Construction cranes won't come down for convention

By John Rebchook, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published July 24, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.

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Cranes towering over downtown Denver's skyline will be in full swing during the Democratic National Convention next month.

Last year, business and city leaders were alarmed when the notion of shutting down the cranes during the convention - costing millions of dollars - was considered for safety issues.

The idea came to light in September, when the Rocky Mountain News published a copy of a worst-case scenario distributed by a city engineer. That scenario envisioned cranes could be used by snipers, posing a security risk.

"From day one, it was a concern," said Tami Door, president and CEO of the Downtown Denver Partnership, regarding the dismantling of the cranes.

"All of those cranes is a sign of a really healthy downtown," she said. "It would be extraordinarily expensive to dismantle them."

Last week, when the city announced what streets would be closed during the DNC, city officials reassured construction and development companies that the cranes would not be taken down, Door said.

"The cranes were never an issue for us," said Ronald Perea, of the Denver office for the Secret Service.

"I think that whole thing originated from a draft memo on a worst-case scenario that did not originate from the Secret Service by any means," he said.

Officials from Mayor John Hickenlooper's office and the city's Public Works Department said it will be "business as usual," as far as cranes downtown.

Last fall, Hickenlooper suggested off-duty police could be used to guard cranes.

Denver Police Department spokesman Sonny Jackson declined to say whether any business people have asked for police to watch their cranes.

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