Denver Clears $120M Boettcher Concert Hall Renovation — With Naming-Rights to provide funding gap

Image: Derek Brad Photography

Denver City Council has approved a $120 million renovation of the city-owned Boettcher Concert Hall, home to the Colorado Symphony since 1978. The city is covering the bulk of the cost, $105 million drawn from Denver Arts & Venues capital funds, the 2025 Vibrant Denver bond, prior appropriations, and ticket-tax revenue, with the Colorado Symphony being responsible for the remaining $15 million.

The Symphony plans to close that gap by selling naming rights to parts of the building: the exterior, the stage, a new education center, the lobby, and other spaces. The hall's own name stays put — Boettcher isn't going anywhere — but everything around it is up for grabs to philanthropic donors, subject to Denver Arts & Venues' approval.

Because Boettcher Concert Hall is officially owned by the city, renaming it would require a standard and often lengthy public procedure. However, a bill making its way through Denver City Council exempts the concert hall from those procedures. 

"We expect the funding to close by year-end," said Denver Arts & Venues executive director Gretchen Hollrah, putting a concrete deadline on when a buyer might surface.

Construction is set to begin in 2028, pushing the Symphony out of its home for roughly a year and a half, from summer 2028 through fall 2029.

source: https://denverite.com