Broomfield’s 1stBank Center is coming down — gradually.
The city has begun demolishing the publicly funded, 6,500-seat arena along U.S. 36, a process that it said will take six months and cost roughly $3 million.
“Our work in the coming year toward the future development will include the Request for Proposals (RFP) process to bring in a developer that will create something to attract residents and businesses alike,” Broomfield spokeswoman Julie Story said.
A sale of the 10-acre site is possible, per the city’s website.
Envisioned as a hub of community events, minor league sports and midsized concerts, the venue opened in 2006 but constantly underperformed expectations. Most years, it hosted only between 10 and 25 concerts. The arena’s NBA G-league affiliate, the Colorado 14ers, left in 2009 for Frisco, Texas. Its minor league hockey team folded that same year.
Originally built with roughly $60 million in bonds, the arena was able to cover only payments starting in 2020. The Broomfield Urban Renewal Authority, or BURA, owns the property and will have spent $135 million to pay off the bond.
But the venue put a strain on more than just city finances. Broomfield dedicated 15 of its 26 police officers to secure events and fielded 738 emergency medical calls from the arena since 2016. A single EDM concert in February 2023 yielded 79 medical responses, eight indecent exposure citations, multiple drug-related arrests and a number of neighborhood noise disturbance complaints, public records show.
The Broomfield City Council voted unanimously in May 2023 to nix its agreement with the arena operator. The last event at the center was held in September 2023.
“What the police have gone through at some of these events is just appalling, and besides the financial reasons, I find this objectionable to continue this as these events have been going,” Councilwoman Jean Lim said at the May vote.
Funding of the demolition was approved in late September of this year, with work kicking off last month.
