DPR Constructing Unique New Denver City Lights Pavilion Project

During the summer months, Denver City Lights Pavilion - downtown Denver’s newest concert venue - will cast a highly visible, welcoming beacon of blue lights from this unique 5,000-seat open-air amphitheater.

Come winter, the temporary structure will be dismantled, and the area will be transformed back into a parking lot for use by visitors of the Pepsi Center, home of the NBA’s Nuggets and NHL’s Colorado Avalanche 2001 Stanley Cup Champions. Only a series of metal lids arranged in a circular pattern, covering the below-grade footings, will provide any indication that the Pavilion spends its summers here.

Spanning approximately 44,000 sq. ft., the Denver City Lights Pavilion is the brainchild and the joint venture of Kroenke Sports Enterprises and Clear Channel Entertainment, for whom DPR has worked previously in Sacramento, Seattle and other cities. The enormous 1-acre tent that forms the main structure was transplanted from Boston, where a permanent facility was recently completed. Made of PVC-reinforced fabric, tied down with ¾ inch steel cable and supported by an intricate foundation system, the structure is designed as an all-weather venue, able to withstand severe weather conditions and high winds. The asphalt parking lot where it sits has been re-graded with a 14-inch slope to improve the line of site for concert patrons.

The foundation system required drilling six, 60-in.-diameter caissons, 45 feet deep. Each caisson contains a 30-in. diameter by eight-ft. long galvanized sand pot. The center ring of each caisson is angled seven degrees outward. When the tent is dismantled, the circle of foundations will be covered, and the site will convert back to its original parking lot use. Several 20- and 40-ft. steel containers will form the operating venue’s back and sidewalls and will be used to store the removable seats and other material during winter months.

Project challenges have been numerous, led by a highly accelerated schedule that includes a critical completion date tied to the first concert booked for the venue on June 14, 2002. Erection of the fabric tent during Colorado’s on-record windiest month also offered its challenges. On the milestone day for the tent assembly, wind projections were not on DPR’s side. However, the wind did break and the team began to erect the tent just after 4:00 a.m., completing the project goal on time.

In addition to being adjacent to the Pepsi Center, this site is also in close proximity to the new home of the Grand Prix of Denver racetrack and Le Cirque du Soleil’s performance tent.