Denver Union Station’s latest $11 million renovation is nearly done

After five months of renovations, Denver’s Union Station building is set to fully reopen to the public Friday with a redesigned Great Hall and remodeled guest rooms at the Crawford Hotel.

The work was the first major makeover since the completion of a $54 million overhaul of the building a decade ago as part of a conversion of the historic train station into a metro transit hub. The central hall, often referred to as Denver’s living room, has gotten a new layout, look and seating.

“Thousands of people a day walking through this space — (so after) 10 years? It was just time to refresh it,” said Ed Blair, the area general manager for Sage Hospitality who oversees Union Station, as well as the Crawford Hotel on the building’s upper floors.

The latest renovation came with an $11 million price tag and kicked off in February. Visitors and attendees of events planned Friday through Sunday to mark its completion will notice several changes to the Great Hall. Potted flora and custom furniture now dot the space, which has warmer tones and curving lines to make it more inviting.

Gone are two central shuffleboard tables. On the opposite end from the Terminal Bar are new kiosks that will host a florist, a pastry chef and an information center run by Visit Denver.

But the terrazzo flooring, circa 1914, remains the same.

Back then, some 100 trains a day chugged through Union Station, Blair said. Now, it services only two Amtrak trains each day, but dozens of Regional Transportation District trains pull out of the commuter rail station beside the building and the light rail station two blocks away.

The building, which dates back to 1881, has evolved to host service industry businesses, including the Crawford Hotel, 10 restaurants and two shops.

Guests of the four-star hotel, which opened in 2014, can book one of its 112 newly refreshed rooms. They’ll enter through a new Beaux-Arts style lobby, dubbed The Parlour, that’s tucked away from the public in a former retail space.

And, soon, customers can return to The Cooper Lounge, a swanky upstairs cocktail bar that overlooks the Great Hall. Among other design changes, champagne buckets were built into the seating.

“Highlighting” historical touches

The construction walls that went up on the main floor this year prompted speculation.

“People always are worried: What are you doing? Are you ruining it? What’s going to happen to all of the historic touches?” Blair said during a tour of the renovated areas. “Nothing. We’re only highlighting them.”

On Wednesday morning, the sound of whirring tools echoed throughout the Great Hall. Behind the temporary white walls cordoning off the construction zone, workers in highlighter-yellow vests zipped around to accomplish last-minute tasks, including painting and cleaning.

The latest remodel’s cost was funded by the Union Station Alliance, made up of Sage Hospitality Group, McWhinney, City Street Investors, Belz Associates, Larimer Associates and Urban Neighborhoods.

While RTD owns the historic building, the Union Station Alliance holds a long-term lease, making the train station privately operated. In recent years, that dynamic has allowed the Alliance to limit seating in much of the Great Hall to paying customers of Union Station’s businesses, including the Terminal Bar. It’s been enforced as the station, its underground bus concourse and the surrounding areas have sometimes drawn people experiencing homelessness or using drugs.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, about 15,000 people walked through Union Station each day, Blair said. Foot traffic has fallen since then, but Blair expects it to hit 10,000 daily visitors after the revamp. Events held at the Colorado Convention Center will help boost business, Blair added.

“We want to create a welcoming experience for people,” he said. “We also want to ensure everybody is safe and has an enjoyable time.”

Changes to hotel experience

In the Crawford Hotel’s new Parlour space, guests will enjoy cocktails and private elevator access. The hotel rooms are redesigned with jewel-toned furniture, arched doorways and floral ceiling coverings. Cooper Lounge cocktail kits — shakers included — are nestled on tables.

“People stay here because they want a piece of history,” Blair said. “We are now a luxury hotel, with luxury offerings and a luxury experience — all the while, forever, paying mind to the history of the building.”

The second floor consists of Pullman-style rooms, while the third floor features classic rooms. The fourth floor, which once served as the building’s attic, is made up of loft rooms. Rates vary, but Blair said loft rooms usually run about $700 per night, classic rooms around $500 and Pullman-style rooms around $400.