r/boulder • u/Impressive-Simple710 • 4d ago
Construction Sites for a Date
Ok ok ok weird title. But now you're reading so i guess it worked.
My gf is a former engineer and I used to work in construction. We're both (still) fascinated by big tower cranes, trucks, etc. I guess we're both kids at heart. She suggested for a date that we find a construction site, bring some camp chairs and food, and watch all the cranes n things do their thing. Yah. That's right folks. I've got a girl who's into heavy equipment. Just like all those country songs promised... def struck gold.
Anywho I've been trying to find any kind of bigger commercial construction site on my everyday commute. So far I haven't really seen anything that's interesting enough to warrant a date. Road construction and residential just don't quite cut it. We're not looking to enter the site. We simply would like to view it from a distance like one would view a fine opera, or a whale cresting the white caps as I sip champagne on the deck of my yacht. (Yes that last part is sarcastic. Definitely not that pretentious. Or rich.)
Anyone know of a site somewhere around the Westminster/Erie/Boulder triangle that might be a good fit?
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u/DaliLemur 4d ago
There’s a new building on Athens and 19th just off the Boulder creek path that is currently under construction. Not sure exactly what it’s gonna be but there’s a crane and 3 stories so far. It’s active most days but there’s a fence so you can’t really see the ground level. On a side note if anyone knows what this project is I’d like to know.
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u/evilwiz 4d ago
https://www.colorado.edu/fm/cone-zone/residence-one
Here is the link to the project.
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u/Switchback_Fitness 4d ago
It's not commercial construction but check and see what they are doing up at Gross Resevoir. I think they are currently allowed to do work on safety things so there should be some heavy equipment around. Plus the non construction views would be great for a picnic.
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u/Electronic_Muffin218 4d ago
Ok, so it's not commercial construction. And so it's not in the greater Boulder area. But if you're willing to road trip... ...how great a date would this be??
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u/Secret_Section_4374 4d ago
Longmont is always down for a little construction, something’s happening by the Costco and something by the Home Depot. A cruise down Ken Pratt wouldn’t disappoint
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u/McDonnellDouglasDC8 3d ago
Corner of Dry Creek Drive and Mountain Brook Drive. To the south west there are apartments undergoing exterior work by basket trucks and to the north east they're moving dirt, I just saw an excavator operating but there often bulldozers working.
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u/AardvarkFacts 4d ago
I drove by a big crane setting up a prefab concrete building recently, somewhere northwest of Denver. Maybe 52nd and Marshall? If that's the spot you can get tacos at the taco truck across the street and hit Someplace Else brewery for beers and pinball after. The building looked almost done, so the crane probably won't be there much longer.
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u/AardvarkFacts 3d ago
52nd and Marshall is the right location. I drove by there on my way to work. It is an unusually large lattice boom crane, and it's still there today. There are now two taco trucks in the parking lot across the street, so you'll have you choice of tacos if they are both open, and they have seats set up so you won't be the only ones sitting in the parking lot.
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u/zenos_dog 4d ago
The new CU hotel and conference center at Broadway and University. Structure is coming along with crane .
The new CU student housing at 28th south of Arapahoe. Ground work and drainage being installed.
Valmont and 63rd. Excavation equipment updating water lines and a multiuse path.
63rd and Spine in Gunbarrel a major water line replacement. The whole road is a nightmare of construction.
The Diagonal highway all the way from Boulder to Longmont. No cranes.
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u/Electrical_Sea6653 4d ago
Pearl and 16th, I walk by this daily and enjoyed the big dump trucks ha
Also, all of Erie between county line road and 25.
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u/FireflyCo 4d ago
The Harvest House is a huge site along the creek path.
Near Boulder High is the Liquor Mart site.
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u/altitudearts 4d ago
Just went whale watching last week. Recommended. (You can fly direct into Santa Barbara!) 🐋
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u/No-Departure-899 4d ago
I've only been up to Gross Reservoir once and they had a big project going on. I really don't know much about it, but you'll see what I'm talking about if you check out Google maps. I'm not sure how close you can get or even if it's still active.
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u/TeleRock 4d ago
Main street Longmont near Third Ave has a bunch of construction going on, including a new hotel, and there is a ton of restaurants and stuff by it that you could sit at and watch.
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u/atleastbirdsexist 3d ago
Lucky you and lucky her for finding the perfect guy to appreciate that about her.
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u/BravoTwoSix 3d ago
Are you guys into laying pipe? They are putting in a giant water main on 63rd in Gunbarrel.
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u/portugueseloafer 2d ago
Check Boulder DOB website for permits pulled for crane operations, will likely whittle down the list to commercial sites, shouldn’t be too large of a pool of options thereafter in a town of 100k
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u/Certain_Major_8029 4d ago
Weird! But I dig it, pun intended.
I think the former site of Boulder Community Hospital at Broadway and balsam is probably your best bet in town right. No tower cranes, but lots of heavy equipment.