Re-establishing a Chinese Cultural and Historical District in LoDo

As I pointed out in my September 30th blog entry, the LoDo block bordered by Market, Blake, 20th and 21st Streets was the final location of Denver's Chinatown. The Chinatown buildings were torn down in 1940 and today the area remains underutilized despite the fact that it is prominently located across the street from Coors Field. See photos in Figure 1 below.

Figure 1: Various Perspectives on the Underutilized Block Bound By Market, Blake, 20th and 21 Streets

The Denver Infill web site, written by Ken Schroeppel, also points out how underutilized this site is: (http://www.denverinfill.com/block_pages/northeast_downtown/block_037.htm)

"Isn't it ironic that a block directly across the street from Coors Field, a
facility that is hailed as the great facilitator of LoDo redevelopment, a block
that sits facing the front door of our major league baseball stadium, would
remain, ten years later, as a weedy, litter-filled, vacant lot? Most of
the Blake Street side of this block is owned by Public Service Co. of Colorado
(Xcel Energy) who also owns the electric-substation-wrapped-in-brick at the
corner of 21st & Market. Is there a reason they haven't sold this
property or redeveloped it at great profit? Are they holding it for some
future electric substation expansion project? Is this the best use of this
particular vacant land? Why must we have an ugly, weed-filled, vacant lot
across the street from the grand entrance of our beloved Coors Field?"

Denver Infill description of Block 37 in Northeast Downtown Denver

I am thinking that this site should be redeveloped into a Chinese Cultural and Historic District which would pay homage to the history of Denver's Chinatown and promote economic and cultural linkages between Denver and the Pacific Rim. I would envision this project having public, private and non-profit components. I am not sure of the exact mix of land uses for this site but they could include outdoor public sculpture, a museum/cultural center, retail, food service, and economic development/trade promotion services.

Over time, 20th Street between Market and Lawrence could evolve into an Asian cultural hub with the Japanese American cultural center, Sakura Square (at 20th and Lawrence Streets), at one end and the Chinese Cultural and Historic District at the other end. This idea is consistent with many of the objectives in the 2007 Downtown Denver Plan(http://www.downtowndenverplan.org/) such as Chapter 3, C4b "Encourage businesses that reflect ownership of and cater to culturally diverse markets such as Sakura Square," the idea of redeveloping Arapahoe Square as a densely populated mixed use neighborhood, "Cultivating a Mosaic of Urban Districts," and providing a pedestrian oriented neighborhood linkage between the Ballpark neighborhood and Arapahoe Square.