According to the University of Denver 2025 Strategic Plan, developed in 2018, “The DU campus is currently inwardly focused with the most beautiful and accessible places located deep in the center. In the future, campus will expand its rich open space network to its edges, establishing a more welcoming, defined, and porous campus.”
To advance the strategy as outlined in the University of Denver Magazine, DU worked with the Urban Land Institute alongside university and neighborhood stakeholders to develop 13 recommendations. While many of the recommendations have been adopted, the idea of a ‘Denver District’ is largely unrealized.
A key recommendation cited in the study was the development of campus gateways and entry points to improve awareness of the University by the local Denver community and visitors. Today, many people drive right by the University with little understanding of entry and exit points, campus layout, and adjoining neighborhoods of University & University Park. Newcomers have difficulty navigating the campus, locating parking spaces, and identifying building locations. Gateway signs, at the very least, would provide the answer along with campus maps.
We wrote about this several years ago but little has been done.
The City of Englewood, for example, has developed a signage package to define its neighborhood gateways. They tout the benefits of neighborhood signage for three reasons: it creates a sense of place, enhances neighborhood identity and pride, and provides neighborhood information to residents and visitors. All things promised by the Campus Strategy. Englewood’s Cushing Park neighborhood gateways and streets, pictured below, are uniquely identified.
A similar approach could be used for DU and the surrounding neighborhoods to more clearly identify the area.
For the 2012 Presidential Debate between Mitt Romney and Barack Obama, DU constructed an attractive gateway sign at the southeastern corner of High Street and Buchtel Boulevard – but the effort ended there.
The University of Denver remains somewhat isolated from the surrounding community. A further delineation of the campus along with University and University Park neighborhoods would help visitors and better brand the University of Denver community and improve navigation around campus.
The 2025 Strategic Plan concludes in a little over a year.
Top photo: A concept showing a gateway monument and campus map at University and Evans.
Prominent street signs probably did not pass the inclusive excellence committee. Too show off-y, and would be a garish celebration of the economic disparities with Denver’s communities of color. I think DU will probably have to downsize their signage, even if it’s unreadable.
Dunker is totally in agreement with you. When I visited DU a few years ago, my first and only introduction was the exit sign on I-25. Naturally I knew where I was going. I knew to turn right on Evans to get to the center of campus. We are a major and important university that is a part of the community. Let everyone know.
About 4 weeks till hockey!
Thank goodness!!!
( I like the soccer updates in meantime)
No basis for this except my own intuition… I think the 2020 pandemic and resulting financial crisis severely shook the Board’s confidence in the University’s financial health. I say this because there have been almost no capital projects over the last four years. I can barely think of a sidewalk repair that I’ve seen since that time. An optimist would say the University is simply reloading the pipeline after completing the career center and the student center, and we’ll see them pick back up again when the City of Denver’s Planning Dept approves the STEM building. Or… is there something else going on? Is the University not investing in the Denver District brand among many things belt-tightening moves these days?
Another explanation could be the Kennedy Mountain Campus. I haven’t been up there. Are University resources headed up the hill instead of building the Denver District brand at home?
I think you are on the right track. I would only add that the new logo roll was just another (probably minor) reason for the delay.
Also, the original master plan that included all of this was developed under the previous Chancellor and Board Chair, so I’m guess that Chancellor Heafner and the current Board have decided on different priorities for the time being as well.
5BWest just over here stirring the pot while he waits for hockey season.
These “campus gateways” have been talked about for 40 years now, and it’s obvious that finding the money for such projects is always the issue. The University simply has other priorities for spending its money.