The city of Boulder has made public three prospective designs for a new Event Street to be built on the University Hill. The future event hub will be on Pennsylvania Avenue between 13th Street and the alleyway to the west. To maximize the success of the plans, the city has opened a survey, allowing members of the public to critique and comment on the designs.
The goal of the Event Street is to create a public gathering space on a street that can be easily closed off. It will accommodate events with improvements like repaved roads and event seating. At this early stage, proposed events include Heart of the Hill events, outdoor film screenings, as well as a beer garden for the annual Hilltober Fest. When the street is closed off, the Event Street will function much like the section of 13th Street that is closed biweekly in the summer for the Boulder County Farmers’ Market.
“We would really value student input on this,” said Hill community development coordinator Sarah Wiebenson. “As students make up a large portion of University Hill residents and event-goers, their satisfaction with the Event Street will be the ultimate judge of its success.”
The community can likely expect other major improvements to the Hill in coming years. In January 2014, Boulder approved the Hill Reinvestment Strategy, which aims to improve the standards of health, happiness, and safety experienced by residents and visitors of the Hill.
Other projects are likely to include an expansion of public parking and the acquisition of long-term funding to allow for ongoing improvements to the area. Wiebensen says such projects are funded by the Community Culture and Safety Tax established in 2014.
The survey is open from Sept. 1 through Sept. 6, and can be accessed either online at https://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/2304687/University-Hill-Event-Street-Design-Inspiration or by visiting Buchanan’s Coffee Pub on the corner of 13th & Pennsylvania.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Ryan Ellis at ryan.ellis@colorado.edu
