new entertainment magnate for downtown Denver unveiled
ryan ross
SEPTEMBER 17, 2025
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
‘ROCKY MOUNTAIN EYE’ PROPOSED FOR DOWNTOWN DENVER
DENVER, Colorado - A proposal for a 500-foot Ferris wheel providing passengers in glass-encases pods with birds-eye views of downtown and the foothills of one of the most iconic mountain ranges in the world was unveiled Wednesday by downtown revitalization advocates.
The Rocky Mountain Eye is a replica of the wildly popular London Eye, which is that city’s most popular tourist attraction, with 3.5 million passengers a year.
“Downtown Denver desperately needs more family-friendly, safe, eye-popping attractions,” downtown businessman Ryan Ross said in unveiling the proposal. “The Rocky Mountain Eye is a lynch-pin in our plan to attract millions of new workers, residents and visitors to downtown, and give it the kind of super-charged boost that would lift it out of the doldrums it’s stuck in.”
The Rocky Mountain Eye has about 30, 25-passenger pods. It rotates at about 2 mph, meaning that the pods slowly rise to give passengers breathtaking views of Denver, the Front Range, and the foothills of the Rockies. Each pod will feature digital guides and dioramas to downtown’s significant features, mountain attractions such as Rocky Mountain National Park and Pikes Peak, the 14ers, and the state’s world-renown ski areas. The pods can also be customized for holidays, wedding, parties, and passenger-designed celebrations.
“At $29 a ride per-person, the Rocky Mountain Eye provides affordable entertainment,” Ross said. “And no ride is the same. The weather will make each ride different, and so will the way the pods feature holiday traditions, special events, and personalized touches. Riders will come back again and again every time they’re in or near downtown.”
Ross and his team lead New Downtown Denver, the non-profit he created earlier this year to promote a new vision for downtown. They have identified the best location for the Rocky Mountain Eye, and they’ve determined that revenues will be sufficient to pay for construction and operating costs. “The companies that build and operate these Eyes will find Denver an attractive location if city leaders embrace our proposal, extend an invitation and help pave the way,” Ross said.
“Unfortunately,” Ross said, “Mayor Johnston and his team are taking a small-ball approach to revitalizing downtown that won’t provide anywhere near the boost the that’s needed. That’s why we’re spearheading an approach featuring the kinds of big-scale projects that promise a much brighter future than what City Hall envisions.”
Ross said that a critical component of the success of the Rocky Mountain Eye is that it’s at a station on DEN-VAIR, the automated transit network Ross and his team are proposing. This network will whisk passengers along an elevated rail network in six-passenger, gondola-like cabins. Using the normally empty parking lots at Coors Field and Mile-High Stadium, the 3-loop rail network will enable passengers to ride in comfort to anywhere in or near downtown Denver, including the Rocky Mountain Eye and the new Broncos stadium at Burnham Yards.
Ross said his aim is to build public support for the revitalization project, and encourage Mayor Johnston and his team to get onboard.
Details about the Rocky Mountain Eye and other elements of the proposals advocated by New Downtown Denver are available at the organization’s website. Additional information is available by emailing in...@NewDowntownDenver.org
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FOR DETAILS, contact Ryan Ross at 303-832-6296, or at dire...@NewDowntownDenver.org
Ryan Ross
Director
New Downtown Denver, Inc.
910 16th Street Mall. Suite 207
Denver, CO. 80202
