On March 7, 1968, thirty off-duty Denver police officers stood at the entrances. Inside, fountains started running under a glass dome that covered a full acre of indoor plaza space.
The plaza had trees, benches, and statues arranged to make the inside feel more like an outdoor public square than a building.
Only about 100 stores were open that morning, far fewer than the 250 that had been promised. Developer Gerri Von Frellick still moved ahead…