Downtown Denver should be one of the safest places in America during the Democratic National Convention, said Elbra Wedgeworth. And missing out on it due to concerns about traffic and congestion means missing out on history, said Tami Door.

The two civic boosters spoke Wednesday during an Urban Land Institute panel discussion at the Curtis Hotel, attended by about 100 people.

"I personally think this is probably one of the safest places you're going to be able to be in America, because you'll have so many people on the streets," said Wedgeworth, president of the Denver 2008 Convention Host Committee [1].

"We want to make sure that the world is watching. We want to make sure that they see something that is worthwhile. And that they'll remember Denver is a very positive way. so I think that Denver is ready."

[Note: Denver today announced some of its convention-security purchases [2].]

Wedgeworth added, "Get ready, because there's already a committee right now planning on a Winter Olympics about ten years from now. And so this is nothing compared to the Olympics."

Door, president of the Downtown Denver Partnership [3], spoke after Wedgeworth and made a pitch for metro Denver residents to come downtown during the convention, Aug. 25 through 28.

"One of the biggest questions we get is, "'Well, it's going to be really busy, it's going to very congested...'"

"The answer is ‘Yes.' And that's exactly what we would hope for in a downtown like Denver. We expect the streets to be filled with people. We worked very closely with the administration in regards to the street closures as well as with RTD in terms of transit options.

"And we feel, actually, from a downtown perspective, that it's going to be extremely accessible. And we highly encourage individuals in our community to make sure that they come down to really be a part of it. We tell people quite often, in ten years, you don't want to be the one that said that you weren't there, being part of history, because you're concerned that the traffic might be bad. So spread the word that downtown is open for business."