After a request from Gov. Jared Polis, the RTD board is reconsidering a vote that has thrown a wrench in plans for Denver to host the National Medal of Honor Museum.
The transit board deadlocked on a vote Tuesday night to sublease a gravel lot near Civic Center Park, although a board committee had recommended approval. The plan was for the lot, which RTD controls through a long-term lease, to be used as a park-like entrance for the new museum, which would sit across Lincoln Street.
Polis, attending a panel of military veterans-turned-entrepreneurs at Denver Startup Week on Wednesday, urged RTD to change its mind and attendees to contact the transit agency. He said in a statement that he looks forward to working with RTD to make sure Denver’s bid is successful.
RTD issued a statement Wednesday afternoon saying the board will reconsider its vote at its next meeting, Sept. 24.
“Colorado is an exciting destination. We have so much to offer,” the governor said in his statement. “… 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.”
He also wrote a letter to the National Medal of Honor Museum Foundation saying the state is honored by the possibility of hosting the museum.
The museum foundation announced in June that its board had chosen Denver and Arlington, Texas, as the two finalists for the museum, with the final selection expected next month.
At Tuesday’s RTD meeting, board member Kate Williams said the deal didn’t sound like a good one because RTD would just break even with the contract, Denverite reported, and she questioned the need for such a museum.
“I don’t know how many national Medal of Honor winners there are that they need a museum,” Williams said, according to Denverite.
The Medal of Honor has been awarded to more than 3,500 military service members since it was first presented in 1863.
Williams also said the land, on Colfax Avenue between Lincoln and Broadway, wouldn’t serve as an appealing entrance to the museum if it looked like Civic Center Park, with groups of homeless people converging there.
But supporters, including RTD board Chairman Doug Tisdale, said it was an opportunity to make something of a gravel pit that is just sitting next to Civic Center Station.
The proposed deal would provide RTD with about $123,000 annually, according to the document. The city has agreed to keep up maintenance, and the museum would pay 1% more per year until the lease ended.
With board member Ken Mihalik absent, the members voting against the lease Tuesday were Williams, Vince Buzek, Claudia Folska, Natalie Menten,Shontel Lewis, Angie Rivera-Malpiede and Troy Whitmore.
The museum foundation said Wednesday that Denver is still in the running.
“Denver is a great city, and we deeply appreciate not only the terrific meetings and conversations we have been having with local leaders on this recent visit but the community’s love of country, respect for our military and faith in the ‘Colorado way’ of getting important things done,” CEO Joe Daniels said in a written statement.
Reporter Joe Rubino contributed to this story.
