16th Street is fully (finally) reopening next month

Denver’s 16th Street (formerly 16th Street Mall) will fully reopen next month after three years of construction.

The project’s completion will come with an all-day celebration, starting at 11 a.m. on Oct. 4.

The reopening comes exactly 43 years after the original opening of the pedestrian mall in 1982. Before then, 16th Street was open to automobiles.

The city already threw a reopening party for the mall back in June, but a few blocks were still under construction.

Mayor Mike Johnston’s administration is hoping that businesses on the street recover quickly. About 30 percent of the storefronts on the street were vacant as of June — a result of years of street closures as well as a broader downturn in the city center.

What’s new:

The remodel cost around $175 million. The Downtown Denve