Leaders approve land lease

Transit agency supports Medal of Honor museum after last week’s blowup

Leaders at the Regional Transportation District on Tuesday reversed a loudly denounced decision from a week ago in which the transit agency’s board of directors turned down a proposed land lease near Civic Center park that would serve as an entranceway for a newly relocated National Medal of Honor Museum.

The RTD board on Tuesday voted 14-0 to approve an arrangement whereby the transit agency would lease part of a vacant gravel lot it has at the northeast corner of Broadway and East Colfax Avenue to Denver for $123,000 a year.

That parcel, located due south of Civic Center Station, would serve as a park-like outdoor entranceway for the museum.

“I do see this as sacred ground,” said director Angie RiveraMalpiede, one of seven RTD directors who voted against the deal last week.

Like several of her colleagues who voted no on Sept. 17, RiveraMalpiede said she didn’t feel she had full information about the importance of the museum

before casting her vote. Several directors said they were taking their fiduciary duties seriously in rejecting the deal because it didn’t appear that the proposed lease made financial sense for RTD.

Director Troy Whitmore, who voted against the deal initially, said no one supporting the museum had reached out to him before last Tuesday’s vote.

“On Wednesday, that changed — the floodgates opened,” he said to laughter in the packed board room, which featured a number of veterans and elected officials.

Director Kate Williams, who was excoriated by some for comments she made during last week’s meeting regarding the museum, addressed the board from the lectern Tuesday. She apologized for her “poorly chosen words” at the meeting and said following her vote, she received death threats and “vile” messages on her phone “that frightened me beyond words.”

Upon reflection, she said on Tuesday: “I will be voting in favor of the National Medal of Honor Museum.”

The National Medal of Honor Museum Foundation earlier this year narrowed down its list of finalist cities for the museum to Denver and Arlington, Texas. The winner is expected to be announced in early October.

The issue over Denver as the new home of the National Medal of Honor Museum exploded last week following the RTD board’s failure to support the lease for the entranceway. The museum itself would sit on state-owned land — now a parking lot — across Lincoln Street from the RTD parcel.

Williams voiced reservations about the financial structure of the proposed lease, which she felt wasn’t a good deal for the transit agency. She also questioned the need for such a museum, according to a story published last week in Denverite.

“I don’t know how many national Medal of Honor winners there are that they need a museum,” Williams said, according to Denverite.

The next day, Gov. Jared Polis weighed in, urging RTD leaders to reconsider their decision. He also issued a statement saying it would “be an honor to have the Medal of Honor Museum in our capital complex and we are working to make that a reality.”

The RTD board agreed to take the issue up again at its meeting this week. Board chairman Doug Tisdale released a statement saying the agency “knew there would be fallout from the 7-7 decision at our committee meeting, and there has been.”

“Many stakeholders have reached out to us and have weighed in, some encouraged to hear that we are seeking more complete information and bringing the matter forward as a new requested Action Item to the full board for consideration,” he said.

The nation’s highest and most prestigious military honor, the Medal of Honor has been awarded to more than 3,500 military service members since it was first presented in 1863.

Dozens of civic and educational organizations penned letters expressing support for the museum in Denver, including the Colorado Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce and the University of Colorado Denver. That’s in addition to the Colorado congressional delegation, Denver Mayor Michael Hancock and the Colorado Rockies and Denver Broncos organizations.

A day after RTD said no to the lease, Hancock penned a letter to the RTD Board of Directors saying Colorado and Denver “have the unique opportunity to attract a national institution that honors our country’s heroes and ensures that the stories and legacy of those who have distinguished themselves at the highest level endure.”

At Tuesday’s meeting, the mayor told the RTD board that securing land for an outdoor gateway leading to the museum could prove critical in convincing the foundation to choose Denver over Arlington. The museum is currently located aboard the USS Yorktown in Mount Pleasant, S.C.

A spokesman for the museum foundation declined to comment on the matter Tuesday.

The deal specifically calls for Denver to lease 20,000 square feet of the 60,000-square-foot parcel south of Civic Center Station from RTD at a price of $123,000 a year, with that amount increasing by 1% annually until the lease ends. A fact sheet prepared by the state and Denver estimates that the local fiscal impact to the city, based on 500,000 annual visitors, would be $2 million in sales tax annually.

It’s also estimated that approximately $150 million will be spent constructing the museum, with hundreds of jobs associated with that work.

Randy Thelen, senior vice president of economic development for the Downtown Denver Partnership, told The Denver Post the museum with its central location downtown is “a natural for us.”

“From a community standpoint and a state standpoint, this is an opportunity to bring a national museum to our region to a location of great prominence,” he said.

Tony Owens of Northglenn volunteers with Rocky Mountain Honor Flight and was moved to write a letter to the RTD board after its rejection of the deal last week. He told The Post that Medal of Honor honorees “have to do something very heroic” to get the commendation.

Owens, 73, will be bringing World War II and Korean War veterans to Washington, D.C., next month to tour several war monuments in the capital city.

“This idea that anyone could have voted against this after all the men and women that have served with honor, I was very disappointed,” he said.