DNC could stall construction

City engineer warns of dismantling cranes

John Rebchook, Rocky Mountain News

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Construction and business leaders are up in arms over an e-mail from a Denver city engineer warning there could be a moratorium on construction in downtown Denver a month before the Democratic National Convention next year.

The issues raised in the e-mail sent by city engineer Joe Saejiw this summer also warned that tower cranes may have to be disassembled, a move that could cost millions of dollars.

The scenarios outlined in the e-mail could wreak havoc on the $160 million economic windfall that officials predict the 35,000-person convention will bring to the city next August.

In addition to the construction moratorium and disassembly of the cranes, the e-mail also states that permits will be issued until July 31, streets must be open and all covered walkways must be removed.

Saejiw, in an interview late Monday, said he just wanted to lay out the worst-case scenario for contractors, not set off a firestorm of controversy.

He said he was told by his bosses to "produce some kind of notice" to contractors to give them an idea of what they might expect until the city has more definitive instructions from the Secret Service, which has the final say on security measures.

But Mayor John Hickenlooper said late Monday that he had no knowledge of Saejiw's e-mail until he talked to contractor Ed Haselden, who heads Haselden Construction Co., earlier this summer. And the mayor summed up his reaction to the ideas outlined in the e-mail in four words: "Over my dead body."

Hickenlooper vowed the convention will be the safest ever but also will have as little disruption to business as possible.

The Secret Service, under federal law, makes the final decision on what security measures must be in place, said Ronald Perea, the Secret Service special agent in charge of Denver.

"At this point, we are in the preliminary stages," Perea said. "I really cannot comment on any particulars on security."

Asked if cranes had to be dismantled or if there were any construction moratoriums in other cities, he said, "Each city has its own distinctive area around the event, whether it be a harbor, a dock, a railroad tracks or skyscrapers that we look at."

Bill Vidal, Denver Public Works manager, said the Secret Service had indicated it might not want to see people on top of cranes during certain hours but never raised the issue of dismantling them.

But Hickenlooper said cranes are so crucial to big projects he doesn't want to see them unmanned for even four or five hours during a work day.

He said it would make more sense to have Denver police guard the sites, check the identification of operators and "pat them down" to make sure they are not packing a gun than to shut them down.

Haselden said he thinks the city can provide security at the convention without shutting down construction for a month.

"Having said that, if they go the extreme and demobilize cranes and stop work 30 days prior to the convention, the whole good for the economy just goes out the window," Haselden said. "But let's use a little common sense. These things are absurd."

John Shaw, head of Opus Northwest in Denver, said he will have 300 people working in downtown during the convention.

"Could you imagine telling 300 construction workers not to come to work for the next 30 days? That's just unthinkable."

Phil Tallman of Morrow Equipment, which rents many of the giant cranes downtown, said it typically takes three to five days to dismantle a crane, and easily can cost $500,000.

"A tower crane is at the heart of every construction site," Tallman said. "Shutting them down would be astronomically expensive. Contractors have schedules to meet, and this would mean they are 30 days behind schedule."

Everyone from the Secret Service to Mike Dino, who heads fundraising for the Democratic National Convention, emphasized there is no security plan in place.

"At this point, there has not been enough planning put in place to determine how construction will be impacted, one way or another," Dino said.

"Certainly, people have made comments along the lines you have heard. But the mayor wants as little impact as possible on day-to-day activities in the city. But probably there will be some impact on construction."

There are 10 tower cranes in the downtown area now, and there could be twice that number by the convention, Ken Schroeppel wrote on his Denverinfill.com blog earlier this month.

"This is the most number of cranes in downtown Denver since the mid-1980s," Schroeppel wrote. "By the start of the Democratic National Convention . . . we'll have probably lost a few that are currently in place, but we'll have certainly gained many others by then. In all, I predict about 18 to 20 cranes looming above downtown Denver when the Dems are here next fall."

Saejiw said he raised the possibility of dismantling cranes because he heard that had been discussed before the 2004 Democratic convention in Boston.

"I don't know if it happened," he said. "We have been too overwhelmed to check it out."

rebchookj@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5207