COVID In Denver: Colorado Convention Center To Be Decommissioned As Alternative Care Site

DENVER (CBS4)- The Colorado Convention Center for alternative COVID-19 care during the coronavirus pandemic will be decommissioned. The Colorado Office of Emergency Management tweeted an update on the alternative care site on Tuesday afternoon.

The tweet read, "Today, January 19, the Unified Coordination Center began steps to decommission the alternative care site at the Colorado Convention Center. The site is expected to be turned back over to Denver County by March 25."

Hundreds of beds are available at the Colorado Convention Center in downtown Denver in the event of a new surge of COVID cases. So far the convention center generally hasn't had to be used because hospitals haven't been overloaded with coronavirus patients.

Initially the plan was to have 2,000 beds at the convention center but that plan was scaled back.

Last spring, Kevin Klein, Colorado's Director of the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, said "We want to keep the ability to turn (the Colorado Convention Center) on in short order through what would be the next wave in the fall."

Since the outbreak in March 2020, all conventions that were scheduled to take place at the Colorado Convention Center have had to cancel, including the Great American Beer Festival and the Denver Auto Show.