Wildlife Experience Museum Parker Co Art and Ale Festival

The Wildlife Feel building merely east of I-25 and Lincoln has been many things to many people in its 19-year life: an events eye, museum of natural history, IMAX theater and a University of Colorado Denver South campus.

Now it'south poised to transform again, this time into an alternative education campus for the Douglas County School District.

The schoolhouse board canonical a Dec. 14 auction of the property. Co-ordinate to the Douglas County Assessor's Office, the sale price was $0.

Details of the transaction weren't readily available as university officials, Douglas County School District officials nor David or Gail Liniger, the Colorado couple who founded residential real estate behemothic Re/Max and congenital the Wild fauna Experience building in 2002, wanted to discuss how the deal went downwards. The contract was shrouded by a nondisclosure understanding.

Commune officials told residents in an online Q&A that they bought the holding for $10.3 million, which includes the 14.1 acres it sits on at 10035 South. Peoria St. in Lone Tree. The city annexed the property in 2017, when it was withal CU-Denver South. Many know it equally "The Liniger Building."

The commune plans to spend $19.8 million on facilities improvements to bring information technology up to school-edifice standards.

"This is a great investment into the students of the Douglas County School District," Danny Winsor, executive director of schools, said in an interview. "Our goal as a district is to ever invest in student success. This will requite them a leg up on transitioning through the school commune to the workforce and across, whether that's college — a two- or iv-twelvemonth kind, manufacture certifications and college credits."

Past history

Many due south Denver residents have visited the 109,000-square-pes edifice, whether they went to "Picture show and a Martini," "Trick or Care for Off the Street" or one of the "Art and Ale" festivals that for years drew more than xl breweries and continually sold out. Officials used to have a massive outdoor low-cal display every vacation season, and the South Metro Denver Bedchamber of Commerce held many large events at that place.

Its great hall can hold up to ane,150 people — three times the size of the biggest auditorium the district now has, Winsor said.

"Information technology'south a landmark for Lonely Tree and Douglas Canton as well," he said, noting the district plans to lease the facility for events to offset the estimated $1.4 million in annual upkeep costs. The outset effect since the district took ownership involves more than than 150 CEOs from various companies coming in to bout the facility.

"It'south of import it's not just well-nigh K-12 programming," said Winsor.

The district will proceed to partner with CU, which still offers its nursing program at the building, Arapahoe Community College, the University of Denver and various industry partners.

"We're talking post-secondary readiness," he said. "Students will be able to notice an educational experience that supports them beingness successful, and ensures a lot of on ramps and off ramps."

Winsor estimated the district has saved students some $4 1000000 in post-secondary pedagogy tuition by offering college-credit classes.

How the deal went down

In 2015, the Linigers donated the edifice and land to the University of Colorado. Its estimated value was $40 million, and information technology was the biggest land donation to the university at the time.

CU officials tried to brand a go of the CU-Denver Due south campus, simply a lack of pupil demand and so the pandemic halting in-person learning ultimately doomed it.

"The university engaged in a multiyear endeavor to develop the CU S Denver facility," Michael Sandler, vice president for communications, said in an electronic mail. "All four campuses created academic programs, and the university invested significant funds to renovate portions of the building, market those programs and maintain the museum and event operations housed at the building.

"Unfortunately, CU didn't see enough demand for the programs to cover the $1.4 one thousand thousand almanac costs to maintain the building. The subsidies the university had provided, and would have to go on to provide, were unsustainable. Therefore, the university decided in 2020 to sell the building, and following a competitive marketing process, the belongings was sold to the Douglas Canton School Commune in belatedly 2021."

The Parker Relate reported the university had to return the souvenir to the Linigers, before it ultimately ended up with Douglas County, but The Denver Gazette could not independently confirm that.

Douglas County voters in 2018 approved bonds to fund a new Innovation Middle and Alternative Instruction school at Pino Drive in Parker. Merely the school board ditched that plan in October "due to upkeep overruns," according to the Q&A.

The $38.i 1000000 in "remaining funds from the Pine Bulldoze projects" is enough to cover the $10.3 meg purchase cost, $19.8 million in building upgrades and $5 million to purchase "ACC Parker" (Arapahoe Community College Parker campus) and $3 million for the "ACC Parker Budget."

"Constructing 175,000 ft. of new space in current dollars to schoolhouse standards, would cost approximately $ninety - $100 million," according to the Q&A. "In addition, a 14-acre site in this location would toll at least $500,000 per acre for a total of $7 million. Thus, the total estimated cost to construct a new school of this size on this acreage would cost approximately $97 - $107 million on the low range of the guess."

"We've been very fortunate," said Winsor. "We owe a huge thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Liniger."

Asked how Douglas Canton will make the campus a success, where prior educational institutions could non, he said the district "is fortunate to have a pipeline of kids who will access this programming."

"For united states, existence here in a fundamental Douglas County location is just ideal, for public transit and access to all the high schools in our district," Winsor said. "We're excited well-nigh the opportunities ahead of us."

The edifice is scheduled to open in August 2023 and will serve up to 700 students.

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Source: https://denvergazette.com/premium/douglas-countys-wildlife-experience-building-to-transform-once-again/article_14d3cc50-83a7-11ec-978c-8fe2853b5aea.html

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