City's 1st skybridge goes forward unchallenged

Minneapolis has had them for years, and they’re popular in Cincinnati, Seattle and Des Moines, Iowa.

Now, a Colorado Springs developer plans to build what could be the city’s firstever skybridge over a downtown street.

LandCo Equity Partners received City Planning Commission approval last month to build an open-air, pedestrian walkway across Colorado Avenue, about halfway between Nevada Avenue and Tejon Street. The bridge will link LandCo’s planned Stratton Pointe office building, at Colorado and Tejon, with a city parking garage that opened in October.

A deadline to appeal the Planning Commission’s decision passed this week with no challenges, which clears the way for LandCo to proceed, City Planning Director Bill Healy said.

LandCo envisioned a skybridge when it proposed in 2005 to gut the former Design Center furniture store building, add four floors and transform it into the sixstory Stratton Pointe, company chairman Ray Marshall said.

Downtown’s top office buildings — such as the Wells Fargo Bank Tower, the FirstBank Building and the Plaza of the Rockies — have parking underground or next door; a skybridge to the city garage is needed to help Stratton Pointe lure tenants, he said.

Three downtown buildings have skybridge connections to city parking garages, but those walkways are shorter, extend over alleys and are set back from streets.

Based on his work with historic images, Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum Director Matt Mayberry said he doubts downtown has ever had a skybridge crossing a city street.

As now designed, the skybridge would stretch 104 feet, and its 12-foot width would accommodate four people abreast. Its 24-foot height would allow vehicles — including semi-trailers — to pass underneath, city planners say.

The skybridge’s decorative brickwork and pillars would match the character of the new parking garage.

Colorado Avenue provides a picture-postcard look at Pikes Peak for westbound motorists; wouldn’t the skybridge hinder views?

Maybe, but any disruption would be temporary, unlike office buildings that permanently block views, Anderwald said. The City Planning staff recommended approval of the redesigned version of the skybridge.

The Downtown Partnership, the area’s leading advocacy group, opposed an initial design because it was little more than an ugly steel walkway, said Beth Kosley, the partnership’s executive director. The group also complained its building-to-garage link would have kept shoppers and restaurantgoers off the street.

A redesign calls for the skybridge to run from the parking garage’s fourth level to the third floor of the City Administration Building, and follow that building’s rounded corner to link to Stratton Pointe. The skybridge no longer will cross Colorado diagonally, which will shorten its reach, Kosley said.

Also, a stairway will permit Colorado Avenue pedestrians to walk up to the skybridge and over to the garage or allow Stratton Pointe tenants to exit the building and walk down to street level, she said.

The stairway was key to the Downtown Partnership’s support; some cities have torn skybridges out because pedestrians bypass street-level stores and restaurants, she said.

The Planning Commission heard at least one objection from a downtown businessman when it considered the project at a Jan. 17 special meeting.

Blake Wilson, co-owner of the Art Bank and Oriental Rug Center, questioned whether the public has had enough opportunity to view the skybridge plans. He also feared the bridge will set a precedent and suggested it will benefit only the developer and building tenants.

Stratton Pointe’s construction is expected to begin within a month and be finished 11 or 12 months later, Marshall said. The skybridge will be constructed as the building nears completion, he added.