Denver Federal Center

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Denver Federal Center is located in Lakewood, Colorado and is the home to about 6,200 employees for many Federal agencies. The Denver Federal Center encompasses an area of about 670 acres (2.7 km²) and has 90 buildings comprising over 4,000,000 square feet (400,000 m²) of office, warehouse, lab and special use space. There are 26 different Federal agencies on-site, making it the largest concentration of Federal agencies outside of Washington, D.C.

The major employers at the Denver Federal Center are U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. General Services Administration, Bureau of Land Management, and Bureau of Reclamation.

Special facilities at the Denver Federal Center include the National Ice Core Laboratory.

1 History
2 Environment
3 Future Plans
4 External links
5 References

[edit] History

[edit] Early Settlement

Major Jacob Downing, Colorado pioneer and judge, purchased the land in the late 1860s and developed it into a ranch, raising Arabian horses. Downing played a role in settling the West. He introduced new agriculture and wildlife, and helped lay the foundations for the city of Denver.

Thomas S. Hayden, a prominent Denver resident, purchased the Downing estate in 1913. He expanded it into a 20,000 acre (80 km²) cattle ranch.

[edit] World War II

The Federal Government purchased 2040.207 acres from the Hayden family in December 1940 for the purpose of building an ordnance (ammunition) plant. The site was chosen for its rural setting and because it was far from the Nation's borders and therefore presumed safe from sabotage. In late January 1941, the War Department signed a contract with the Remington Arms Company to produce small arms ammunition. Construction of the Plant started in early March, 1941. Rapidly the Government built over 200 buildings for the new Denver Ordnance Plant. Ammunition production at the plant commenced in late September, 1941. At its height of production in 1943, the Denver Ordnance Plant was the 4th largest “city” in Colorado with a workforce “population” of more than 22,000. These employees worked day and night producing over six million cartridges a day.

[edit] Cold War

When World War II ended, ammunition production ended and the Denver Ordnance Plant became Federal surplus property. A portion of the Ordnance Plant facility was converted into office, warehouse, and laboratory space for several Federal agencies. This smaller facility was given a new name: the 'Denver Federal Center'. The Federal Center is bounded on the north by Sixth Avenue (U.S. Route 6), on the East by Kipling Street, and on the South by Alameda Avenue. The Western boundary of the Federal Center is just East of Union Blvd.

Building 810, in the southwest corner of the Federal Center was once the largest warehouse west of the Mississippi River and in 1965 was state-of-the-art and fully automated. It contained all the supplies needed to service all government facilities for the General Services Administration (GSA). Today, Building 810 is the home of several operations for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), including the distribution facility for all the USGS topographic maps and publications and the storage facilities for all geologic and ice core samples drilled from around of the world.

Building 710 is an underground bunker complex designed to withstand a nuclear blast. The building was constructed by Army Corps of Engineers and completed in 1969 and has a total space of 36,000 square feet. It was intended as a base for federal operations during a nuclear attack and was designed to house 300 people for up to 30 days in the event of a nuclear war. On August 2, 2000 the structure was added to the National Register of Historic Places. It was chosen for its connection to Cold War history and its architectural significance. Today Building 710 houses the headquarters of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. ^[1]

[edit] Environment

To mitigate groundwater contamination by chlorinated solvents, the U.S. Geological Survey served as an advisor to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the construction of in-ground permeable reactive barriers. The permeable reactive barriers neutralize the solvents in the ground water. The groundwater is chemically altered as it passes through the barriers made with zero-valence iron. Trichlorethene and dichlorethene are found in concentrations of higher than 200 parts per billion as they enter the barriers and measure less than one part per billion as the groundwater exits the barriers. ^[2]

In 2006 the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) notified the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) of a leak from a water storage tank containing radioactive water and equipment. The impacted tank is used for equipment storage and not reactor operations. An estimated 575 gallons of water leaked into the ground, although USGS officials claimed there was no evidence of contamination measured at a nearby groundwater monitoring well at that time. The USGS has operated the non-power nuclear reactor since 1969. ^[3] ^[4] ^[5]

[edit] Future Plans

The Denver Federal Center is the future home of St. Anthony Central Hospital. This development is the first private project to be housed at the Denver Federal Center.

The western edge of the property has been identified as the future location of a major Regional Transportation District (RTD) intermodal transit facility and Park-n-Ride for light rail and bus service, with light rail expected to come on-line by 2012.

On July 9, 2007 the Lakewood City Council voted to annex, zone and vest the Denver Federal Center. Lakewood City Manager signed an offer to purchase Denver Federal Center for $25 million. The purchase price would be reimbursed to the city through the sale of land to St. Anthony's Hospital and the Regional Transportation District (RTD). ^[6] On August 3, 2007 the The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) Rocky Mountain Region awarded contract worth a $6.9 million to SunEdison for designing and constructing a solar park at the Denver Federal Center. The one megawatt photovoltaic system will generate nearly 10 percent of the Denver Federal Center's peak electricity demand. The system is scheduled to be completed by the middle of December 2007. ^[7]