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An $11 million building purchase, and millions more in renovation costs, are key to a plan for Emily Griffith Technical College to move out of Denver Public Schools headquarters and expand.
The move comes at a time of rising popularity for career and technical education nationwide.
Founded in 1916, Emily Griffith Technical College is the adult education arm of DPS, and some of its programs are housed at the district’s downtown headquarters. But limited and expensive parking is a barrier for students, many of whom can’t afford to live nearby, officials said.
“If you’re going to school and working toward economic mobility, $40 to $60 a week is a big hit,” said college President Sarah Heath, referencing the cost of parking.
The Denver school board voted in April to buy a different building, called Centennial Hall, from the Urban Land Conservancy. It’s located on the former campus of Johnson & Wales University in east Denver, which Heath said has more parking and better public transportation access.
DPS bought four other buildings on that campus in 2021 for $30 million, in part for an expansion of the Denver School of the Arts magnet school.
Emily Griffith Technical College is funded by a mix of tuition and state higher education money. The college serves about 7,000 students per year, and their average age is 29, Heath said.
The $11 million for Centennial Hall won’t come out of DPS’ main budget, officials said. About $6 million will come from the college’s share of a bond measure Denver voters passed in 2020. The other $5 million will come from the college’s budget reserves.
The college will also use its budget reserves to pay for an estimated $17 million renovation of another DPS-owned building on the former Johnson & Wales campus called Aspen Hall. The timeline calls for renovations to begin in January so students can use it by early 2028.
The college’s information technology, healthcare, and esthetician programs will move to Aspen Hall, Heath said. The workforce development and career coaching services will relocate to Centennial Hall, which until recently housed a private school. Emily Griffith’s adult English language acquisition classes are already taking place at that campus.
Emily Griffith’s student-run businesses, including a cafe and barbershop, would likely stay downtown, Heath said. The college’s skilled trades programs, such as welding and automotive repair, are located in a leased space in west Denver.
Melanie Asmar is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Colorado. Contact Melanie at masmar@chalkbeat.org.
