By Catie Cheshire | Nov 3, 2026
The Colorado Symphony is working toward a $122 million renovation of the Boettcher Concert Hall in the Denver Performing Arts Complex and a Denver City Council committee has given initial approval for local firm Tryba Architects to design the renovation.
The committee unanimously backed a $16.49 million contract Tuesday and advanced it to the full city council for approval. “That is a fabulous choice,” said Chris Hinds, who represents the downtown district that is home to the concert hall. “If you’ve spent any time downtown, you’ve seen [David Tryba’s] work. Union Station went from a dark, tired depot to Denver’s living room, the Wellington Webb Municipal Building — where many of us work or visit every day — History Colorado Center, the master plans for the Denver Botanic Garden and the Denver Art Museum. His practice is built on preservation. …Taking buildings the city already loves and making them work for the next 50 years without losing what made them worth saving, I think is something that Tryba Architects can do.”
Tryba was recently announced as the architect for the neighborhood and entertainment district master plan for the Denver Broncos’ new potential stadium site at Burnham Yard. Tryba will partner with LMN Architects, a Seattle-based firm with extensive music venue experience, on the renovation of the Boettcher
Concert Hall. The hall, at 1000 14th St., opened in 1978. Daniel Wachter, the CEO of the Colorado Symphony, has described its renovation as long-overdue. The renovation will boost the symphony’s attendance and future revenue, bringing increased economic benefits to the city overall, he said. The symphony currently generates an estimated $57.4 million in annual economic activity, more than double its roughly $25 million budget, he told the Denver Business Journal.
Tryba’s contract is funded by the voter-approved Vibrant Denver Bond, which allocated $20 million for design and construction at Boettcher Concert Hall. The symphony is embarking on a capital campaign to raise $15 million for the project, part of which it hopes to generate by selling the naming rights to the building and certain interior spaces. The actual concert hall will still bear the Boettcher name. The Boettcher family’s eponymous foundation has already donated $2 million, according to Patrick Riley, bond program manager with the city. The remainder of the $122 million renovation will be funded by the city’s Denver
Arts and Venues department, Riley said during Tuesday’s committee meeting. The renovation is expected to be complete by fall 2029. In the meantime, the symphony will play at other venues throughout metropolitan Denver, including the Arvada Center and Red Rocks Park & Amphitheater. The symphony also plans to seek out smaller venues and dive deeper into the community to spread performances around while the concert hall is under construction, according to Riley.
