Not to worry, Mr. and Mrs. Taxpayer — the Ski Train, the railyard and the grand old station are not on the auction block to help fund the proposed huge Regional Transportation Hub and the “Transit Village” at Denver Union Station.

However, the city and county of Denver, together with the Regional Transportation District, the Denver Regional Council of Governments and the Colorado Department of Transportation, are poised to sell part of the Denver Union Station front yard for two 65-foot-high office buildings at the gateway corner sites on 16th and 18th streets.

Would commercial development of this 127-year-old public open space fronting the historic Union Station really benefit the civic values and long-term image of our city? Should we exploit this plaza in spite of ever shrinking usable open space in our downtown environment? The Open Space Initiative Group — prominent senior planners, architects and landscape architects, preservationists and financial consultants — believes otherwise.

Group members were involved in the Union Station process since 2002 but separated as a new group with new members in 2007 to advocate for an open plaza and alternative designs. It focuses on these plaza issues:

Should prime property owned by the public be sold for private development? Should civic and historic values be sacrificed for private profit? Should a Grand Urban Square give way to an office-building complex? Should the public have a choice of alternative plans for choosing the best future?

The group believes these questions have not been properly examined by any of the public agencies purportedly representing the real owner — the private citizen and taxpayer — and it has raised more than $16,000 to create an alternative plan showing public use of the property around the historic Union Station. The group’s report of December 2008 is titled The Grand Urban Square, Denver Union Station.

The Open Space Initiative Group envisions a setting that reflects the station’s history and recalls its traditional open space and human interaction— and, with a carefully landscaped new urban square, a setting that would allow the public to reclaim the use and ownership of this historic site.

The difference between the group’s plan and the current master plan is simply the preservation of open space and history.

The master plan shows two office buildings in front of Union Station, dominating the visual gateway and open space at the 16th Street and 18th Street corners on Wynkoop Street. The buildings are not necessary and leave just two small public courtyards.

The Open Space Initiative Group plan has an unobstructed large open space with an array of public uses and civic activities. The trade-off is to move the commercial office space contained in the two buildings (150,000 square feet) from the corner sites to two taller structures just behind the plaza. This preserves the historical views to and from the station and creates the grand urban square without loss of vital rental income.

The public is unaware that historic values and the “grand urban square” future will be lost forever if the two 65-foot-high buildings are built in the plaza. They will block views of and from the station and will destroy historic settings. What other city in America can have a great urban public space that’s part of an operating, monumental, historic train station and hub of a major transit system in the urban heart of a fast-growing metropolitan region and in the original station setting in the historic district where the city was founded? The answer: surprisingly, none.

Denver’s opportunity for a grand urban square is unique. The plaza along Wynkoop Street is a parking lot now, but it can be an unmatched people place with temporary and permanent exhibits and art, concerts, restaurants, festivals, farmer’s markets, educational features and events, celebrations, a fountain, two amphitheaters, ice skating and underground parking. Many citizens, civic leaders and major environmental, preservation and railroad groups are supportive of the group’s vision. There is still time to redirect the planning.

The Open Space Initiative Group has offered an alternative open-space plan for comparison and is asking the public to express its preference: Should the city sell off our open space for commercial development or retain it for a grand urban square? Please visit our Web site: denverunionstationsquare.com.

Stuart Ohlson is a member of the American Institute of Architects and is the retired principal of Ohlson-Lavoie Architecture. Albert “Bert” Melcher is a civil engineer and former chairman of the RTD board of directors.

However, the city and county of Denver, together with the Regional Transportation District, the Denver Regional Council of Governments and the Colorado Department of Transportation, are poised to sell part of the Denver Union Station front yard for two 65-foot-high office buildings at the gateway corner sites on 16th and 18th streets.

Would commercial development of this 127-year-old public open space fronting the historic Union Station really benefit the civic values and long-term image of our city? Should we exploit this plaza in spite of ever shrinking usable open space in our downtown environment? The Open Space Initiative Group — prominent senior planners, architects and landscape architects, preservationists and financial consultants — believes otherwise.

Group members were involved in the Union Station process since 2002 but separated as a new group with new members in 2007 to advocate for an open plaza and alternative designs. It focuses on these plaza issues:

Should prime property owned by the public be sold for private development? Should civic and historic values be sacrificed for private profit? Should a Grand Urban Square give way to an office-building complex? Should the public have a choice of alternative plans for choosing the best future?

The group believes these questions have not been properly examined by any of the public agencies purportedly representing the real owner — the private citizen and taxpayer — and it has raised more than $16,000 to create an alternative plan showing public use of the property around the historic Union Station. The group’s report of December 2008 is titled The Grand Urban Square, Denver Union Station.

The Open Space Initiative Group envisions a setting that reflects the station’s history and recalls its traditional open space and human interaction— and, with a carefully landscaped new urban square, a setting that would allow the public to reclaim the use and ownership of this historic site.

The difference between the group’s plan and the current master plan is simply the preservation of open space and history.

The master plan shows two office buildings in front of Union Station, dominating the visual gateway and open space at the 16th Street and 18th Street corners on Wynkoop Street. The buildings are not necessary and leave just two small public courtyards.

The Open Space Initiative Group plan has an unobstructed large open space with an array of public uses and civic activities. The trade-off is to move the commercial office space contained in the two buildings (150,000 square feet) from the corner sites to two taller structures just behind the plaza. This preserves the historical views to and from the station and creates the grand urban square without loss of vital rental income.

The public is unaware that historic values and the “grand urban square” future will be lost forever if the two 65-foot-high buildings are built in the plaza. They will block views of and from the station and will destroy historic settings. What other city in America can have a great urban public space that’s part of an operating, monumental, historic train station and hub of a major transit system in the urban heart of a fast-growing metropolitan region and in the original station setting in the historic district where the city was founded? The answer: surprisingly, none.

Denver’s opportunity for a grand urban square is unique. The plaza along Wynkoop Street is a parking lot now, but it can be an unmatched people place with temporary and permanent exhibits and art, concerts, restaurants, festivals, farmer’s markets, educational features and events, celebrations, a fountain, two amphitheaters, ice skating and underground parking. Many citizens, civic leaders and major environmental, preservation and railroad groups are supportive of the group’s vision. There is still time to redirect the planning.

The Open Space Initiative Group has offered an alternative open-space plan for comparison and is asking the public to express its preference: Should the city sell off our open space for commercial development or retain it for a grand urban square? Please visit our Web site: denverunionstationsquare.com.

Stuart Ohlson is a member of the American Institute of Architects and is the retired principal of Ohlson-Lavoie Architecture. Albert “Bert” Melcher is a civil engineer and former chairman of the RTD board of directors.

However, the city and county of Denver, together with the Regional Transportation District, the Denver Regional Council of Governments and the Colorado Department of Transportation, are poised to sell part of the Denver Union Station front yard for two 65-foot-high office buildings at the gateway corner sites on 16th and 18th streets.

Would commercial development of this 127-year-old public open space fronting the historic Union Station really benefit the civic values and long-term image of our city? Should we exploit this plaza in spite of ever shrinking usable open space in our downtown environment? The Open Space Initiative Group — prominent senior planners, architects and landscape architects, preservationists and financial consultants — believes otherwise.

Group members were involved in the Union Station process since 2002 but separated as a new group with new members in 2007 to advocate for an open plaza and alternative designs. It focuses on these plaza issues:

Should prime property owned by the public be sold for private development? Should civic and historic values be sacrificed for private profit? Should a Grand Urban Square give way to an office-building complex? Should the public have a choice of alternative plans for choosing the best future?

The group believes these questions have not been properly examined by any of the public agencies purportedly representing the real owner — the private citizen and taxpayer — and it has raised more than $16,000 to create an alternative plan showing public use of the property around the historic Union Station. The group’s report of December 2008 is titled The Grand Urban Square, Denver Union Station.

The Open Space Initiative Group envisions a setting that reflects the station’s history and recalls its traditional open space and human interaction— and, with a carefully landscaped new urban square, a setting that would allow the public to reclaim the use and ownership of this historic site.

The difference between the group’s plan and the current master plan is simply the preservation of open space and history.

The master plan shows two office buildings in front of Union Station, dominating the visual gateway and open space at the 16th Street and 18th Street corners on Wynkoop Street. The buildings are not necessary and leave just two small public courtyards.

The Open Space Initiative Group plan has an unobstructed large open space with an array of public uses and civic activities. The trade-off is to move the commercial office space contained in the two buildings (150,000 square feet) from the corner sites to two taller structures just behind the plaza. This preserves the historical views to and from the station and creates the grand urban square without loss of vital rental income.

The public is unaware that historic values and the “grand urban square” future will be lost forever if the two 65-foot-high buildings are built in the plaza. They will block views of and from the station and will destroy historic settings. What other city in America can have a great urban public space that’s part of an operating, monumental, historic train station and hub of a major transit system in the urban heart of a fast-growing metropolitan region and in the original station setting in the historic district where the city was founded? The answer: surprisingly, none.

Denver’s opportunity for a grand urban square is unique. The plaza along Wynkoop Street is a parking lot now, but it can be an unmatched people place with temporary and permanent exhibits and art, concerts, restaurants, festivals, farmer’s markets, educational features and events, celebrations, a fountain, two amphitheaters, ice skating and underground parking. Many citizens, civic leaders and major environmental, preservation and railroad groups are supportive of the group’s vision. There is still time to redirect the planning.

The Open Space Initiative Group has offered an alternative open-space plan for comparison and is asking the public to express its preference: Should the city sell off our open space for commercial development or retain it for a grand urban square? Please visit our Web site: denverunionstationsquare.com.

Stuart Ohlson is a member of the American Institute of Architects and is the retired principal of Ohlson-Lavoie Architecture. Albert “Bert” Melcher is a civil engineer and former chairman of the RTD board of directors.