A Brief History of Auraria

              Ground Breaking
On October 4,1973, a ground breaking ceremony
for the first phase of construction drew some 200
people to the Auraria site for speeches and warm
wishes from Governor John Vanderhoof, Senator
Joseph Shoemaker, Denver Deputy Mayor Harold
Cook, AHEC Board Chair Richard Wright and others
involved in the Auraria initiative.
By early 1974, planning and construction were
in full swing. Dan Paulien, Education Program Planner, worked with faculty, administrators and students
in defining space requirements. He also worked with
student committees to develop a joint student union
that would include lounges, offices for student
organizations, recreational facilities, food services
and a book store, all to be funded through bonds
that would be repaid through student fees and sales.
In the fall of 1974, the Board and the institutions determined the range of joint nonacademic
programs to be administered centrally. At the Board
meeting November 7, the Auraria's new Executive
Director Floyd Stearns reported consensus that AHEC
would assume responsibility for assignment and
space scheduling, property inventory coordination,
parking, central information services, mail, telephone, fire and safety protection, central stores inventory, and shipping, receiving and warehousing.
MSCD would supervise athletic programs and UCD
would manage the library.
The first two buildings completed on the campus were the
South Classroom and the Technology Building. The Community
College of Denver faculty moved in
December 1975, to be joined by the
students in January of 1976 after
the break. The Denver Post reported
that the earliest occupants included
three skeletons who were carefully
maneuvered through mud and construction by protective faculty
members — presumably biologists.
Funding of Auraria
State Funding
$45,396,0O0
Federal Urban Renewal Funds
22,214,000
City of Denver Bond Issue
6,000,000
Student Facilities Bonds
6,150,000
Parking Bonds
3,500,000
Private (through Historic Denver, Inc.)    900,000
Project Grants
Economic Development Admn.
(St. Cajetan's Renovation)
National Endowment for the Arts
(Landscape Planning)
Bureau of Outdoor Recreation
(Ninth Street Park Landscaping
National Park Service
(Ninth Street Park Renovation)
Total
$84,672,000
"We were a very cohesive group, like a small family," recalls CCD faculty member Helen Kleysteuber.
"Everybody was in the same building, even the president. I remember the windows were upside down in
the South Classroom... I think they still are. We had
our first graduation in the sanctuary of St.
Elizabeth's. The students loved it!"
From bid savings, the Board had an extra $1.4
million for additional finishes, somewhat softening
the "bare bones" image Auraria had acquired. A contingency of approximately s325,000 was set aside for
later installation of air conditioning.
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