Englewood pauses Old Hampden project after council removes $5.74M allocation

Englewood has paused its Old Hampden Complete Streets project after the City Council removed $5.74 million allocated to the work from the city’s 2026 budget supplemental and separately rejected a construction contract July 20.

The council minutes record both actions as 6-0 votes. They identify the removed $5,742,117 as a project allocation but do not identify its funding sources or expressly tie it to the rejected bid. The records do not establish whether it included DRCOG, HB 1466, ARPA, state or local funds.

At an Aug. 3 meeting, the project was described as paused “for the time being.” Trustee Tina Price said the city did not proceed with the main contractor’s contract because of concerns about the contractor’s prior relationship with the city. She said the pause did not mean the project had been abandoned, though future discussions could consider a different scope because the original funding would not be available and the city would not spend double the amount.

No redesign, rebid, replacement funding authorization or construction schedule has been announced. The city’s current project update says future improvements may be considered as separate projects with community and stakeholder outreach.

The council’s contract decision rejected Holesco International’s roughly $10.8 million bid. The project would connect the Broadway corridor toward the hospital with wider sidewalks, ADA upgrades, enhanced crosswalks, repaving and other multimodal improvements. Staff and council discussed the bid, funding and possible next steps during an earlier meeting.

Council members said they still supported improving the corridor but could reduce or redesign the project and rebid it, potentially without the federal requirements attached to the then-current funding. Staff said a reduced-scope version would require new design review and that a new approval or contract likely would not be ready before the end of 2026.

That timeline put about $3.4 million in unspent HB 1466 funds — described during the earlier meeting as ARPA-related money — at risk. Staff said eligible materials had to be on site or construction had to be underway by Dec. 31, with reimbursement submitted to the state. Work after the deadline would not qualify for reimbursement, and unspent money would have to be returned.

The city was told it would not have to repay about $937,982 already spent if the project stopped, based on guidance from the Colorado Department of Transportation. But it could lose access to the remaining grant funds unless it put an eligible project in place by the deadline. The July minutes and Aug. 3 record do not provide additional documentation of the grant agreement, funding breakdown or reimbursement deadline.

The project was solicited twice. The first solicitation received no timely bids; the second produced three, with Holesco as the low bidder. Staff said procurement rules tied to the federalized funding required the city to accept the low bid despite concerns about Holesco’s record.

Those concerns involved two earlier Englewood projects, staff said. Holesco’s Dartmouth Bridge work included significant delays, cost overruns and unresolved closeout issues, while the smaller Oxford pedestrian bridge project involved utility problems and change-order requests the city considered unjustified. Staff also described a dispute involving possible litigation but did not establish that a lawsuit had been filed.

The July budget action also removed related funding for easements and street lighting from the supplemental request. It did not cancel the broader idea of corridor improvements. The city has not decided whether to pursue a smaller locally funded version, redesign and rebid the project, or abandon the current grant-funded approach.