased this property, we launched the Heart of Golden effort; it wasn't just built on this property that's vacant," said Weinberg. "It's about what's going to happen to the rest of the corridor."
The city hasn't decided on what to do with it yet, but is asking the community for their input.
"The prevailing thoughts have been more green space, more open space, more access to the creek," Weinberg added.
Wednesday's groundbreaking was a momentous occasion for a project that started six years ago as the city enters a new phase of its life cycle, continuing to develop but still hoping to retain the same charm that Golden's always had.
"Golden reinvents itself," Weinberg concluded. "We have for the last 160-plus years."
The project is slated to take around two years to complete, alongside other development, including the Clayworks and other CoorsTek and Colorado School of Mines projects.
