ULI Panel Recommends Rocky Site For Jail

The ULI plan calls for a new first-class building, as well as converting Gene Amole Way, between Colfax and 14th, into a pedestrian plaza. They also urged the city to put the issue on the ballot in May 2004.

"Denver's criminal justice system has deteriorated to an appalling level," the panel notes. The ULI panel interviewed more than 65 civic leaders, neighborhood, business and criminal justice representatives. The ULI analysis cost the city $50,000.

Several panel members interviewed by GlobeSt.com say they had no problem with putting a jail on the Rocky Mountain News site at 100 Gene Amole Way. However, they say it is important that architecturally the building fits into the corridor.

And one prominent developer says that there may be a problem holding the vote in a non-election year, because with a low voter turnout it could make it easier for opponents to defeat the measure.

The Justice Center proposal would combine the city's Pre-Arraignment Detention Facility pre-sentenced inmates from County Jail and all criminal courts facilities into one facility that would also include a new Juvenile/Family Court building and a large parking garage. ULI, however, did recommend some modifications, including:* The possible acquisition of adjacent land west of the Rocky Mountain News site.

* Placing courts and detention facilities in two separate buildings on the site connected by an underground tunnel for prisoner circulation.

* The conversion of Gene Amole Way from a street to a pedestrian plaza.

According to ULI, these recommendations were based on the need to continue the Civic Center legacy of well-designed buildings that enhance the surrounding area. Post-sentence detainees would remain at the existing Smith Road facility, which would be modified for long-term detention only.

"This was certainly a comprehensive and compelling analysis based on an impartial and extremely inclusive process," says Mayor John Hickenlooper. "This report certainly leaves no question that this is the direction in which the city should be heading and that there is a need for great urgency on our part to do so."