In 1962, architecture student Bill Truex experienced the transformation of Stroget, Copenhagen's main shopping area, from a traffic-snarled nightmare to a successful pedestrian mall. Seven years later, while serving on the Burlington Planning Commission, Truex enlisted support from Pat Robins of the Street Commission, and together they promoted turning Church Street into a pedestrian district. U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy and his chief of staff, Paul Bruhn, secured a federal grant, and Burlington voters, with support from Mayor Gordon Paquette, passed a bond for the city's share of construction costs. The Church Street Marketplace opened on September 15, 1981, and has been described as the gem in the crown of the Queen City of Burlington.