The project has been scaled back a bit but visitors to the Historic Arkansas Riverwalk of Pueblo are still getting an eyeful as construction advances on several Riverwalk additions.
Under the project, the city is adding a large exhibit hall and Professional Bull Riders-anchored sports performance center to the Pueblo Convention Center, a three-story parking garage across the street from the convention center and the Gateway Plaza outdoor space.
The total cost for the improvements is now projected to top $30 million.
Recently dropped from the project are a pedestrian "skybridge" and an optional fourth deck on the parking garage.
The extra parking deck was estimated to cost about $2.6 million, which the Pueblo Urban Renewal Authority board of commissioners decided was too steep of a price given the overall project budget.
The three-story garage will provide about 480 spaces. The fourth deck would have added about 130 spaces.
The "skybridge" would have spanned Main Street and linked the new parking garage to the convention center.
The walkway poised concerns in terms of cost (possibly about $1 million) and the time needed for planning and construction, which would complicate the overall project schedule. The commission plans to revisit the issue of walkways and funding options in the future.
Meanwhile, talks continue between the city of Pueblo and the Urban Renewal Authority on the expected demolition of the old police annex building in the project area. The city envisions the space as a pad site for a future hotel.
Jerry Pacheco, director of the Urban Renewal Authority, said construction on the overall project is on schedule with the sports performance center and parking garage set for completion by year's end and the exhibit hall and Gateway Plaza set to be finished by next spring.
"What you see now is the steel (beams for the convention center expansion) coming into place," he said.
"We hope to be working on enclosing the building by the end of the month. It's gone nicely. We've had some good weather. The pile driving continues on the parking garage across the street," Pacheco said.
Colorado's fast-rising construction costs along with heavy statewide demand for construction services have posed the biggest challenge to the work, Pacheco said.
"We are undertaking a large project in the middle of a tight labor market competing with contractors who are bidding explosive jobs in Colorado Springs and Denver.... We're having to make really fast decisions," he said.
Pacheco credited the expertise and civic-minded spirit of Urban Renewal's board of commissions and H.W. Houston executives for keeping the project on schedule and controlling costs.
"To do a project like this in a tight timeline, it really has taken a herculean effort by very dedicated community leaders," Pacheco said.
Urban Renewal and H.W. Houston recently finalized the scope of work and cost for the 51,319-square-feet convention center addition and the parking garage portions of the project, Pacheco said. The price tag of about $29 million, up from an earlier estimate of $24 million and down from more recent estimates of more than $30 million, reflects in part the fast-rising construction costs in Colorado, he said.
The bulk of the project will be paid for by state sales taxes under the state Regional Tourism Act program and state and federal grants.
The project is the first of several phases of improvements for the Riverwalk area planned in coming years in connection with the state RTA program.
