The Democrats are coming! The Democrats are coming!
After months of planning, the much-ballyhooed Democratic National Convention will be here—well, across the street—next week. Here is a recap of how Metro State employees, the campus and the area around campus will be affected.
Campus closed all week; courses resume Sat., Aug. 30
Metro State and the Auraria Campus will be closed from 10 p.m., Friday, Aug. 22, through Friday, Aug. 29 at 3 p.m. During this time, the buildings will be locked, there will be no classes and all employees, except those who’ve been notified that the College considers them essential personnel, will be on administrative leave and are required to be on call (within 90 minutes of the campus if called in for an emergency by your supervisor).
Only pre-authorized campus personnel will be able to enter the buildings, as their campus IDs will be encoded specifically for access that week only. Authorized access will be limited to one access point per building and no visitors will be allowed.
Campus mail delivery (including FedX and UPS) will be shut down from Saturday, Aug. 23, through Monday, Sept. 1 (Labor Day).
Courses will resume on Saturday, Aug. 30, and faculty are asked to remind their students of this fact.
From Aug. 23 – 27, Auraria Campus parking will be limited to pre-authorized personnel only. On Thursday, August 28, special event campus parking will available for $20/day to the general public in campus parking lots A, B, F, H, I, K, L, and W.
The campus will be open to pedestrians, but the area around the Tivoli will be blocked off for DNC delegates. No camping or other unauthorized activities will be permitted in any area of the Auraria Campus.
The Union Station and Pepsi Center stations for the C and E light rail lines will be closed. Passengers traveling to downtown should switch to the D, F or H lines at the Broadway, Alameda or Osage stations.
Updated information regarding Metro State and the Auraria Campus during the DNC can be found at http://www.mscd.edu/; click on Metro State and the Democratic National Convention. For more information or questions, call 303-556-3291.
Street closures
Speer Boulevard from I-25 to Lawrence Street (and the I-25 ramp to southbound Speer Boulevard) will be closed from 9 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 25, through midnight on Wednesday, Aug. 27 – except during morning rush hour. Two lanes in each direction of Speer Boulevard between I-25 and Lawrence Street (and the ramp from I-25 to southbound Speer Boulevard) will be open from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. Monday through Wednesday. The I-25 ramp to northbound Speer Boulevard will remain open at all times.
Auraria Parkway from I-25 to Speer Boulevard will be closed from 12:01 a.m. on Sunday, Aug. 24 through midnight on Wednesday, Aug. 27. The I-25 ramps to and from Auraria Parkway will be closed during this time.
On Thursday, Aug. 28, a 5.5-mile portion of Interstate 25 will be closed, from the interchange with 6th Avenue to the interchange with I-70, starting at approximately 5:30 p.m. and continuing until the convention event at Invesco Field is concluded.
Motorists will still be able to access downtown Denver.
All week, no oversize/overweight vehicles will be allowed to travel on the I-25 corridor between I-70 and 6th Avenue.
For more information go to http://www.dot.state.co.us/. To see a map of affected roads, go to http://www.denvergov.org/Portals/612/documents/DNC%20access%20and%20mobility%20map%207-16-2008.pdf.
Temporary changes to downtown postal service
From Monday through Friday, Aug. 25-29, customer service hours at the downtown Denver Main Post Office Station at 20th and Curtis will be from 7 to 11 a.m. only. That same week, the Denver Mile High Station at 450 W. 14th St. will be closed for customer service retail and Post Office Box service. The downtown Denver Merchant Station Post Office on the downtown 16th Street Mall at 535 16th St., Ste. 11, near Welton (first floor downstairs in the Masonic Building), will be open its regular customer retail service hours from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
All downtown Denver Post Offices will resume their normal retail customer service hours and operations beginning Saturday, Aug. 30. For questions about these changes, call the Postal Service’s local district Consumer Affairs Dept. at 303-853-6185 or the Denver Post Office at 303-853-6528.
