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March 18, 2021
DENVER, COLORADO
A publication of
VOLUME 94 | ISSUE 19
Council OKs $149M to fix up 16th Street Mall More than 250 new trees will be among improvements BY DAVID SACHS AND ESTEBAN L. HERNANDEZ DENVERITE
tify the barriers and create a plan of action to ensure that women artists can effectively advocate for themselves in the future,” Astle said. The series will empower “participants to identify, discuss and champion existing barriers to success in various and multifaceted disciplines in the arts,” states a news release. It coincides with
Denver City Council on March 8 unanimously approved a $149 million contract to revamp the 16th Street Mall, advancing a plan to give the kitschy tourist destination and busy walking-and-busing street its first major facelift in nearly 40 years. The contract with PCL Construction Services will pay for the redesign and construction of the mall, including the removal of the thin pedestrian strip down the street’s center. When the project is finished, possibly by the end of 2024, frequent mall shuttles will run down the middle instead. Crews will widen the sidewalks on either side of the transitway to create more room for people walking and wheeling. Crumbling, leaky pavement that costs taxpayers $1 million a year to fix will be replaced throughout the corridor. And contractors will replace an underground water line from the 1800s and add over 250 trees to a street with only a handful of its 83 original oaks left.
SEE ARTISTS, P3
SEE MALL, P3
A couple of dancers with Cleo Parker Robinson Dance perform during a June 2020 Art Finds Us event. Athena Project is hosting PHOTO BY CHARLOTTE BASSIN its Dance and Choreography session part of the Artists Sound Off Series on June 29.
‘We know these stories exist’ Athena Project to host Artists Sound Off Series to identify barriers and challeges faced by women in the arts BY CHRISTY STEADMAN CSTEADMAN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Athena Project knows that it all starts with the stories of the artists to fully understand the challenges they face. “It’s one thing to let people know that women are underrepresented,” said Angela Astle, executive producer and founder of Athena Project, “and another to talk about it with data and personal stories.”
Athena Project is a local nonprofit organization that “empowers women through the arts and creates a world with gender equity where women’s voices are amplified,” states a news release. To hear those personal stories, Athena Project is putting on the Artists Sound Off Series, which will create a space where women in the arts can connect and openly share their experiences. The overarching goal is to “iden-
INSIDE: VOICES: PAGE 8 | LIFE: PAGE 10 | CALENDAR: PAGE 11 | SPORTS: PAGE 12
APOLOGIES
Due to the recent heavy snowfall, delivery of this week’s paper may have been delayed