Stapleton International Airport Plaza (Denver's tallest at 714′). Due to Stapleton's location east of downtown, the Federal Aviation Administration imposed a building height restriction of 700'-715' (depending on where the building was). This allowed an unimpeded glide slope for runways (8L/26R) and (8R/26L). The height restriction was lifted in 1995, well after the city's skyscrapers had been erected. By the 1980s, plans were under way to replace Stapleton with a new airport. Stapleton was plagued with a number of problems, including: The Colorado General Assembly brokered a deal in 1985 to annex a plot of land in Adams County into the city of
Stapleton International Airport officially opened for all operations the following morning. When it closed in 1995, Stapleton had six runways (2 sets of 3 parallel runways) and five terminal concourses. The runways at Stapleton were then marked with large yellow "X"s, which indicated it was no longer legal or safe for any aircraft to land there. The IATA and ICAO airport codes of DEN and KDEN were then transferred to the new DIA, to coincide with the same changes in airline and ATC computers, to ensure that flights to Denver would land at the new DIA. While Denver International was being constructed, planners