Highlands Ranch Herald 19
June 14, 2018
PLAZA FROM PAGE 16
“The southwest side of the Denver metro area has seen so much activity, spending and growth,” Golden said. “Southwest Plaza Mall represents and reflects that.” Golden is optimistic about Southwest Plaza’s prospects. “When we were there to cut the ribbon on that aquarium, there were a hundred people in line,” Golden said. “Experience is what people are looking for. If it’s blizzarding or really hot out, it’s a nice place to go. There’s plenty of parking, and it’s in the neighborhood. Those people are going to shop, too, and they can go to Southwest Plaza instead of Park Meadows or Cherry Creek.” It’s too soon to know whether the experiential strategy will work long-term, Golden said. “It’s business,” Golden said. “Sometimes you hit it and sometimes you don’t. Even at Southglenn and Park Meadows there’s turnover. People still want that mall experience.” The experiential trend is a natural next step for indoor malls, said Josh Goldstein, an architectural designer and mall historian, who is currently working on a project to digitally re-create Englewood’s long-gone Cinderella City mall. “Experience-oriented tenants might find a more interesting or
BAKERY FROM PAGE 11
“Freedom of religion and religion has been used to justify all kinds of discrimination throughout history, whether it be slavery, whether it be the Holocaust, whether it be — I mean, we — we can list hundreds of situations where freedom of religion has been used to justify discrimination. And to me it is one of the most despicable pieces of rhetoric that people can use to — to use their religion to hurt others,” she said in the July 25, 2014 hearing. “If nothing else, this case is a reminder to people that words matter,” Provizer said. “Especially when you have the weight of the state behind you.” • The focus on the actions of the Civil Rights Commission and its members make it difficult to use the case as legal precedent for either side of the debate. “People on both sides will quote language in the decision, but this is a very limited ruling,” Konnoth
creative use for a huge amount of space than a traditional merchandise-oriented tenant might,” Goldstein said by email. “I do think this new focus will work, at least for a while. Some of the experiences they’re targeting really can’t be had at home, so they are offering unique incentives to get customers through the door, at which point they might actually buy some merchandise too.” Goldstein, whose work often focuses on creative reuses for old buildings, said Southwest Plaza’s renovation could have gone further by incorporating a blend of indoor and outdoor areas which could offer more insulation against future market fluctuations. “I think a lot of the indoor centers have to fight harder to avoid the ‘dead mall’ feeling than outdoor centers,” Goldstein said. “Imagine a few retailers leave in an enclosed corridor, and you’ve got the makings of a dead mall.” The new experiential strategy seemed to be paying off on a recent weekday morning, when a line to enter SeaQuest Interactive Aquarium snaked far back along a corridor, with eager toddlers on tiptoe, trying to sneak a peek at the animals ahead. “Southwest Plaza is just a great place to bring the kids,” said Mattie Lord, who was in line with several relatives. “It’s safe, there’s a lot to do, and we live just down the street. Plus, it’s not Park Meadows. I can afford to shop here.”
explained. “There’s not a lot to take away from this, except that the justices weren’t ready to make their mind up.” • Colorado’s anti-discrimination law, which forbids businesses from discriminating against customers based on sexual orientation, is still in place. Kennedy also wrote, “And any decision in favor of the baker would have to be sufficiently constrained, lest all purveyors of goods and services who object to gay marriages for moral and religious reasons in effect be allowed to put up signs saying ‘no goods or services will be sold if they will be used for gay marriages,’ something that would impose a serious stigma on gay persons.” • Similar cases will undoubtedly arise until some kind of clear decision is given by the court about where religious freedom and discrimination meet, all three experts agreed. “The issue isn’t even close to being settled yet,” Koehler said. “I saw some saying this was just one battle in a larger war, but it wasn’t even that. This was just a fist fight.”
Local Focus. More News. ColoradoCommunityMedia ColoradoCommunityMedia.com
Lines stretch from the entrance to SeaQuest Interactive Aquarium, Southwest Plaza’s newest family-oriented attraction. DAVID GILBERT
Carl S.
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