More than 65,000 square feet of former Cold War defense manufacturing space is nearly ready to become a home for events ranging from home shows to RV displays.
Next month, a $3 million project to transform a portion of the former TRW building at 3650 N. Nevada Ave. will be complete. Asbestos was removed, oversized doors cut, restrooms added and remnants of the buildings former occupants erased as the UCCS-owned building is prepared for its first tenant, the Housing and Building Association of Colorado Springs. The HBA will operate the Colorado Springs Expo Center from the site under a five-year management agreement and lease with UCCS.
The transition from remnant of a bygone era is 80 percent complete, according to Gary Reynolds, executive director, Facilities Services. Construction is scheduled to be completed in mid-September but on Aug. 12 the HBA and UCCS showed off the space, asking visitors to pardon the dust while viewing the future. Guests included members of the HBA Board of Directors, El Paso County Commissioner Sallie Clark and Chancellor Pam Shockley-Zalabak as well as small business owners anxious to set up booths to show their wares at the next home and garden show.
“This is university and community partnership in action,” Brian Burnett, vice chancellor, Administration and Finance, said. “This isn’t something we just talk about. This is reality.”
Inside, visitors saw what will become 55,000 square feet of exhibit area, essentially open space divided only by concrete supports. The uninterrupted space is exactly what HBA sought to host events that range from a home and remodeling show to college fairs, a women’s living expo, and holiday food and gift festivals. Since the closure of the Phil Long Expo Center on North Academy in late 2010, Colorado Springs has been without a permanent home for such shows.
In the former TRW building, owned since 2007 by the CU Foundation and the university, UCCS and HBA officials saw opportunity. The building’s central location, ample parking, and sturdy construction gave it potential. Reynolds, in cooperation with CSNA Architects and Bryan Construction, was given six months to transform the building mothballed since the mid-1990s into exhibit space.
The litany of to-dos rattled off by Reynolds as he led tours was shorter than the projects already undertaken. Locker rooms used by workers who assembled satellite antennas in the building’s heyday were turned into restrooms for visitors, access for those with disabilities was created, fire sprinklers relocated, new electrical systems created and ventilation ductwork installed. A 12-foot by 14-foot garage door — big enough for a semi-tractor — and numerous fire exits were cut through concrete walls. By comparison, drywall and concrete floor finishing are short-term projects that will be undertaken once the heavy lifting is complete.
“It’ll be ready,” Burnett said of the building’s debut for the Sept. 29-Oct. 2 home remodeling show.
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