Washington Park Profile 0919

SEPTEMBER 2019

Digital and print community newspaper founded in 1978.

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SONGBIRDS Swallow Hill celebrates 40 years of music

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GOING, GOING, GOING! Denver’s big boom keeps booming

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DOUGHNUTS FOR GOOD New shop donates to local organizations

P9 BLAST FROM THE PAST State preservation group revives old streetcar

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2 Washington Park Profile

September 2019

Business Matters

By Kailyn Lamb | klamb@coloradocommunitymedia.com Business Matters is a monthly column on the changing landscape of business and development in south Denver. If there are any inquiries on new developments in your area, or if you are a local business wishing to highlight an upcoming milestone, email Kailyn Lamb at klamb@ coloradocommunitymedia.com.

would eventually open a second location of the Roxy brand here,” said owner, Paula Vrakas. L “There are such vibrant music and culinary r scenes here, and I look forward to being part t of both.”

Broadway Roxy is open Tuesday through A Saturday with plans to eventually be open seven days a week, the release said. The restaurant will also offer brunch on the weekends, starting this fall.

DEVELOPMENT Observatory Row The new development project located at 4100 S. Iliff Ave. opened the first of six buildings to residents in mid-July. Observatory Row offers three-bedroom homes priced in the low $500,000s. The full project will build 14 total townhomes and six duplex units.

The building project is nearby to where the city plans to build a new park space. For more information on the park, read our story at https://washparkprofile.com/stories/citymakes-lucky-deal-for-new-university-hillspark,283206.

Obervatory Row is also close to the Gourmet Junction Food & Drink food hall project which is expected to open in 2020.

BUSINESS

Uncle Ramen The Highlands-based ramen shop opened a second location in West Washington Park in mid-July.

With a larger kitchen at the Wash Park location, Uncle Ramen was also able to expand its menu, including curries, new broths and Mazeman, a brothless ramen dish. A portion of the sales from the pork buns go toward a charity selected by staff, according to the restaurant’s website.

The restaurant is in the Wrigley on Penn development at 473 E. Bayaud Ave. The restaurant was announced as part of the mixed use space in 2017.

OPENINGS

Broadway Moxy opened in mid-August in the former Syntax Physic Opera space on South Broadway.

COURTESY OF BROADWAY MOXY

Broadway Roxy Broadway Roxy opened in mid-August, taking the place of Syntax Physic Opera at 554 S. Broadway. The restaurant will feature a full dinner menu, and will have live music nightly.

The venue will feature an eclectic mix of artists spanning genres including Americana, singer-songwriter, jazz, blues and folk, according to a news release. Many of the artists that played at Syntax will continue to play at

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Broadway Roxy.

It is the second location for the venue, which started in California.

“From the very first time I visited Denver, I knew it was a really special place and that I

Frozen Matter The Uptown ice cream shop opened a second location at 1061 S. Gaylord St. in July.

The shop offers ice cream, ice pops and soda as part of its menu. Frozen Matter rotates flavors out seasonally for a line of “Luxe” ice creams.

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Washington Park Profile 3

September 2019

Nonprofit hosts grand opening for renovated shelter Foundation, which offered up to $20 million in matching donations during the nonprofit’s capital campaign, according to a news release.

The shelter is located at 2080 S. Quebec St. The Dumb Friends League expanded its shelter space through this project, giving it 40% more kennel space for dogs and cats, as well as adoption and admissions areas, a

Staff Report Last month, the Denver Dumb Friends League hosted a grand opening for its newly renovated shelter facilities, after completing a two-year, $40 million construction project.

The new shelter will be named the Leslie A. Malone Center, after the Malone Family

Dr. Claire Donley of Shine Holistic Health. Donley opened Shine in June in the Baker neighborhood.

COURTESY OF CLAIRE DONLEY

garage, and a rooftop play yard. The building is now 25,000 square feet, the news release said.

“In 1974, a state-of-the-art shelter was built on this site and animal welfare was very different,” said Dumb Friends League President and CEO Dr. Apryl Steele in the release. “From extensive surgeries to behavior training, the needs of shelter animals have changed, and we

Business

The business will also offer cocktails themed around the escape rooms.

FROM PAGE 2

CLOSINGS

Shine Holistic Health Shine Holistic Health opened in the Baker neighborhood in June. Dr. Claire Donley said in an email that she focuses “on the root cause of my patients’ illnesses to lead them to wellness.”

She offers nutrition and exercise counseling, mind-body medicine and osteopathic manipulative treatment, where a doctor moves a patients muscles and joints with stretching, gentle pressure and resistance.

Donley’s offices are located at 146 W. Fifth Ave.

Huevos Tacos Two months after it initially opened, Huevos Tacos has shut its doors. The taco shop opened in May, replacing Morning Collective.

The same owner ran both restaurants at 2160 S. Broadway.

A Facebook post on the Morning Collective page on Aug. 1 stated that the space was for sale and all offers would be entertained. The post was later removed. Eater Denver first reported on the closure.

The Escapist A new escape room will open in the Santa Fe Arts District this month. The Escapist will be located next to Renegade Brewing, at 921 W. Ninth Ave. The business will have a bar and four different themed escape rooms: the Black Hole, Excalibur, Happy Hour and South Spy-Cific are the themes listed on the website.

are doing so much more for pets than we ever could have imagined back in 1974.”

The completed project is the second phase of five for renovations at the Denver Dumb Friends League. The veterinary spaces will also be expanded, and the foster and behavior departments will be renovated in the next phases.

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4 Washington Park Profile

September 2019

Bluegrass show to benefit historic Wash Park church Staff Report Denver residents are invited to try their chops at singing bluegrass, all while raising funds for the Historic Cameron Church in Washington Park.

The fundraising event will be held on Sept.

22 at the Cameron Church, 1600 S. Pearl St. The suggested donation for the event is $10

per person, according to a news release for the event. The funds will go toward maintenance and restoration efforts at the church.

MicroGrass Band will start the event at 11 a.m., and play until 12:30. From then on, the Denver Retro Grass Jam Group will play music, and attendees are welcome to join with their own instruments or singing. The event is trying to set a record for Denver largest blue-

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grass jam for the event, the news release said.

The Cameron Church can trace its roots back to 1888, the news release said. The congregation’s first building was built in 1890 on the corner of East Iowa Avenue and Washington Street. The current location was later built in 1912 as the congregation began to expand in a growing Denver. At the time, the church was built for $35,000. That debt

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was reduced to $15,150 in 1917. But 18 years later, that same debt remained, the news release said.

By that time, the congregation was threatened with eviction. But members gathered together and raised the rest of the money to cover the loan by 1937.

For more information on the event, go to www.cameronchurch.org.

Three awards will be given to leaders at Denver’s Jewish Community Center this fall, recognizing their efforts to support the organization and its youth programming.

The Staenberg-Loup Jewish Community Center announced the recipients of its annual awards in late July. The awards will be given out during the organization’s annual dinner on Oct. 29, a news release said.

Gary Levine will receive the Robert E. Loup Hineni Award. In Hebrew, Hineni translates to “here I am, here I stand.” The Hineni Award was renamed for Loup in 2016 to recognize his dedication to philanthropy and volunteerism, the release said.

“The award acknowledges local, communal leaders whose interests and support span an array of important agencies, recognizing those

whose philanthropy and volunteerism has a local, regional and often global impact,” the release said.

Brooke Stern and Cassie Weinstock are this year’s recipients of the Gerald S. Gray Service and Leadership Award.

The JCC serves the community through children’s camps and classes, as well as programming for adults and seniors that are rooted in Jewish values. In addition to the classes at the JCC’s location in 350 S. Dahlia St., the organization also offers theater programming.

The awards will be presented during the JCC Annual Celebration at the Grand Hyatt in Denver, 1750 Welton St. The event goes from 5:30-8:30 p.m. Tickets are $500 for adults.

For more information on the event, or to buy tickets, go to https://www.jccdenver.org/ celebrate/.

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Washington Park Profile 5

September 2019

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6 Washington Park Profile

September 2019

Swallow Hill builds community through music enrichment The nonprofit is celebrating 40 years in Denver

By Kailyn Lamb

F

klamb@coloradocommunitymedia.com

or the last 40 years, Swallow Hill Music has been steadily growing its footprint in the Denver area. What started as a small collective of musicians has grown to a school and concert programmer that reaches tens of thousands of people annually.

For concert-goers and volunteers like Christy Ramee, the nonprofit has become more than just a place where she can listen to local music. For her, its a community and a place where she’s met close friends.

When Ramee moved from Atlanta 25 years ago, she immediately began research to find Denver’s music community. In Atlanta, she and her husband had friends to go to concerts with, and enjoyed mingling with music lovers.

“When we moved here, I didn’t know anybody. I wanted to find the music community,” Ramee said. “It very quickly came to light that Swallow Hill was the place.”

Swallow Hill runs concerts in three venues in its own building, located at 71 E. Yale Ave. The building also houses its school and staff. In addition to the Yale building, the school has two smaller locations in Denver. Swallow Hill also runs concerts in venues across the

A Warren Village student jumps during a Swallow Hill class. Swallow Hill CEO Paul Lhevine said the opportunity to expand outreach programming was part of the reason he wanted to join the nonprofit.

PHOTOS BY ANDREW KOWALYSHYN/AK PHOTO

RENOVATIONS ON YALE AVENUE Swallow Hill Music’s CEO Paul Lhevine said the nonprofit will be launching a $3 million capitol campaign project to renovate the building at 71 E. Yale Ave. The renovations will begin in 2020 and will mainly focus on the lobby area at Swallow Hill and help to make the building more accessible Lhevine said.

Denver band Half Pint and The Growlers plays in the Quinlan Cafe during Swallow Hill Music’s One Epic Night fundraiser in May 2019. The nonprofit puts on concerts in its Rosedale location as well as in venues throughout Denver.

PHOTO BY KIT CHALBERG

FOR MORE INFORMATION For more information on Swallow Hill Music, go to https:// swallowhillmusic.org/.

People can register for classes or buy tickets to Swallow Hill concerts through the website.

The school at Swallow Hill also offers a tuition assistance program, said school director Tyler Bruer. For more information on that, go to https://swallowhillmusic.org/music-school/ tuition-assistance/. city, and helps book musicians for other organization’s events.

Last year, 64,000 people attended concerts through Swallow Hill and there were 64,000 visits to the school, said CEO Paul Lhevine.

Little Swallows The nonprofit also offers outreach programming to lowincome families and schools. Music education is a large part of what they do at Swallow Hill, Lhevine said. Swallow Hill also works in music therapy, particularly in memory care with adult Alzheimer’s and dementia patients.

Music helps to bridge the gap between the left and right side of the brain, Lhevine said. For young students, this can eventually help with math, behavior and language skills.

“Music as an educational component drives math and language and social positive emotional behaviors,” Lhevine said.

“You can’t think about half beats or full rests or three-quarter time without thinking about math.”

SEE MUSIC, P7

A student from Warren Village dances with a maraca during a music class with Swallow Hill. In addition to putting on concerts, Swallow Hill Music operates a school and does music outreach with programs such as Warren Village.

Washington Park Profile 7

September 2019

Music FROM PAGE 6

For Lhevine, the potential to grow Swallow Hill’s outreach programming was what drew him to the job back in 2015. In addition to its paid school, Swallow Hill offers classes to K-12 schools and early childhood education with the Little Swallows program for locations that have at least 85% of their students qualify for free and reduced lunch.

When Lhevine started, outreach only represented about 1% to 2% of Swallow Hill’s programming. Now, that number is closer to 30%, he said.

This year Swallow Hill will be in 125 classrooms each week working with around 1,700 kids Lhevine said. Four years ago, it was only in one school and worked with 65 kids.

Lhevine said donors are excited about the program, which has helped Little Swallows expand into more schools. More schools are also seeing its success and asking for the program.

“There are so many early childhood education school and centers in our seven-county area that are in deep need and we are only skimming the surface,” he said. “Yes, we have been blessed with funding, and we can do so much more for so many kids that need it.”

Outreach programming got started in Denver schools. Swallow Hill is now expanding to Mapleton and Aurora. Lhevine said the goal is to get to all seven counties.

Musical history Forty years ago, Swallow Hill got its start in a north Denver neighborhood of the same name. It was originally located on East 17th Avenue, across the street from where Steuben’s is now.

Breuer

COURTESY OF SWALLOW HILL MUSIC

As the school grew, Swallow Hill moved to South Pearl Street. Then in 1998 it moved to the current location on Yale.

Swallow Hill also puts on around 250 concert events throughout the year. Staff runs sound at events throughout Denver, such as the Oriental Theater, Four Mile Historic Park, the Denver Botanic Gardens and more.

“It’s everything literally from 75 seats to 5,000,” Lhevine said. “We’re pretty active all over the concert space.”

At first, Swallow Hill was a program run by the Denver Folklore Center, which sells instruments. After buying an instrument, the store would sometimes be able to offer lessons for an individual. Those lessons turned into classes with multiple people

Lhevine

COURTESY OF SWALLOW HILL MUSIC

and kept growing from there, Lhevine said.

“It literally kind of grew and blossomed,” he said. “From 2005 to 2015, in that decade we doubled the size of our music school.”

The school is now the second largest acoustic school in the country.

It’s never too late The acoustic music school, which is mainly housed at the Yale location, takes music even further. Tyler Bruer said that many of their students come in as older adults to learn to play an instrument for the first time. In fact, Lhevine said, 80% of the students are adults.

That was the case for Ramee. Around 10

years ago, she began taking music lessons for the first time. Ramee had inherited a ukulele from her in-laws, and she wanted to give it a try. With no prior musical experience, she jumped in to learn.

Now, she plays in a ukulele club once a week, and said that some of her very best friends were people she met through the class.

Five years ago, when she won a guitar at a Swallow Hill concert, there was no question about where she would turn for lessons. Although this time, she had a little more confidence in her skills.

“They were very welcoming to students with no music background,” she said. “The teachers were able to get down to a real beginner lesson.”

For Bruer, this is the goal of the school.

He wants people to realize that it’s not too late to pick up an instrument and learn.

Bruer said he’s also hopeful that people will begin to feel empowered through their own creativity, even if it’s just for yourself.

“I describe (the school) as a place where people can come and get empowerment,” Bruer said. “At the core of it, our biggest deal is community. It’s mixing it up in a classroom that you don’t know the musician next to you, but after eight weeks of classes you’re going to be collaborators with that person. You’re going to be peers.”

Ramee agreed, saying that learning to play has made music a “much richer experience” for her. She now enjoys playing in group sessions at Swallow Hill.

For Lhevine, Swallow Hill means community — one where people can enjoy an experience that brings people together.

“Music enriches our lives,” he added.

“From being the place where we go in the happiest of times, or that place where we go in sad times,” he said, “music rounds us out and does bring joy.”

l

.

Swallow Hill Instructor Kim Dawson and her band close out Swallow Hill’s One Epic Night fundraiser in May 2019. The fundraiser puts on several shows in each of Swallow Hill’s three performance spaces throughout the night.

PHOTO BY KIT CHALBERG

8 Washington Park Profile

September 2019

District 7 residents pick projects for Grandoozy funds

By Kailyn Lamb klamb@coloradocommunitymedia.com

Residents voted on safety improvements and a new pollinator garden as the community projects to be funded from last year’s Grandoozy festival.

The community fund received $130,000, said Maggie Thompson, a senior aide to District 7 Councilmember Jolon Clark. District 7 includes the Platt Park, Overland Park, Ruby Hill neighborhoods and more.

Those funds will be split between safety improvements for the Florida Avenue bridge and a new pollinator garden at Sanderson Gulch Park and Trail, 4000 W. Mexico Ave. Thompson said the bridge is often referred

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to as the “Florida Avenue bridge of doom,” by residents due to its narrow sidewalk, which is 18 inches wide. This makes it hard for a single person to cross, let alone bikers or parents with strollers or children.

The funds will provide a painted bike lane across the bridge, which will also help connect the street to nearby bike lanes.

“It was a missing link,” Thompson said of the new path in regards to Denver’s overall bike network.

Both projects have to be programmed into their department’s respective budgets, which will likely happen next year, Thompson said.

Grandoozy, a multi-day festival held last September in the Overland Park Golf Course, will not be returning this month after its organizers, Superfly, announced a break earlier this year. Part of the festival’s contract with the city required Superfly to give a portion of ticket sales back to community projects.

Public Works and Parks and Recreation received $130,000 each for projects, Thompson said.

In February, Clark began to organize community meetings to get ideas on what types of projects District 7 residents wanted the money to go toward.

Thompson added that during that community process, the councilman’s office received more than 50 ideas for projects, and that most residents were in favor of using the funds for one or two larger projects, rather than spreading the money out for several small ones.

Residents proposed ideas for different trail improvements, safety lighting, crossing improvements and many more during meetings.

Clark’s office worked with staff members at Public Works and Parks and Recreation to see

Councilmember Jolon Clark speaks during a May meeting with District 7 residents to determine how they wanted to spend funds from the Grandoozy music festival.

Residents have voted on two different projects that they wanted to fund: a new garden and safety improvements to the Florida Avenue crossing.

KAILYN LAMB if funds could potentially be pooled together for larger projects. He then narrowed the list of ideas by cost and feasibility, giving residents a condensed list of projects to vote on in May. Clark’s office then picked the top projects that could be paid for with the funds.

Thompson joked that they accidentally created a pilot for participatory budgeting through the process.

“This was a really fun opportunity for people to directly impact where funds were going,” she said.

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Washington Park Profile 9

September 2019

By Kailyn Lamb klamb@coloradocommunitymedia.com

A

s an introduction to the Denver community, the new Voodoo Doughnuts on South Broadway upped its usual charity game during the month of August.

The company, which started in Portland, Oregon, but has since expanded to Denver and Austin, Texas, has been running charity Tuesday events for several years.

Each store location chooses its own nonprofit to donate a portion of doughnut sales to during one Tuesday per month. Each month, a new charity is picked.

During August, the South Broadway Voodoo at 98 S. Broadway held the event during all four Tuesdays.

“Doughnut shops are a real community environment, even big ones like Voodoo,” said David Blankenship, the assistant general manager of the shop. “We wanted to get ourselves acquainted with some civic organizations in the area.”

The South Broadway location is the second Voodoo to open in Denver. The first one opened off of Colfax Avenue in 2013. Now that the store has a larger presence in Denver, it can also give more back to the community, Blankenship said. During those charity Tuesday events, each of the shops will pick its own charity to donate to.

The company picks charities in a number of different ways, he added.

Staff members research some of the

Baker doughnut shop celebrates charity Tuesdays

Voodoo Doughnuts donated to four different organizations in August

David Blankenship, second from the right, stands with the staff at the South Broadway Voodoo Doughnut location. The location ran Charity Tuesdays last month, offering a portion of their sales to Denver community organizations. different projects going on in neighborhoods where Voodoo stores are located. The shops also donates extra

doughnuts to nonprofits, and so relationships are formed with those organizations. Sometimes it’s based

on who the neighbors are, as was the case with the Ross-Broadway Library branch.

“Sometimes it just has to do with Voodoo’s overwhelming interests, which are generally for the benefit of people and the environment and things like that,” Blankenship said.

Blankenship estimated that the shop raises between $500 and $1,000 on those Tuesdays depending on sales.

The company gives information sheets to staff ahead of time so that they can also be more knowledgable on the charity of the month.

It also helps teach them about the company’s policies on charitable giving, Blankenship said, adding “we want the staff to know that’s part of what the company they work for is about.”

In August, Voodoo raised funds for the following organizations: Bayaud Enterprises, which works with people with disabilities or other barriers to employment by providing jobs and job training.

The company also provides other resources, such as a laundry truck that travels throughout the city for homeless individuals.

Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado, which works with conservation agencies to help people become better stewards for Colorado’s natural resources. The projects take place across Colorado, from city parks and open spaces to the plains and mountains.

Byers School District, which includes an elementary and middle school, located at 444 E. Front St. The Ross-Broadway Library Branch, located at 33 E. Bayaud Ave.

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10 Washington Park Profile

LOCAL

September 2019

VOICES

Embracing your inner crazy plant lady FROM THE EDITOR

Kailyn Lamb

T

here are few things that I am prouder of right now than my backyard garden.

I decided to leave Capitol Hill last summer for my current house in Englewood simply because it has a yard. Although my garden level apartment off of East 13th Avenue had beautiful windows and plenty of places for plants, it just wasn’t the same. I wanted to dig in the dirt and grow vegetables.

I moved too late last year to really take advantage of planting season. Instead, I spent months cleaning out the raised beds. Weeds and vines had taken over the neglected space, which is probably around 20 square feet.

This year, I was ready. I took advantage of seed sales and bought packets, upon packets of herbs, veggies and flowers.

I am not a garden expert, and this was my first year planting anything that I could harvest, let alone eat. I’ve spent years killing small basil plants from the grocery store. There was definitely some trial and error involved with planting seeds instead of fledgling plants. Starting with the fact that I bought way more seeds than I needed.

The raised beds sit on the north side of my yard. One of the beds is a wider rectangle, the other is long and skinny. I recruited a friend of mine who is as obsessed with gardening as I am, and we spent a sunny spring day clearing out the beds and planting. Vegetables, such as red onions, green beans, cucumbers and peppers went in the wider garden along with some herbs, while the flowers and remaining herbs went in the longer one.

Take me out to the Old Timers ball game

I

n this youth baseball league, we, the players, ran the show. No coaches needed. We rounded up our buddies, hopped on our bikes and pedaled our single-speed bikes to Old Timers Baseball games on the northeast side of City Park.

Old Timers Baseball, whether by design or good fortune, elevated sandlot baseball to a new level, and Denver’s aspiring baseball prodigies embraced it with the fervor deserving of summer traditions like swimming, fishing and evening neighborhood games like kick-the-can. What the league lacked in traditional structure — coaches, practices, meddling parents and certified umpires — it compensated with pure fun and the joy of play.

“I didn’t have a full appreciation of how great Old Timers Baseball was until I finished my high school-playing days at George Washington High School,” said Val Knopf, a baseball and football stalwart at the school during the mid ‘60s.

From 1943 to 1970, Old Timers Baseball hosted a summer league for Denver area youngsters. Teams were assembled primarily by neighborhood and school pals, and if additional players were needed to complete a team’s roster, there was a pool of unaffiliated players available. Ballpark locations were essentially aligned with the city’s quadrants, providing convenient access to participants walking, biking or riding a bus.

Old Timers Baseball was open to boys 11 to 17, divided by age classifications. By 1946, the Rocky Mountain News called the program the “largest of its kind in the

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Rocky Mountain Region.” In addition to Denver’s 99 teams, six other cities, including Englewood, Pueblo and four Western Slope communities were fielding programs. In 1959, Jack Carberry wrote in the Rocky Mountain News that the state had 20,000 Joe Carabello boys enrolled.

Alums of the program universally flash back to the uniforms of the day: gray wool baseball pants and full-length “stirrups,” plus a souvenir cap and T-shirt promoting local business sponsors.

Not only were the uniform pants unbearably hot, they also were customarily long for most kids, requiring a system known as “rolling” to fit them like their professional heroes wore. Players even wore thin, white “sanitary hose” — think old-school nursing uniforms — underneath the stirrups, making certain the higher cut in the stirrup faced backward. In theory, these knee-high stockings prevented infections from cuts endured from base runners sliding into a base, since metal spikes were permitted.

Was this overkill? Probably. But our heroes in Major League Baseball wore them, so we were all in.

GUEST COLUMN

SEE CARABELLO, P11

Hail killed the small sprouts of cucumber that had barely started to poke out of the ground early in the season. My onions … well, one sort of sprouted.

But the green beans flourished. Soon, the little leaves and stalks that came out of the ground had grown to large leaves with white flowers. I probably terrified neighbors with my squeals of delight when the tiniest of beans started to appear.

I was so encouraged by the success of the green beans that I drove to the grocery store and bought the last two cucumber plants they had, as well as a Roma tomato. I moved my indoor herb garden outside. I checked on the plants before I left for work and once again when I got home. I know that sounds over the SEE LAMB, P11

A path to address climate change in Denver “We are the first generation to feel the effect of climate change and the last generation who can do something about it” – President Barack Obama

I

n early August, Denver Public Schools students returned to sweltering classrooms that are unequipped for the sustained summer heat common nowadays. Recently, the temperature in Denver reached 99 degrees, breaking a 33year record. Summers of extreme heat are becoming the norm in Colorado, leading to larger and more numerous wildfires.

Human activity is permanently harming our planet and challenging future generations who will live here, and the window of opportunity for change is closing. My colleagues and I recognize this urgency and are putting forward policies in Denver to make us a more sustainable city. City council recently considered referring to the November ballot a measure that would place an excise tax on commercial and industrial users for their use of gas and electricity and a companion ordinance that would establish an Office of Climate Action.

When these bills were first brought fourth, I had concerns about the lack of stakeholder engagement and lack of data and analysis that would allow council to evaluate the efficacy and impact of the proposals. When we are asking for taxpayer money to fund a large new government undertaking, let’s be diligent in how we structure it. As we move forward

GUEST COLUMN

with climate action in Denver, there has to be appropriate oversight, transparency, and guardrails.

In voicing my concerns about the climate bill, I proposed an alternative that included a) establishing a strong Office of Climate Action, Sustainability and Councilmember Resiliency, b) immediinfusion of signifiDeborah Ortega ate cant funds to accelerate current programs reducing greenhouse-gas emissions and c) a path for long-term financing of new climate efforts. I encouraged my colleagues to consider this alternative.

Shortly before the council vote on Aug. 26, a new path forward was found that addressed my concerns about oversight, transparency and stakeholder engagement in developing city policy while providing significant new funding in 2020. There will also be a formal process to examine Denver’s current climate work and identify gaps and the resources necessary to meet our climate goals with robust stakeholder participation. I look forward to working with all the stakeholders to build on our existing programs to achieve a strong response to reducing our greenhouse gas emissions.

SEE ORTEGA, P14

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Washington Park Profile 11

September 2019

Carabello FROM PAGE 10

Another memorable nuance of our uniforms was the style in which we folded our caps to fit in our back pocket. This was necessitated since each field provided only one batting helmet.

Pedaling one’s bike through morning rush hour traffic in wool baggies was the antithesis of today’s spandex-clad, helmet-topped, urban commuter. Since the weekday games were played in the mornings, parents and guardians were customarily at work or implicitly discouraged from attending. Old Timers was about the game.

Irv Brown, a former baseball coach at the University of Colorado from 1969 to 1980 before the school disbanded its program, and a popular Denver radio talk show host, was a believer in the Old Timers program. He said it “encouraged leadership from the kids. Today’s youth activities are so highly structured, the kids never learn to make decisions for themselves. The absence of fans, coaches and parents provided the kids opportunities to develop leadership skills.” Brown passed away earlier this year.

The Denver civic community, specifically the judicial sector, was the driving force behind the founding and development of Old Timers Baseball. District Judge William A. Black conceived the idea, and served as president of the organization for more than a decade. Under the guidance and, more importantly, the influence of the judicial community, newspapers and police departments embraced the organization.

Both the Denver Post and the Rocky Mountain News provided generous coverage and promotion of the league, frequently writing “feelgood” columns documenting the organization’s

Lamb FROM PAGE 10

top, but I have a very fluffy, fat cat who has eaten just about every plant I was ever proud of.

Flowers started blooming. The Roma grew several feet before I realized the tomato cage should have gone on before I planted it. One morning when I went out to inspect the garden I was astonished to find that I had exactly one cucumber.

My social media was filled with plant pictures. My mother gets an updated “garden tour” every time she comes over. My grandma — who once asked if she could babysit my potted cactus — started getting regular up-

accomplishments. There was no fee for participation, thanks to vigorous fundraising efforts.

Financial sponsorship fell in place as Denver’s business community seized the opportunity to promote wholesome activities.

Nowhere is the vibe of the postwar Americana psyche more evident than the registration form for Old Timers Baseball, which encouraged participants to “... promise to lead a good, clean life, obey my parents, and be at home at 10 p.m. every night.”

Old Timers Baseball filled the niche of play that was void of performance pressure, providing more laid-back or casual players an opportunity to play organized baseball for the love of the game.

Nearly equivalent to the joy of the baseball games was the camaraderie of post-game rides home, pedaling and cruising through tranquil Denver neighborhoods while strategically averting the busy streets our parents told us to avoid. My crew sought routes with plenty of “bumps” as we referred to the intersections where the constant repaving of certain streets or avenues provided a virtual roller coaster effect.

My pals and I stopped at Mathis Drug Store, on 6th and Marion, when we got back to our neighborhood. I’m not sure which was best, the air-conditioned drug store or the Cokes at the soda fountain. On the way out, we scanned the comic book section for new releases and sometimes had money left over for baseball trading cards. Before riding the final few blocks home, the coolness of the dark-red brick on the north side of the drug store provided the perfect place to sit down and open the trading cards, in perpetual search for a coveted Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays or Hank Aaron.

Joe Carabello is a freelance journalist, entrepreneur and central Denver resident. He can be reached at jcarabello1@comcast.net

dates on how many flowers I had. I became the crazy plant lady.

Although I have not tasted the fruits of my labor yet, outside of a few mojitos made with fresh garden mint, I have been very happy with the progress. With a few packets of seeds I was able to grow something that I could actually eat.

Although having visual results of the hard work I have put into the yard for the last year has been great, more than anything I have enjoyed spending the time outside.

Throwing on some garden gloves, along with some tunes, and shifting my fingers through the soil helped me reconnect to myself. It helped me let go of some of the stress that weighed on my shoulders. While working in the garden, I was able to just simply be in the moment.

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12 Washington Park Profile

September 2019

G R O W I N G PAINS

Managing ‘responsible growth’ in Denver

C

Construction may have hit its peak, but experts say building will continue

h 2 y u i y

By Kailyn Lamb

n c l b t

klamb@coloradocommunitymedia.com

L

ooking out over the horizon in Denver, cranes have become a common sight. They pop up as quickly as the buildings do, working to permanently alter the city skyline.

Just how many cranes go up is big news, with both local and national news outlets like The New York Times producing stories on city rankings. Last year, Denver ranked fifth in the United States for having the most cranes, according to data from Rider Levett Bucknall, an international construction firm. The company counted 28 tower cranes ABOUT throughout the city, compared to THE SERIES 29 the year before.

Rider Levett The final installreleases a crane ment of “Growindex analysis aning Pains,” a nually. series exploring The very slight development and decrease is somegrowth in Denver thing construction communities, and development wraps up this companies are seemonth with a look ing almost across at how constructhe board. But city tion impacts officials and exthe economy in perts say that while Denver. The first construction might segment in May be slowing down, focused on develit is certainly not opment citywide coming to a halt. and such issues “Just because as displacement something’s declin- and what Denver ing, doesn’t mean is doing to meet it’s negative,” said those challenges, Bill Mosher, the followed by the senior managing second piece on director of the how developColorado office of ment impacts Trammell Crow neighborhoods.

Development.

The third piece Construction focused on houshas both the biging costs and afgest visual and fordability in the physical impacts city. The August on development in issue looked at a city. People can how business see the construcis impacted by tion happening. It construction and may impact traffic rising rent costs. while they drive, or block sidewalks and parking in their neighborhood.

But, it also is a driver in the economy.

It creates jobs and brings billions of dollars into the city. Construction also comes with a set of problems of its own, with delays and labor shortages being some of issues that can creep up as building is underway.

SEE GROWTH, P13

w p t p a w b P D

p n p p o c t v i l c i

e m M h t f i fi

Che Derrera from the WorkNow program works on a construction site. WorkNow is run by Colorado Resource Partners and helps to connect people with job training and employment.

COURTESY OF ROBERT GRAHAM Big construction projects, such as this one at the Denver Art Museum, are often the most eyecatching.

But the city has also seen an increase in permits for tenant finish projects as new buildings are being leased out.

COURTESY DENVER ART MUSEUM

t b i b n

c c W e c t b v C I c a a w

v t c P c b

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Washington Park Profile 13

September 2019

G R O W I N G PAINS

Growth

FINISHING THE SERIES

Although this is the final piece in our series, development certainly isn’t over in Denver. We will continue to write about projects as they arise in our coverage area.

FROM PAGE 12

Construction boom Construction really started happening in earnest in Denver in 2014 and 2015. For the last several years, those numbers have continued to go up. “The last six years in particular have been increases year over year,” said Mosher.

He added that although early numbers are suggesting that 2019 construction is going down slightly, he still expects that there will be more projects this year than in the early years of the boom.

The construction process starts with a company submitting site plans to the city. Project coordinators will then work with the company to see if the project is viable and what the construction impacts will be, said Scott Prisco, the chief building official with Community Planning and Development in Denver.

Once a project has been approved, the construction companies apply for the various building permits from the city. Those permits can give an idea of not only what is being built, but how construction will continue into the future, Prisco said. Since development plans have been coming in at an upward trend for the last two months, he expects large construction projects to continue into the foreseeable future.

Right now, single-family projects are remaining steady, and may be trending slightly down.

Multi-family projects on the other hand are on the rise compared to the last two years, Prisco said. As far as office projects go, the city is seeing more permits for tenant finish projects inside of buildings.

“Some of the large buildings that were built on spec, they’re being filled now,” he said, adding that those new tenants are building out office spaces for their needs.

The permits also require contractors to put an estimated cost of the project on the form.

While Prisco said it won’t give exact numbers of an individual construction contract, it can give the city an idea of how much is being spent on a project. The cost valuations follow the International Code Council, Prisco said. The ICC is a member-focused association that is develops the codes and standards for construction around the world, according to its website..

From 2015 to 2016, those cost valuations went from $2.4 billion to $3.7 billion in Denver, and have continued to go up ever since, Prisco said. He estimated that the city is on track to do around $5 billion this year.

“We’re seeing some incredible unprecedented growth right now,” he said. “There are not that many cities across the united states doing that volume of construction.”

“Growing Pains” focused on residents trying to find different solutions to the problems that new density can bring to the city — whether that was finding ways to bring customers to businesses in a construction zone, looking into affordable housing or ideas on how to bring more of Denver’s diverse voices into the planning process.

A construction worker cuts metal for the new welcome center at the Denver Art Museum North Building. The museum project broke ground last year and is on schedule to open in June 2020.

COURTESY DENVER ART MUSEUM Labor shortages As with other numbers starting to show a slight decline, so is the number of jobs, Mosher said. He estimated that there are around 100,000 construction workers in the Denver metro area where most of the work is concentrated. He thinks this year there will be a drop of about 3,000 jobs in the market.

Many contractors in the city are busy with projects. Delays can become inevitable as schedules start to stack up. Mosher said that it’s not necessarily the busy-ness causing delays, but a shortage of specialized construction workers. This is something happening on the national level, he said, not just in Denver.

Because there’s a shortage, the workers that are available have higher wages. But when it takes time for a contractor to find and hire that worker, it can cause the delay. And in this industry, “time is money,” Mosher said.

Companies like Colorado Resource Partners, which runs the WorkNow program in Denver, are hoping to close that gap. WorkNow helps to connect people with different employment barriers to construction jobs.

John Colin Ewer was on unemployment when he first heard about the WorkNow program. He had worked various jobs in the past, but nothing he would have called a career. Getting a job in construction was not something he has considered before, but he was intrigued by the program, Ewer said.

WorkNow helps to give people a leg up, and “get some help when you’re first starting off in your career,” he added. The program helps with school tuition and money for tools, as well as work boots for job sites.

Ewer is now working as an electrician apprentice. He said he’s been

appreciative of the program, and finding a possible career.

“It’s definitely a relief,” he said.

Starting to slow Another trend that can be seen in the industry is developers selling properties from one company to another. Mosher said this sometimes happens when one company’s plans for a new building fall through. The company will sell to another one that can possibly come up with a better plan for the building.

But even that trend is starting to slow. It’s a case of Denver possibly becoming its own worst enemy. As the city has become more popular to build in, the prices have started to follow.

“The business is a little hard right now because rent prices are slowing and land prices are high,” Mosher said.

In the realm of office space however, business is booming. “People want to buy ‘em,” Mosher said of office buildings.

The commercial market often follows the housing market. The market is primarily driven by residents. With more residents coming in, more housing needs to be built, and more office spaces need to be built to house the jobs created by those people coming here. They’re all inter-related, Mosher added.

Like the housing market, there’s a buyers’ and sellers’ market for commercial office spaces. Mosher believes that 2018 will prove to be the peak of activity in Denver, and that we’ll start to see construction and prices go down.

Building with conscience As residents have started to voice concern about growth, and others have altogether left the city due to rising costs, Denver officials have

put some policies in place to help control development.

Affordable housing has become a top priority for the city. Some of the fees from construction go toward an affordable housing fund.

“It’s really the focus of our planning,” Prisco said, “and a lot of conversations between different agencies that we’re having right now is ‘How do we get as much affordable housing built as possible?’”

Policies like this, as well as a green building ordinance passed earlier this year, help city officials manage “responsible growth in Denver,” Prisco said.

The city has also been working to gather resident input on the Neighborhood Planning Initiative.

The city began working with the northeast neighborhoods, creating an overall plan on how development should be handled. Plans are grouped by region and include several neighborhoods.

During a Congress Park Neighbors meeting on Aug. 21, city staff told residents that they upped their budget to make sure they were reaching out to the community as a whole — renters, people of color, homeowners, the refugee communities, low-income workers and more.

Although residents of Congress Park voiced concern on how density could impact their neighborhoods character, staff said that the new Blueprint Denver plan is striving to build density in every neighborhood in the city to help equalize some of the impacts.

Managing affordable housing is one of the most important aspects of equalizing Denver neighborhoods. Zocalo Community Development, the company behind the 1st Avenue Hotel project on South Broadway, has a goal to make its projects either 100% affordable or

If you are interested in learning more about a particular project, or have a story about how development has impacted your life, email Editor Kailyn Lamb at klamb@coloradocommunitymedia.com.

close to it, said Mark Atkinson, the chief development officer.“We see affordability as being the next crisis of housing in Denver,” he said.

It also works to renovate historic properties as part of a project. The 1st Avenue Hotel, 49 W. First Ave., will feature 102 affordable units in a restored historic structure.

Although historic properties are often more complex, Atkinson said that Zocalo is not the type of development company that scrapes and builds in a “rinse and repeat” fashion. The company is also its own contractor and building manager, which means it stays in the neighborhood more long-term than other developers.

“We’re now a part of the neighborhood, we’re not just building and flipping projects,” Atkinson said.

This practice can be a benefit for neighbors concerned about losing the character of their neighborhoods. Denver residents are particularly concerned about historic preservation in the city. With so much growth happening, historic homes and buildings are being torn down in favor multi-family projects or other development projects.

Many developers, such as Zocalo, will work with registered neighborhood organizations and merchant associations to learn what those groups want out of new developments.

Prior to his job at Zocalo, Atkinson worked in mountain resort communities building projects with Shaw Construction. Small mountain towns are also feeling the pinch of development and a greater need for affordable housing, he said.

“Working in resort communities I developed a real sensitivity to small communities,” he said. “We’re there for the long haul, and we want to be good neighbors.”

14 Washington Park Profile

September 2019

Rethinking the front lawn

T

By Mike Bone

Special to Colorado Community Media

raditional lawns are everywhere, parks, golf courses, right of ways, ball fields — maybe even your front yard is a host to these seas of verdant green.

We are conditioned at an early age that here is GUEST where play happens. Roll COLUMN down that hill, kick the ball, Mike Bone throw out a blanket and have a picnic. They are also the source of many wasted hours on weekends or evenings mowing, watering, spraying, drenching, fretting and competing with your neighbors to have the perfect lawn.

I can’t say the I am either for or against the big green monsters that occupy so many acres of public and private space. I do believe that it is time to shift our perceptions about lawns.

In a rethinking of what a lawn is or could be there are a plethora of interesting alternatives that provide more to a localized ecosystem then a nice place to sit.

Many of the grasses that constitute our lawn spaces come from a complicated and beautiful web of plant diversity. Many of the healthiest places have more than monoculture.

Introduce some flowers into your existing lawn. Trifoliumrepens or Dutch white clover has been a popular addition to turf areas for many years. This plant fixes atmospheric nitrogen in the soil, requires very little water, tolerates mowing, provides pollen and nectar for pollinators, and helps out compete less desirable weeds. There are also species of Erigeron or fleabane that will add to your lawn’s diverse ecosystem. Simply by em-

Bringing in different grasses and flowers to your lawn can help lower the amount of water you use.

COURTESY PHOTO

bracing and introducing some diversity into your lawn you can greatly reduce the amount of irrigation needed to keep it green, lush and, healthy.

You are also likely going to reduce the amount of herbicide and pesticide use in your space.

There are beautiful low to no water use alternatives to the traditional bluegrass fescue mix that is everywhere. Plant Select promotes Dog Tuff as an alternative to the high-water lawn. This grass requires water only a few times a year. The texture is incredibly fine and can either be mowed or left to hummock and billow. This is a favorite area for visitors to the Steppe Garden at Denver Botanic Gardens to kick off their shoes and go barefoot for a moment of connection to the ground and embrace the ever-soft texture. Another popular alternative is our own native Buchloedactyloides or buffalo grass. There are so many selections that there will undoubtedly be a perfect one for you and your space. Both grasses are warm season grasses so the length of time that they are green and actively growing are limited to warmer months in Colorado. The benefit to that is less water, fewer mowings and you can support bulb plantings giving your lawn a wash of color before

it wakes up and knows anything even happened!

Now that we are strong and confident in the knowledge that we don’t need a lawn dictating our weekends, what’s next? The seeded prairie super nature is a trend that is making big waves in the horticultural world. Denver Botanic Gardens has embraced this wondrous new trend by installing approximately 10,000 square feet along the Josephine Street scape. This living laboratory embraces the fact that plants do best when there is a diversity of forbes combined in a collage of steppe splendor. A stylized and diverse prairie takes care of itself with little help from us. There are seed companies that have meadow and prairie mixes ready for sowing. These mixes are developed with simplicity in mind — get them established and you will be inviting nature into your lives and creating habitat for a diminishing world of resources for birds, bees, butterflies and other important pollinators.

When we rethink what it means to have a lawn, we begin moving towards a more sustainable life right at our front doors. Do we need to be rid of all the turf grass? I don’t think so. Let’s leave them in the parks and the sports fields where we can play and enjoy them in ways that are appropriate to a community. In our homes though, it’s time to cut the hose and embrace the natural world. Make some small or large changes to your outdoorscape and you start a sea change of positivity for the world. There is a lot to learn and an endless number of options. Your home and area formerly known as lawn, should be unique and charismatic, just like you.

Mike Bone is the curator of Steppe Collections with the Denver Botanic Gardens. He can be reached at horticulture@denverbotanicgardens.org.

Ortega FROM PAGE 10

Before the final council vote on this last month, Mayor Hancock and the seven councilmembers sponsoring the climate legislation announced a new plan that addresses concerns and moves forward with immediate action on climate. That new proposal establishes and funds a new Office of Climate Action, Sustainability, and Resiliency, launches a formal process to shore up Denver’s existing climate work and identify gaps and funding needs, and engages experts, stakeholders and community members.

Council action on the existing bills is delayed while this more robust process moves forward.

I am pleased to see council work out a compromise intended to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions by accelerating existing and exploring new programs and funding sources. Now let’s keep the momentum going to achieve a strong city response to the challenges of climate change caused by greenhouse gas emissions.

Deborah Ortega is a councilmember at-large on the Denver City Council. At-large council members represent the city as a whole.

She can be reached at ortegaatlarge@denvergov.org.

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Washington Park Profile 15

September 2019

Poetry in a glass Longtime Baker resident, business owner believes in entreprenuership

By Kailyn Lamb klamb@coloradocommunitymedia.com

While sitting on the front patio at the Bardo Coffee House, drinking his coffee and enjoying a morning cigarette, it’s not unusual for several passerby to stop and say hi to Ron Tarver.

After moving to the Baker neighborhood in the 1970s, Tarver, 72, almost immediately began working at bettering the community. He’s been involved with the Broadway Merchants Association, neighborhood groups and the Metro Denver Local Development Corporation, a maintenance district which also works with the area.

Over the years, Tarver has helped write grants to plant trees and has done research in an effort to make the area a historic district.

He also put together music fairs in the neighborhood. Through that work, he got to know the business owners and vendors in the area.

Adding the trees from Second Avenue to Bayaud Avenue on Broadway helped to make the area more walkable, which then brought more people out to the local businesses on the street.

“I wanted the neighborhood to get better,” he said. “When you live in an area like Baker, having a viable commercial district is an amenity.”

Tarver, who owns several commercial properties on South Broadway, is also a business owner himself. After a tenant left the space at 244 S. Broadway, Tarver decided to open his own distillery there. After six years of work, the Denver Distillery in January 2018.

Since opening, Tarver and his team have blended award winning spirits and liquors.

Tarver said that he believes that making whiskey is akin to writing poetry.

“Every word, every comma, every period has a meaning,” he said. “I want people to enjoy the flavor and complexity it takes to make.”

Tarver puts that same care into his other ventures like the properties he owns and his own artworks carving small sculptures.

Back when Tarver first moved to Baker, he worked at Denver Health, which was then called Denver General Hospital. He holds a master’s degree in hospital administration. At the time, he bought two properties and then flipped them. He began to continue doing that on the side, renting the properties out to local

“When you live in an area like Baker, having a viable commercial district is an amenity.”

Ron Tarver residents.

Through house flipping, Tarver learned more about repair and renovation. For his own house he added a wrought iron fence and fixed the flagstone sidewalk in front of the house.

He was hoping to add the fence to make his house look similar to what would have been there in the 1890s.

The building he owns, which houses Denver Distillery and the neighboring Bardo Coffee, has six cast iron pillars on the front. Tarver stripped the paint and then polished the cast iron before hiring someone to gild the pillars.

Through owning business properties, Tarver has seen many different trends over the years.

When his 33-year-old daughter Jennifer was young, Tarver said he started to see more and more women-owned businesses.

Whenever he needed to talk to these tenants about something, he would bring his daughter along. “I wanted her to meet women in business,” he said.

His daughter later started her own midwifing business. Her husband is the general manager of the Denver Distillery. Local business, helps make a community thrive, Tarver said.

“It’s important to have entrepreneurs,” he said.

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Ron Tarver has been living in the Baker neighborhood since the 1970s. Last year he opened the Denver Distillery on Broadway.

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16 Washington Park Profile

September 2019

Safety advocates seek to stop bicycle fatality trend Concerns focus on ways to protect vulnerable road users

By Kailyn Lamb klamb@coloradocommunitymedia.com

O

n the north side of the street where South Marion Parkway curves into East Bayaud Avenue in Denver, stands a bicycle painted completely white. The bike is under a tree, with stacks of bouquets piled next to it and a circle of electric votive candles around it.

The ghost bike stands at the intersection where Alexis Bounds was killed on July 24 while riding in a designated bike lane. In the street, someone has written “another slain cyclist” in green paint.

During July, Colorado added several of these memorial ghost bikes to its streets.

Like crosses, or the blue city signs that read “Please drive safely,” followed by a victim’s name, they are a physical memorial — a testament to the lives lost on Colorado roadways.

For Brad K. Evans, the founder of Denver Cruisers, a monthly bike event organization, and former candidate for a seat on the Regional Transportation District’s board of directors, the ghost bikes are a stark symbol.

“We need a better conversation about the safety of our streets,” he said. “It’s essentially a gravestone.”

In the metro area including Adams, Arapahoe, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas and Jefferson counties, 35 pedestrians and cyclists have died so far this year, according to data from the Colorado Department of Transportation as of Aug. 20. A majority of those fatalities happened in Denver where 10 pedestrians and two cyclists were killed. On Aug. 9, Denver also reported its first electric scooter death when Cameron Hagan died as the result of an accident earlier this month.

But it’s not just a problem in Denver, or even Colorado, said Megan Hottman, a lawyer who focuses on personal injury cases for cyclists as well as safety laws for bikes and pedestrians nationwide. This upward trend in deaths is happening across the country, Hottman said. In 2017, 52 bicyclists and pedestrians were killed in the metro area. That number rose to 60 in 2018, according to data from CDOT. Colorado officials and cycling advocates are exploring the need for new and harsher laws to prevent deaths of both pedestrians and cyclists on the road. More people are moving to the metro area, and as a result, more people are on the increasingly crowded roads.

In May, Gov. Jared Polis signed SB 19-175, a bill that deals with penalties given to drivers who seriously injure a vulnerable road user. The World Health Organization defines vulnerable road users as anyone who does not have an external shield. The bill made accidents resulting in serious injury a Class 1 traffic misdemeanor, in which the minimum penalty is 10 days in jail and/or a $300 fine.

As for cycling, Hottman also said that while car drivers bear a lot of the responsibility on the road, cyclists can be more aware as well. She said that cyclist advocates also need to be advocates for safety on the road, making sure cyclists are not using their phones while biking and otherwise setting a positive example. Most cyclists, she said are also motorists, and should operate their bikes with

Brad K. Evans helped to paint this ghost bike for his friend Scott Hendrickson. Evans said the ghost bikes are essentially gravestones on the streets.

PHOTOS BY KAILYN LAMB

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Teri Vogel, left, speaks to a crowd of mourners at a memorial for her husband, Edward “Chuck” Vogel. Vogel was killed while riding his bicycle at the Centennial and Pine drives intersection. the same precaution as they would driving a car. With congested streets, Hottman also said that people are stressed because they’re running late, which can lead to speeding.

If people gave themselves more time to get places, it could help decrease traffic accidents.

“Frankly, we all just need to slow down a little bit,” she said.

The ‘most vulnerable’ Jack Todd, the communications and policy manager with Bicycle Colorado, a statewide advocacy group for cyclists’ rights, said the increase in cyclist deaths has been going on for a number of years.

In 2014, CDOT reported 10 bicycle deaths statewide, a decline from 12 the year before.

But in 2015, 14 deaths were reported. In 2016 and 2017, there were 16 deaths reported each year. Numbers from 2018 are still being

finalized, but preliminary data shows that 22 cyclists died last year in traffic accidents.

Eleven of those deaths last year happened in the metro area.

Pedestrian traffic deaths have seen similar increases over time. In 2015, 64 pedestrians were killed in traffic accidents in Colorado.

That number jumped to 84 in 2016, and jumped again to 92 in 2017. Last year there was a slight decrease with 90 reported deaths, with 49 in the metro area.

Although the organization has “bicycle” in the name, Todd says Bicycle Colorado is working to create protective laws for all vulnerable road users — bicyclists, pedestrians, motorcyclists and now the new group of electric scooter users.

In 2018, pedestrians represented about 14 percent of traffic deaths statewide, said Samual Cole, the traffic safety communi-

For more information on the vulnerable road user law, SB19-175, go to https://leg.colorado. gov/bills/sb19-175.

For more information on Denver’s Vision Zero goals, go to denvergov. org/visionzero.

To learn more about Wesley Marshall’s research into bicycle and pedestrian safety, go to http:// www.youtube.com/ watch?v=YwYeNz1jCkM.

cations manager with CDOT. The state’s transportation organization has adopted its own safety goals, and will be launching an education campaign specifically geared toward pedestrian safety in September, he said.

“Paying attention to our most vulnerable roadway users is critical to getting to zero,” he said.

Because vulnerable road users don’t have protection, it makes it more likely they will get hurt in the case of an accident, Todd added.

“They make up a smaller percentage of traffic crashes, but a much higher percentage of serious injuries or fatalities,” he said.

“Ultimately, what it comes down to is nobody should fear for their lives or die on our roadways.”

SEE GHOST BIKES, P17

Washington Park Profile 17

September 2019

Ghost bikes

bicyclists either. Joanne Cdebaca, who lives down the street on West Bayaud Avenue from where cyclist Scott Hendrickson was hit on July 12, said that she won’t let her children walk in the neighborhood without an adult present. She and her father, who lives next door, frequently see drivers speed on the roadway. This concerns Cdebaca, because not only are there a lot of children in the neighborhood, they live near West-Bar-Val-Wood Park.

Hendrickson was hit in the intersection at South Tejon Street and West Bayaud Avenue, adjacent to the park.

He later died of his injuries.

“They don’t want to wait for you,” Cdebaca said of drivers near the park.

Part of the reason Hottman believes the number of vulnerable-user deaths are on the rise is because of a lack of laws, but also because more people are driving on Colorado roads. As people have been moving to the state by the thousands, the infrastructure of the roadways has not been able to keep up, she said. It “screams for the additional need for us to have infrastructure.”

FROM PAGE 16

At a memorial event in Parker for bicyclist Edward “Chuck” Vogel on Aug. 9, Pete Piccolo, the CEO of Bicycle Colorado, spoke to dozens of mourners, saying that too often, the deaths of cyclists or pedestrians become a statistic, just another number in the group of people killed on the road. He added that he fears that his own wife and daughter will become part of those statistics.

“I’ve had close calls that have taken my breath away,” he said.

Vogel was hit on July 4 near the intersection of Pine and Centennial drives in Douglas County, near Parker, and died of his injuries. The driver fled the scene and a suspect was later arrested.

Fears for safety The increase in deaths is causing more people to hang up their bikes for good, said Hottman.

She believes there is safety in numbers. When there are more cyclists, it becomes more normal for cars to drive alongside them. But that can be a hard sell for people not used to biking on the road.

“It’s hard to ask people to get on their bikes when all they see is death and destruction associated with it,” Hottman said.

Evans agreed, saying that even as someone who rides his bike frequently, he no longer feels safe on city streets.

This feeling is not limited to

Changing behavior In Fort Collins, Todd said, the city is changing the way local governments deal with bicycle infrastructure. Tessa Greegor, the active modes manager with FC Moves in Fort Collins, said the city has seen a 22 percent decline in accidents overall in the last five years. FC Moves is the transportation planning department for the city. As the active modes manager, Greegor helps with plan-

ning for all types of traffic, including pedestrians and bicyclists.

She added that city government there has been very supportive of bicycle infrastructure going as far back as the 1980s. Before that, Greegor said she found archive articles of The Coloradoan newspaper from the 1960s that talked about bicycle advocacy groups fighting for safer streets.

“That’s really been growing for several decades,” she said. “Not a lot has really changed as far as what we’re working to advance.”

Fort Collins now has a “dedicated bike culture,” she said, adding that you can go almost anywhere in the city on your bike. Businesses, advocates, residents and city government all support the bicycle network.

Many people see bicycle infrastructure, such as protected bike lanes, as something that only benefits cyclists, said Wesley Marshall, an associate professor in the department of civil engineering at the University of Colorado at Denver.

Marshall has been doing research and data studies of cities with and without bicycle infrastructure. Narrower roads mean slower speeds, he said.

“Cities with a ton of bicycling are some of the safest in the world,” he said of his research. “The gist of it is about slowing cars down and building a bigger network.”

Fort Collins is currently working to update its bicycle and pedestrian master plans, Greegor said. Projects include improving street crossing areas on major streets. Greegor said

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SEE GHOST BIKES, P18

WHAT’S HAPPENING IN DENVER On Aug. 7, Mayor Michael B. Hancock announced that five roadways would have their speed limits decreased in the hopes of improving safety.

The first to be announced was Evans Avenue from Federal Boulevard to Huron Street. The speed limit on that section of Evans was reduced from 35 to 30 mph at the end of August.

The rest of the roadways will be announced throughout the fall, according to a news release from the city.

The city has posted a 2018 progress report on its Vision Zero goals online. Its goal was to build 14 miles of sidewalk a year from 2018-2019. In 2018, six miles of sidewalk was built.

The goal jumps to 20 miles of sidewalk per year from 20202023.

For bike lanes, the Vision Zero goal from 2018-2019 was to build 20 miles of lanes per year. The city built 19 miles of new bike lanes in 2018. The goal jumps to 25 miles of lanes from 2020-2023.

Jill Locantore, the executive director of Walk Denver, a pedestrian advocacy organization, said she’s disappoined in the city’s sidewalk efforts.

“The need in terms of sidewalks is so huge,” she said.

On the city side, Rolf Eisinger, the program manager of Vision Zero with the city of

Denver, said that it’s hard to pinpoint one reason why the number of deaths seems to be increasing this year.

The Vision Zero team works with departments across the city, such as Public Works and the Denver Police Department to try and meet the plan’s “ambitious” goals.

Jenn Hillhouse, the director of transportation with Public Works, said that every time there’s a fatal accident in the city, a response team goes out to access the area where it happened. The team is comprised of people from different departments in the city, and they work to see if there are any changes that could be made immediately to make that specific spot safer.

Hillhouse said they look for lighting issues, sightlines and even traffic signal timing.

Having people from different departments around the city helps make sure they’re not missing things, she said, adding “everybody brings a different perspective.”

The city is also concentrating on building better connections for the city’s bike lane network. Staff has also been working on streets within the High Injury Network.

“We’re really focused on Federal and East Colfax right now,” Hillhouse said.

18 Washington Park Profile

September 2019

Ghost bikes FROM PAGE 17

that if people don’t feel safe crossing a street, they often won’t ride their bikes or walk places.

The plans are also looking at places where the city can slow traffic. One thing that the data and all parties can agree on is that speed plays a large role in fatal accidents. The faster you go, the more likely it is that someone will not walk away from that accident, said Jill Locantore, the executive director of Walk Denver. Walk Denver is a pedestrian advocacy group.

On Aug. 7, Mayor Michael B. Hancock of Denver announced that the city would lower the speed limits on five arterial streets as a result of recent bicycle deaths. For Locantore, this is a good first step. Arterials are where most of the traffic happens. Because they are usually more complicated streets, they also need more complicated solutions when it comes to the safety of road users.

“We’re definitely glad to see them focusing on specifically arterials,” Locantore said.

Many of those arterials also make up what is called the High Injury Network in Denver. That’s where 5 percent of the streets account for 50 percent of the fatalities. Some of those roads include Colfax Avenue, as well as Federal and Sheridan boulevards.

Several of those roads stretch into other cities in the metro area, such as Englewood and Lakewood. Sheridan in particular is dangerous for pedestrians, Locantore said, because there’s little-to-no sidewalk to speak of. It’s also a major transit street.

“The farther away you get from Den-

Lynda Martin hangs a small sign on Edward “Chuck” Vogel’s ghost bike. Martin met her husband through Vogel, who hired both of them. Vogel was hit by a car and killed while riding his bicycle in Douglas County in July.

PHOTOS BY KAILYN LAMB

Graffiti in the street near where Alexis Bounds was hit and killed on her bike reads “another slain cyclist.” In response to the recent bicycle deaths in Denver, Mayor Michael B. Hancock announced in early August that the city would be lowering the speed limit on five arterial streets.

A plaque of a mother and child leans against Alexis Bounds’ ghost bike in Denver. Bounds was the mother of two young boys.

Friends and relatives of Scott Hendrickson signed his ghost bike with love for “crazy Uncle Scott.” Hendrickson was hit nearby to West-Bar-Val-Wood Park in Denver. A resident of the neighborhood said cars frequently speed in the area.

ver, the more highway-like those arterials become,” she added.

For CDOT, safety is the number one

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concern when building roadways, Cole said. The department uses an engineering team on new projects, as well as improvement projects to make sure that streets are designed to keep pedestrians and cyclists safe. Slower speeds, improved lighting and raised medians are some of the ways of handling that.

CDOT also has education campaigns on pedestrian safety, he said, adding “we’re not just building roads and leave it at that.”

Building a network Bicycle infrastructure can be frustrating for people trying to get from one place to another. Lanes in Denver are not well connected right now, Evans said, adding that “we haven’t really invested in creating a safe network.” Historically, street planning has all been car-first, leaving pedestrians and bicyclists to navigate their way around that.

From city to city, this is also a problem.

Those bike networks don’t translate as the street flows from Denver into other metro area cities.

“There’s no program for Englewood to draw off what Denver has,” he said as an example.

Englewood recently added a painted bike lane to Dartmouth Avenue. The lane goes from Inca Street to South University Boulevard. University is on the border of Denver and Englewood.

Evans added that in Denver, there is no advocate group specifically for cyclists.

BikeDenver recently merged with Bicycle Colorado in May. When that happened, Evans said it created a vacuum, and Denver lost a voice working for change.

For Evans, it doesn’t do people on either side any good to “demonize” drivers, cyclists or pedestrians. Their efforts would be better spent focusing on getting cities to make changes in how they build roadways.

Taking action One of the keys to success in Fort Collins has been having funding specifically for these bike projects, Greegor said. The city passed a sales tax initiative that pays for projects. Through grants, the city is also able to have dedicated staff on its bicycle program.

The city also created a complete street standard that requires new streets or upgrade projects to consider the safety of all modes of transportation. “(New projects) have to meet these standards in order to build those developments,” Greegor said.

For a long time, Evans said he had been avoiding the ghost bike memorials. But when Scott Hendrickson, an avid cyclist and friend, was killed, Evans stepped in to help, painting an old bike of Hendrickson’s for the memorial placed in West-Bar-Val-Wood Park.

“This one kind of hit home when it was with Scott. It was one of his first road bikes,” he said of the bike he and Scott’s daughter Madison painted.

While Evans believes that the plans created for Vision Zero Denver are a great in theory, he feels that the city has been slow to implement it. He also added that 2011 plans from Denver Moves have also not been implemented quickly.

Locantore agrees.

She also added that although lowering speeds is a good first step, it is just that: a step. Roads like Colfax may have a posted speed limit of 35 mph, but they are designed so that drivers can go 10 or even 20 miles over that. Wider streets also make it hard for pedestrians to safely cross. These designs, Locantore said, often “put people in conflict with each other.”

“It’s the environment itself that’s causing those unsafe behaviors. We fundamentally need to redesign our streets,” she said.

“There’s only so much you can do to protect yourself as an individual.”

Washington Park Profile 19

September 2019

A

O T E D I U G S

’ R E V N E N

D UNTAI MO

S K R A P

Get out of the city and head to the mountains

Tress reflect on Echo Lake, a Denver-run mountain park. The city runs 15 parks through the Denver Mountain Parks program.

COURTESY OF DENVER MOUNTAIN PARKS

By Nancy Profera Special to Colorado Community Media

S

ummer is not quite over, and the mountains continue to draw many people away from the busy city. Did you know that Denver manages some of those mountain parks we know and love?

Denver Parks and Recreation manages Denver’s Mountain Parks, a system established in 1912 that today extends across four counties outside of Denver city limits. These include 22 accessible parks and 24 conservation areas comprising 14,000 acres. Together with Denver’s urban parks, this park system is one of the most expansive in the western United States.

There are 15 Denver Mountain Parks including Bergen, Corwina, Daniels, Dedisse, Echo Lake, Fillius, Genesee, Little, Lookout Mountain, Morrison, Newton, O’Fallon, Pence, Red Rocks and Summit Lake. Each is unique and offers a variety of hiking trails, early 20th-century built stone forts, picnic areas, scenic landscapes, golfing, fishing, birdwatching, outdoor concert-going, and camping and lodging, among other options.

Cyndi Karvaski, marketing and media relations for Denver Parks and Recreation, said it

is estimated that more than 2 million people a year visit the parks. Brian Kitts, director of Red Rocks for Denver parks said that 1.3 million paid concert goers attend the Red Rocks amphitheater each season, along with another 1 million nonpaid visitors. That makes Red Rocks the most visited location in Colorado. Kitts added that at any given event, nearly 30% of those in attendance are from outside Denver.

Denver Mountain Parks also manages some conservation lands not open to the public.

These include iconic landscapes and protected areas critical to wildlife habitats and to maintaining the natural and scenic character of the Denver foothills.

Here are some of the highlights of the Denver Mountain Parks: Bergen: 25 acres, recognized for its open grasslands and mature ponderosa pine forest.

A 1917-built stone shelter sits in the center of the park and is made of white quartz and timber. Located at Interstate 70 West to exit 252 onto Highway 74, County Road 65 in Evergreen.

Corwina: 298 acres, showcases various plant communities in Bear Creek Canyon, along with a stone shelter built in 1918. The park straddles Bear Creek and Highway 74 and most is dominated by slopes of dense

Ponderosa Pine and Douglas fir. Located at 25280 CO-74 in Morrison.

Daniels: 1,000 acres and the only Denver park located in Douglas County. Features a unique sandstone ridge setting, historic ranch, bison herd and a 100-mile view of the Front Range extending from Pike’s Peak to the Mummy Range near the Wyoming border. Located at 7549 N. Daniels Park Road in Sedalia.

Dedisse Park and Evergreen Lake: 420 acres with views to the west towards Elephant Butte, Hicks Mountain and Bergen Peak. Also features the 18-hole Evergreen Golf Course.

Located at 29200 Upper Bear Creek Road in Evergreen.

Echo Lake: 616 acres, features a natural lake at 10,600 feet in the valley at the base of Goliath Peak, surrounded by a thick spruce-fir forest. Located at CO-103 and Mt. Evans Road in Evergreen.

Fillius: 107 acres, is adjacent to Highway 74 going toward Squaw Pass and Evergreen. Features a stone shelter designed by J.J.B. Benedict built in 1918, with views of the Continental Divide. Located at 1100-1178 Bergen Parkway in Evergreen.

Genesee: The site of the first acquisition for the Mountain Park system. A 1912 campaign to save its pine forest from becoming lumber was the impetus. At 2,413 acres, it is the largest park in the system. Located at 26771 Genesee Lane in Golden.

Little: 400 acres and the first park along Bear Creek Road west of Idledale. Features a unique octagonal-roofed well house built in 1919. Located at 21763 Miller Lane in Morrison.

Lookout: With a panoramic view from the Continental Divide to downtown Denver.

Also features the grave and historic collection of Buffalo Bill, wooded foothills, mountain meadows, a distinctive stone shelter and a twisting scenic mountain road. Located at 987 Lookout Mountain Road in Golden.

Newton: 600 acres, near Conifer along Highway 285 South with stands of aspens.

Located at 11026 U.S. Highway 285 in Conifer.

Martin J. O’Fallon: 860-acre site donated to the park system in 1938. It connected Corwina and Pence Parks and the three now comprise 1,487 acres. Includes wetlands, riparian forest, open meadows, watershed and evergreen forests. Located at 25500 CO-74 in Morrison.

Pence: Consists of a large, northeast facing ridgeline (Independence Mountain) that provides a backdrop to Myers Gulch and Parmalee Gulch Road. Located at 4400 Parmalee Gulch Road in Evergreen.

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Summit Lake: At 12,840 feet and its 160acre park is surrounded by National Forest lands and the Mt. Evans wilderness. Located at I-70 West to CO-103 South, Idaho Springs, exit 240 in Evergreen.

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20 Washington Park Profile

September 2019

Residents push for open space after golf course sale Park Hill course will need a zoning change before development

By Joe Carabello Special to Colorado Community Media

Politics, business and citizen activism entangle the 155-acre Park Hill Golf Course property in the aftermath of its recent $24 million sale from Clayton Early Education to Denver developer Westside Investment Partners.

Clayton Early Education sold the property on July 11 to help fund its mission providing early education to needy families in Denver, said staff at the nonprofit organization.

Developing the property for commercial and residential will require rezoning, as the city currently has the golf course at 4141 E. 35th Ave. zoned for OS-B, or open space-recreation.

Denver Inter-Neighborhood Cooperation, a nonprofit coalition of representatives from Denver’s registered neighborhood organizations, insists the city should retain the Perpetual Open Space Conservation Easement it designated when it paid the Clayton Foundation $2 million in 1997. INC fears that the rapidly increasing density in Denver — especially at the expense of open space — negatively affects the city’s lifestyle.

“We know we’re not gullible enough to believe that in the world of politics that sometimes there are agreements, and then there are agreements,” said former Mayor Wellington Webb in an address to INC representatives

Former Denver Mayor Wellington Webb speaks at a Denver Inter-Neighborhood Cooperation meeting about the Park Hill Golf Course.

COURTESY OF GEORGIA GARNSEY Aug. 10. “I don’t see a smart businessman buying a site for $24 million unless he thinks he has the capacity to turn that into his project.

Unless there was an agreement before that took place.”

During that meeting, voting members of INC passed a resolution rejecting a zoning change required for developing the property for any use other than open space. INC delivered the resolution to all city council members and Mayor Michael B. Hancock on Aug. 23.

The course temporarily closed this season to accommodate a city storm water detention project currently under construction on 60 acres in the northeast corner of the golf course. When the project is completed, it will entail only 25 acres.

Kenneth Ho, a principal with Westside Investment Partners, said his company will seek citizen and other stakeholders input on their vision for the 155-acre property. He envisions open space as a component of a

against Clayton has prospective development CITY PARK GOLF since been dismissed, on the property, which according to court has been operated under a COURSE UPDATE records. lease agreement between Clayton and Texas-based The city’s interest in The Park Hill Golf Course was closed Arcis Golf. Westside acquiring the propthis season for the City of Denver to build a acquired Arcis’ lease erty was renewed water-detention project on 60 acres of the rights in the deal. in January 2019, property. The City Park Golf Course closed in Arcis lease rights when officials November 2017 for a similar water detention run through offered a project.

2023, with an deal where it Denver officials have completed the projoption to renew would lease ect and are waiting for the grass to return for five years. half the before reopening the City Park course, The amount property for according to Nancy Kuhn, director of marof land $300,000 a keting with Denver Public Works. This city dedicated to year for 30 wants the turf to be fully established before open space will years, or $9 allowing players to return to the course at depend on Westmillion total, 3181 E 23rd Ave. This is done “in order to side’s determinaand purchase protect the new turf from being damaged,” tion of the size and half the property Kuhn said. scale of various elefor $10 million.

“Establishment of the turf is largely dements of a development Members of INC pendent on the weather the rest of this year project as well as from have been keeping and spring of next year,” she added. community engagement, their eye on a potential Kuhn also said First Tee of Denver will Ho said. The company has move into the City Park course clubhouse sale of the property not filed for a rezoning as as soon as the city receives the certificate since the beginning. of press time on Aug. 28. of occupancy. The clubhouse will open for Woody Garnsey, a Park Hill Golf Course retired lawyer and special events, but will not open full-time has been on the list of longtime Park Hill until the rest of the course does. potential development resident, has been a properties in Denver for quite some time. In central figure for INC and others who insist 2017, the City of Denver offered Clayton $24 that Denver needs to protect the Park Hill Golf million for the property.

Course open space easement. The easement’s Arcis, which had the right of first refusal in sole purpose was to protect open space in its lease, subsequently sued Clayton in April Denver.

2018, filing a second complaint a year later “The perpetual conservation easement states which added the city of Denver as a co-defenthat it’s for maintaining the land’s scenic open dant. The city later withdrew its 2017 offer, condition and for preserving the land for considering the Arcis lease rights. Arcis’ suit recreational use,” he said.

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Washington Park Profile 21

September 2019

‘LABOR OF LOVE’

D’art Gallery will focus on local contemporary artsits

By Kailyn Lamb klamb@coloradocommunitymedia.com

A

fter a quick turnaround, one gallery space has turned into another as 17 local artists banded together to create D’art Gallery.

When the CORE gallery closed earlier this year to move to the new 40 West Art District in Lakewood, D’art founder Carrie MaKenna saw an opportunity. On May 28 she asked a group of artists to come to a meeting to see if they were interested in starting a new gallery in the space at 900 Santa Fe Drive. That day, 17 people signed on, said artist and D’art spokesperson Suzanne Frazier.

“They moved out and then there was the space,” Frazier said. “It just happened.”

The gallery will be artist-focused, allowing each one to have a show during the year, Frazier said. The artists also worked together to decided on the name, putting in the hours to get the gallery ready quickly. Frazier said it has been a “labor of love.”

By July 31, the group had finalized its business paperwork for taxes and to form an official LLC. The next day the gallery held a sneak peak for its first exhibition, which runs through Sept. 15.

Members of the new D’art Gallery in the Santa Fe Art District pose for a photo after hanging their pieces for a show. The gallery has 17 artist members and opened in August.

COURTESY OF D’ART GALLERY “Boom shaka-laka is all I have to say,” joked MaKenna about how quickly the gallery came together.

She added that “it was right off the bat that we had lots of interest” from local artists.

D’art Gallery — the “D” stands for Denver — has 16 gallery spaces. One space holds work created by a pair of

artists. Frazier said their works spans across several different mediums: paint, drawing, ceramics and more.

What the artists, including her own work, have in common is that they are all contemporary artists.

The gallery operates as a cooperative gallery, which means that the artists pay dues. It is a method that

is “tried and tested in Denver,” and started in the early 1980s, MaKenna said. She estimated that there are between seven and 10 co-op galleries in the metro Denver area.

Frazier said that D’art stands next door to the Spark Gallery, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary. It is the oldest co-op in the Santa Fe

Art District. Frazier said it will be an interesting juxtaposition putting the newest co-op next to the oldest.

MaKenna said D’art would be doing exhibitions a little bit differently than most co-ops though.

Each due-paying artist will have the opportunity to do at least one solo show per year. The solo shows will go in sets of two, where the artists can display multiple works for three weeks at a time.

The gallery will also have group shows, such as the one it is hosting for its opening exhibition, Frazier said. The first exhibition had a grand opening on Aug. 9, with each artist showing one piece. Artists switched out their pieces on Aug. 22, creating an entirely new show for the second half of the exhibition.

“The best way we thought was to allow each member to have at least one show per year,” MaKenna said of the system. “It’s a continuously changing and unique experience for gallery-goers.”

MaKenna said the gallery also gives them an opportunity to do an open call for national, or even international gallery shows. The first national show will happen later this year.

“It gives us a chance to invite other local artists to show,” she said, “but it also gives us a chance to open it up.”

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22 Washington Park Profile

September 2019

R A C T REE

S N R U T E

ST E H T

COLORADO GYPSY JAZZ FESTIVAL

R

FT.

JOSCHO STEPHAN

AND

HARMONIOUS WAIL

W/ SPECIAL GUEST

THE CODY SISTERS

SEPT 6

Aaron Fazzio, left, speaks to a trolley passenger near the South Platte River.

The historic trolley is run by the Denver Tramway Heritage Society. KAILYN LAMB

Preservation, city officials work to restore historic trolley

By Kailyn Lamb

DAVID BROMBERG QUINTET W/ CARY

klamb@coloradocommunitymedia.com

MORIN

@ The Oriental Theater

SEPT 7

AVENHART

W/ SISTER

While major changes are being to Denver across the board, smaller pieces of the city’s history are uncovered in the construction.

When the pavement is stripped on busy roadways, glimpses of the old streetcar line that dominated Denver during much of its early days can sometimes be found. They paint a picture of a bustling and growing city not unlike what you’ll find today.

“If you look, there’s remnants everywhere,” said Kim Grant, director of the Endangered Places program of Colorado Preservation Inc. One example, he said,

is the downtown REI building, which used to be the power plant for the Denver Tramway Company, one of the trolley systems.

Although the streetcars shut down as the main way of transportation in 1950, several organizations and metro area residents are working to preserve their history.

Last month, Colorado Preservation, Inc. and Friends of the .04 Trolley held an event on Aug. 22 to raise funds for their restoration efforts of the last trolley to run from Denver to Arvada. The .04 is the streetcar model of this specific trolley.

“This was the last car to ever run through Arvada,” said Walter Weart, president of Friends of

NEOPOLITAN

SEPT 14

the .04. “We have documentation that showed it arrived on July 2nd after midnight when the other cars quit the day before.”

Weart bought the streetcar 15 years ago. He and his wife Susanna had spent the last several years renovating street and train cars, including a caboose. But the Wearts’ restoration efforts fell through, and since then it’s been sitting in storage.

During the event, members of Arvada City Council and the Friends of the .04 took a ride the on the Denver Trolley, run by the Denver Tramway Heritage Society, a nonprofit that also works to preserve the history of the streetcar line.

MORE INFORMATION For more information on the Friends of the .04 streetcar restoration project, go to https://friendsofthe04trolley. com/. People can also donate to the Go Fund Me campaign through this page.

For more information on the Denver Trolley, go to http://www.denvertrolley. org/. The trolley is run by the Denver Tramway Heritage Society and operates during the summer season.

To see Ryan Keeney’s capstone project which maps out the history of Denver’s streetcar system, go to https://bit.ly/2tCLMYH.

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Washington Park Profile 23

September 2019 The REI downtown is housed in the former Denver Tramway Power building, which opened in 1901. The building provided electricity to the streetcars that ran throughout Denver.

KAILYN LAMB

Trolley FROM PAGE 22

To Ethan Yazzie-Mintz, president of the board of the tramway society, the streetcars give you an idea of what life was like in Denver’s earliest days.

“It was a city that was built on rail,” he said.

The Denver Trolley runs along the Platte River, stopping at locations such as the Downtown Aquarium and the Children’s Museum.

It follows an old bypass track that national trains could use when the rail traffic in Denver was heavy.

Restoring the .04 Colorado Preservation Inc.’s Endangered Places program focuses on saving historic buildings and resources like the streetcar, said Grant. Since it was founded, the department has saved 47 sites and has an additional 44 on its “in progress” list. The Weart’s trolley was first put on the preservation list in 2015.

“These are the kind of sites and resources that tell the story of Colorado’s development,” Grant said. He added that the streetcar presented more of a challenge to the organization since it was once a vehicle and not a building.

Finding people to restore a historic item like that can also be tricky.

Susanna Weart said they also worked to get the car put on the state’s register of historic places. The Friends of the .04 would also like to have it put on the national list.

Grant was working for the city of Arvada in 2014 when the Wearts started to bring people together to restore the car. Several people joined together to form the Friends of the .04.

Staff at the city of Arvada wrote and received a State Historical Fund grant for

$200,000. The groups are trying to raise an additional $200,000 for the project through events and a GoFundMe page.

Grant estimated that it will take eight months to restore the streetcar. Once it is completed it will be put on display somewhere in Old Towne Arvada. Grant said a final place has not been decided on, but most groups are hopeful it will be in an area where the streetcar tracks used to bring the trolleys in from Denver.

“Until the ‘30s, that was the main way to get from downtown Denver to Arvada, and back,” Grant said.

Streetcar history The streetcar system started with horsedrawn trolleys in the 1872. Then, the system was converted to the more modern electric car. Some, like the Denver Trolley that runs by the Platte River downtown, ran on an electricdiesel engine.

For Ryan Keeney, the streetcar become an obsession. Keeny said he had always been interested in land use and how it was used for transportation. While working toward his master’s in Geographic Information Systems at the University of Denver, a professor suggested Keeney look into the streetcars.

The suggestion became a capstone project: an in-depth map of the streetcar system that eventually grew to all of Denver and reached out to the suburbs. The streetcar system eventually had 250 miles of track and around 100 trolleys.

To Keeney, the streetcar system’s legacy is the Regional Transportation District. Denver Tramway Corporation continued to run the city’s transit system after the streetcars were discontinued in 1950. The organization ceased operations 21 years later, when the city took over under the name Denver Metro Transit.

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A historic photo of a streetcar. The streetcar system expanded throughout the entire city. Neighborhoods and small shopping districts began to form around the major lines.

COURTESY OF KIM GRANT/COLORADO PRESERVATION INC.

Voters approved the creation of RTD in 1974.

The expansion of the trolley lines built entire neighborhoods in the city, Keeney said, calling them “micro-transportation districts.”

Yazzie-Mintz agreed, adding that the expansion into the suburbs allowed people to live out there and still get into the city for work.

The Denver Tramway Heritage Society has been trying to expand its footprint in Denver.

For many of its 31 years, the trolley only ran on weekends and was run almost entirely by volunteers. About five years ago, the nonprofit expanded its trolley services to five days a week during the summer season, Yazzie-Mintz said. They also added a seasonal staff.

The organization received a little more funding this year as well. The Scientific and Cultural Facilities District, which provides grants to nonprofits around the state through tax funds, upped Denver Tramway Heritage Society’s grant from $8,000 to $11,000 this year, Yazzie-Mintz said.

Those funds mostly go back into the trolleys, he added. Recently, the company had to rewind its trolley’s engine, which cost around $30,000. Parts for the historic cars can also be hard to find.

“There’s no AAA for trolleys,” Yazzie-Mintz joked.

But keeping the history alive is important.

Yazzie-Mintz said that many of the volunteers that kept the Denver Trolley going was due to their passion for the streetcar system. The trolleys give you “a sense of the history of the city,” he added.

With the city investing in new light rail systems, Yazzie-Mintz said it’s interesting to see the state going back to train tracks. The trolleys were the transportation of Denver’s past, but the still seem to influence the future, he said.

“This trolley really bridges that.”

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24 Washington Park Profile

September 2019

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Washington Park Profile 25

September 2019

Doors Open Denver celebrates city architecture Staff Report The 15th annual Doors Open Denver event will feature 59 properties this year.

Twelve of the properties on tour this year are new to the event, according to a news release. Tours are led by architects, historians, landscape architects or urban enthusiasts. Many of the properties are not frequently open to the public, the release said.

Tours of the properties are happening on Sept. 21 and 22. Tickets are $12 per tour.

Dancers perform in the Rossonian building during last year’s Doors Open Denver Event.

This year’s event will be held on Sept.

21 and 22.

Ticket sales for the event benefit the Denver Architecture Foundation.

In addition to the tours, Doors Open Denver will host five different arts cultural experiences, including visual and performing arts at architectural locations in the La Alma-Lincoln Park neighborhood. The experiences will be announced early this month, according to the release.

For more information on the event, or to buy tickets, go to denverarchitecture.org.

COURTESY OF DAVID NAYLOR

History Colorado names new state historian William Wei is one of state’s top experts in Asian-American history Staff report William Wei, Ph.D., has taken over for Dr. Tom Noel as the state historian.

History Colorado made the announcement in mid-July, and Wei assumed the

position on Aug. 1, Colorado Day, according to a news release from the museum.

“We are all grateful for Dr. Noel’s accomplishments and his service as state historian this past term,” said Jason Hanson, History Colorado’s Chief Creative Officer and Director of Interpretation and Research.

“Throughout his 50 years of working with History Colorado, Dr. Noel has done so much to bring us all together for greater collaboration and deeper understanding about our history and culture.”

The position rotates annually “to create

better representation and reach for the state, to amplify different perspectives, and to reinforce the collaborative foundation of history and storytelling” as part of a fiveperson council, the release said. Last year the council helped put on more than 60 talks, lectures, events and programs.

Wei is a professor of history at the University of Colorado in Boulder. He joined the State Historian’s Council in 2018 when it first launched. Before that, he was a board member of History Colorado. He is recognized as one of Colorado’s foremost experts in Asian-

American history.

The council works across the state and in the West to expand knowledge of the area’s history, perspectives and culture. Councilmembers come from different education institutions around the state, and is facilitated

by History Colorado.

“I want to encourage council members to engage in more ‘applied history,’ translating their knowledge of the state’s history and culture into a form that everyday Coloradans can understand,” Wei said of his new role in the news release.

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26 Washington Park Profile

September 2019

Things to Do Submit calendar listings on our website, coloradocommunitymedia.com, go to the Calendar tab and click “Submit an Event.” Priority is given to non-profits, low- or no-cost events and locations within our distribution map.

Next Issue Deadline: Thursday, Sept. 20.

CLASSES, LECTURES, FORUMS Sunday Open Meditation 1st Sunday of the month.

The Center is open to the public for “drop-in” meditation and contemplative practices, 10 a.m.noon. Meditation instruction, 10:30 a.m., Padmasambhava Meditation Center, 1900 S. Cook St. padmasambhavameditationcenter. org English Learning Center Monday-Thursday from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. & Wednesday and Thursday 6:30 to 8 p.m.

The English Learning Center, the Evanston Center for Spiritual Wholeness & Healing at 2122 S. Lafayette St., offers affordable day and evening English classes.

For more enrollment info. call 303420-0172, or contact elcdenver@ gmail.com

Denver Laughter Club Meets every Monday except major holidays at Cheesman Park. Noon to 1 p.m., weather permitting.

Call Vicki for more info.

720-480-5421 Cheesman Park 1900 E. 11th Ave. denverlaughs.com Learn to Code Meetup Mondays, 6 p.m.

An open house/study group for anyone, at any level, with any interest in computer programming. No prior knowledge/future commitment needed.

720-865-1706 ideaLAB Community Technology Center DPL Central Library 10 W. 14th Ave. Parkway meetup.com/learntocodedenver Belly Dancing Classes Classes held most Mondays, 7 p.m. beginners, 8 p.m. advanced.

Classes $10 drop-in — Cafe not open.

303-294-9258 Mercury Cafe 2199 California St. mercurycafe.com Meditation at Noon Tuesdays, 12 p.m.

Take 30 minutes to connect to your heart, cultivate inner peace and happiness, and clarify your intention for the day, free.

303-813-9551 KMC Colorado Capitol Hill, 1081 Marion St. meditationincolorado.org

Tibetan Buddhist Meditation Sundays 9:30 a.m.

Learn both Tibetan and rhythmic English chants and brief silent meditations. Led by members of Yeshe Nyingpo Denver, a chapter of the Dudjom Tersar and aligned with the Dalai Lama.

303-294-9258 Mercury Cafe 2199 California St. mercurycafe.com Sunday Open House and Meditation Sundays 10 a.m.

A relaxed and informal Open House in the community room includes information about activities and meditation followed by a discussion and opportunity to meet others. Meditation instruction is available.

Shambhala Meditation Center of Denver, 2305 S. Syracuse Way, Ste. 214 denver.shambhala.org Meditation and Kirtan Tuesdays 6 p.m.

Leave your troubles behind and practice meditation and Kirtan every Tuesday.

For more info call Ed. 720-810-9071 854 Pearl St., Denver

Words of Wisdom Tuesdays 2 p.m.

One word can say it all. Join us as we explore a key word from each week’s parsha and discover inspiration and guidance for our life’s journey.

303-316-6412 The Jewish Experience Center, 399 S. Monaco Parkway.

Argentine Tango, Practice and Lessons Every Tuesday 6:45 to 7:45 p.m.

Tango Colorado hosts these low cost Tango lessons, followed by a practice session where dancers can polish the steps

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they learned, interact with other students and advanced dancers and improve their skills.

303-710-2250 Denver Turnverein Event Center, 1570 Clarkson St. tangocolorado.org/lessons

All Ages Open Lab Sundays 1 p.m.

Have a project you want to work on as a family?

Want to learn more about Photoshop, 3D printing or anything else in the lab?

Come on in! Family open lab is all ages, but no unaccompanied adults or kids under 10, please!

720-865-1706 ideaLAB in Community Technology Center of DPL Central library, 10 W. 14th Ave. Parkway denverlibrary.org

Tuesday Night Blues Tuesdays 7 p.m. intermediate, 8 p.m. advanced.

Classes $5, Dance 8:30 p.m., $8 ($10-12 with Live Band) 303-294-9258 Mercury Cafe, 2199 California St. mercurycafe.com

Tattered Tales Storytime Tuesdays 10:30 a.m.

Young children are invited for a half hour of stories and fun, with a different topic each week. Free.

303-322-1965, ext. 2731 Tattered Cover, 2526 E. Colfax Ave. tatteredcover.com

UNNA Monthly Meeting Second Tuesday of the month Evanston Center for Spiritual Wholeness and Healing, 2122 S. Lafayette St. unna.shutterfly.com West Coast Swing Classes Wednesdays, 7 p.m. beginner/intermediate, 8 p.m. advanced.

Classes $8 303-294-9258 Mercury Cafe 2199 California St. mercurycafe.com Denver Socrates Cafe Tuesdays, 6:30 p.m.

Join a group that “seek truth by their own lights.” No regular attendance or preparation required.

Speak your own mind, then take turns playing Socrates by asking questions.

303-861-1447 Trinity United Methodist Church, 1820 Broadway meetup.com/DenverSocrates-Cafe Wednesday Nights Open Stage Wednesdays, 9 p.m.

Open Stage for musicians, comics & magicians. Free, sign up with Host 303-294-9258 Mercury Cafe 2199 California St. mercurycafe.com Thursday Evening Meditation Thursdays 7 p.m.

Free to the public - all are welcome. Dharma teachings on Buddhist principles by Tibetan meditation master Chhoje Rinpoche (live or video) followed by meditation instruction.

Padmasambhava Meditation Center, 1900 S. Cook St. padmasambhavameditationcenter.org

Daybreak Toastmasters Fridays, 7 a.m.

Cat got your tongue? Public speaking and more. Call Bob after 6 p.m. Now meeting on the second floor of the building.

720-308-9090 State of Colorado Centennial Building, 1313 Sherman St. daybreaktoastmasters.org Hard Times Meditation Fridays, 2:30 p.m.

Going through a tough time?

Developing mindfulness can often help us find new resiliency.

Join professional instructor Nancy Nielsen for a supportive mindfulness meditation class that’s free and open to all.

720-865-1111 Denver Public Library: Central branch, 10 W. 14th Ave. Parkway Happiness Hour Fridays 5 p.m.

A short talk and guided relaxing meditation to help increase a peaceful good heart. It is an ideal way to unwind after work and recharge for a great evening ahead. Free.

303-813-9551 KMC Colorado Downtown, 1336 Glenarm Place meditationincolorado.org

Slime Club Tuesdays 4 p.m.

Join us to make slime, have snacks and help us rename this weekly event that will happen every Tuesday. Ideal for ages 8-12.

720-865-0940 Virginia Village Branch Library, 1500 S. Dahlia St. www.denverlibrary.org/events Toddler Storytime Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 10:30 a.m.

In the Berger Children’s Pavilion, Stories, songs, rhymes and fun for toddlers ages 18-36 months and their parents or caregivers.

Craft activity immediately follows the program. Free.

720-865-1111 Denver Public Library: Central branch, 10 W. 14th Ave. Parkway denverlibrary.org Art Works!

Wednesdays 10:30 a.m.

Preschool Art for ages 3 – 5. We’ll read a book or two and little artists will make a simple craft or experiment with different materials in open-ended art 720-865-0955 Ross-University Hills Branch Library, 4310 E. Amherst Ave. www.denverlibrary.org/events SEE THINGS TO DO, P27

Washington Park Profile 27

September 2019

Things to Do FROM PAGE 26

All Ages Storytime Wednesdays 10:30 a.m Stories, songs, rhymes and fun for children of all ages and their parents or caregivers.

720-865-0135 Ross-Broadway Branch Library, 33 E. Bayaud Ave. denverlibrary.org Girls Who Code Wednesdays 4 p.m.

An afterschool program for girls in middle and high school to learn computer science in a collaborative, engaging and intensive manner, working with women who work in technology fields.

Learn Python, build websites, create games and more, free.

720-865-1706 ideaLAB in Community Technology Center of DPL Central library, 10 W. 14th Ave. Parkway denverlibrary.org/idealab

Imagination Station Thursdays, 3 p.m.

Join us for a drop-in playtime on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 3-5:30 p.m. Children ages 6 months to 5 years are welcome. Caregivers must remain in the room with their children.

720-865-0220 Decker Branch Library, 1501 S. Logan St. www.denverlibrary.org LEGO Time Thursdays 4 p.m.

Kids, join us to hang out with other Lego® lovers for some free-building time. We supply the blocks; you supply the creativity. Ages 4 & up. And, no...you don’t get to take the Legos® home, but you may return to build on another day!

720-865-0955 Ross-University Hills Branch Library, 4310 E. Amherst Ave. www.denverlibrary.org/ events Code Club Saturdays 1 p.m.

Meet every Saturday to learn how to code!

With a demonstration at 1 p.m. and then time to work on a project at 2 p.m., with new topics every month. Ages 10-19.

720-865-1706 ideaLAB in Community Technology Center of DPL Central library, 10 W. 14th Ave. Parkway teens.denverlibrary.org

Eazy Gaming Wednesdays 4 p.m.

Play great video games on a Wii, N64 and PS4. Ideal for ages 6-18.

720-865-0160 Byers Branch Library, 675 Santa Fe Drive. www.denverlibrary.org/ events Toddler Play & Explore Thursdays 11:30 a.m.

Enjoy unstructured play and social time for toddlers ages 18-36 months and their caregivers. Enjoy books, music, and a variety of developmentally appropriate toys in our warm and inviting play space.

720-865-1111 Denver Public Library: Central branch, 10 W. 14th Ave. Parkway denverlibrary.org Drop-In Snack and Craft!

Thursdays 3 p.m.

Join us for a fun craft and yummy snack every Thursday! All ages. No registration.

While supplies last.

720-865-0220 Eugene Field Branch Library, 810 S. University Blvd. www.denverlibrary.org/events

Teen Open Lab Interested in recording music or editing videos? Want to use the 3D printer or learn about Arduino? Want to learn how to make a video games? Ready to sew or paint a masterpiece? Just want to hang out and play games? Drop-in, for teens 12-19, free.

720-865-1706 ideaLAB in Community Technology Center of DPL Central library, 10 W. 14th Ave. Parkway teens.denverlibrary.org SEE THINGS TO DO, P29

T I C K E T S O N S A L E N OW !

SEPTEMBER

Verdi Requiem – 35th Anniversary Celebration of the Colorado Symphony Chorus

Bobby McFerrin with the Colorado Symphony Chorus

OCT 26-27 SAT 7:30 ■ SUN 1:00

SEP 7 SAT 7:30

NOVEMBER

Kristin Chenoweth in Concert with the Colorado Symphony

Disney in Concert: Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas

SEP 14 SAT 7:30

NOV 1-2 FRI-SAT 7:30

Presentation licensed by Disney Concerts. ©Disney.

All rights reserved. MPAA Rating: PG

Rick Steves - A Symphonic Journey with the Colorado Symphony

Halloween Spooktacular!

SEP 15 SUN 2:00

Opening Weekend: Mendelssohn Violin Concerto featuring Yumi Hwang-Williams

NOV 8-10 FRI- SAT 7:30 SUN 1:00 ■

SEP 20-22 FRI-SAT 7:30 ■ SUN 1:00

Renée Fleming - The Brightness of LightColorado Premiere

Latin Beats: Sonidos de las Américas FREE CONCERT

NOV 15 & 17 FRI 7:30 SUN 1:00 ■

Rhapsody & Rhythm: The Gershwin Concert Experience

Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto NOV 22-24 FRI-SAT 7:30 SUN 1:00 ■

SEP 28 SAT 7:30

SYMPHONY POPS

Home Alone in Concert HalfNotes

MPAA Rating: PG

Aretha: A Tribute

OCT 4-6 FRI-SAT 7:30 ■ SUN 1:00

SYMPHONY POPS

NOV 30 SAT 7:30

The Goonies in Concert

See me and find out why State Farm® is such a great place to park.

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Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 4 conducted by Brett Mitchell

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Mozart Symphony No. 40

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28 Washington Park Profile

September 2019

Free

to the Public 2019

Second AnnualWomen’s Health and Beauty Expo Saturday, October 5, 2019 | 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.

Belmar Shopping Center • 464 S. Teller St., Lakewood Presented by Colorado Community Media in coordination with Belmar Shopping Center

The Women’s Health and Beauty Expo includes:

• Entertainment and food • Health Education • Fashion • Beauty

Get e d u and i cated -Alte nformed rnativ in:

-Men e medicin tal e, -Weig health -Phys ht loss ical And M health ore

• Accupuncture • Mental Health services • Chiropractics • Fitness • Gifts & More!

Thank you to our sponsors!

We are looking for additional Sponsors and Vendors!

Contact your Event Producer Thelma Grimes at tgrimes@coloradocommunitymedia.com www.coloradocommunitymedia.com/womens-health-expo/

Washington Park Profile 29

September 2019

Things to Do FROM PAGE 27

OUTREACH Nicotine Anonymous Sundays 12:30 p.m.

A fellowship of men and women helping each other to live our lives free of nicotine.

Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, 915 E. Ninth Ave. http://nicotine-anonymous.

Nar-Anon Sundays 6:45 p.m.

A twelve step support group for families and friends of addicts to help themselves cope.

First Unitarian Church, 1400 Lafayette St. nar-anon.org Grant Street Reach Mondays 8 a.m.

Providing meals at no cost to its clients and it is sustained by committed and compassionate volunteers. 303-839-1432 St. Paul Lutheran and Roman Catholic Community of Faith, 1600 Grant St. grantstreetreach.org Food Addicts in Recovery Anonymous Mondays 7 p.m.

Through shared experience and mutual support, join a meeting to help each other to recover from the disease of food addiction.

303-775-8062 Trinity United Methodist Church, 1820 Broadway foodaddicts.org

Home for the Heart AL-ANON Mondays - Group Al-Anon Adult Children of Alcoholics. Tuesday through Thursday - Group Al-Anon. Fridays - Group Al-Anon (Meditation the first 10 minutes).

Room 114, In lower level. Trinity United Methodist Church, 1820 Broadway al-anon-co.org

LifeRing Secular Recovery Meeting Wednesdays 6 p.m.

A network of people who support one another in living free of alcohol and other non-medically indicated addictive drugs.

303-875-5088 First Unitarian Church, 1400 Lafayette St. liferingcolorado.org

History Matters Committee Meeting Mondays 7 p.m.

This Historic Preservation Committee is responsible for numerous historic districts as well as individually designated homes and buildings. Join us each month to learn what is happening in your neighborhood and to add to your voice.

Castle Marne, 1572 Race St.

FREE Support with Binge Eating Challenges Thursdays 6 p.m.

This support group is ideal for individuals at least 18 years old who are struggling with a binge type eating disorder. All groups are free of charge. We hold confidential groups facilitated by specialists to allow you to gain the support you need.

The Eating Disorder Foundation, 1901 E. 20th Ave. eatingdisorderfoundation.org

Moderation Management Tuesdays 6:30 p.m.

Weekly meetings for problem (vs. chronic) drinkers who want to reduce their intake of alcohol. Email: denver@moderation.org.

First Unitarian Church, 1400 Lafayette St. moderation.org Joy AL-ANON Tuesdays 8 p.m.

Al-Anon’s Purpose is to help friends and families of alcoholics recover from the effects of living with the problem drinking of a relative or friend. In the Roberts Building, Room 103.

Saint John’s Cathedral, 1350 Washington St. al-anonco.org

Native American Bank

DENVER

Share NAB’s Mission of Bringing Communities Together

NEW BRANCH OPENS OCT. 2019!

Celebrate with us and learn how you can open a personal or corporate account.

NABNA.COM

201 Broadway, Denver, CO 80203 303-988-2727 TF: 800-368-8894 Member FDIC

RELIGION AND SPIRITUALITY Catholic Mass Sundays 7:30 a.m.

Also, Spanish Mass, 12:30p.m. (2nd and 4th Sundays) and African Mass, 1p.m. (3rd Sunday).

303-322-8042 St. Ignatius Loyola Catholic Church, 2301 York St. loyoladenver.org Episcopal Service Sunday, 7:45 a.m., 9:30 a.m. 303-388-6469 St. Barnabas Episcopal Church, 1280 Vine St. stbdenver.org

Anglican Services Sundays 7:45 a.m.

303-831-7115 Saint John’s Cathedral, 1350 Washington St. sjcathedral.org Orthodox Low Mass Sundays 8 a.m.

Church School at 9:10 a.m., Anglican Chant Matins at 9:45 am, Solemn High Mass at 10 a.m.

St. Mark’s Church, 1405 S. Vine St. Interdenominational Service Sundays 8:30 a.m.

303-800-8269 Denver United Church, 660 S. Broadway denverunited.com Catholic Mass Sundays 8:30 a.m.

Also at 10:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.

303-831-7010 Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, 1535 Logan St. denvercathedral.org Catholic Mass Sundays 9 a.m.

303-534-4014 St. Elizabeth of Hungary Catholic Parish, 1060 St. Francis Way stelizabethdenver.org Acts 29 Christian Service Sundays 9 a.m.

L2 Church, 1477 Columbine St. L2today.com Contemporary Services Sundays 9 a.m.

11 a.m. Service offered as well.

Church in the City-Beth Abraham, 1580 Gaylord St. churchinthecity.org

30 Washington Park Profile CALL KAREN TO PLACE YOUR AD TODAY! 303-566-4091 Misc. Notices Run a 25 word ad for $27 a month Call Karen 303-566-4091 or email kearhart@ coloradocommunitymedia.com to place your ad Deadline is September 20th for the October issue

FARM & AGRICULTURE

Farm Products & Produce Grain Finished Buffalo quartered, halves and whole

719-771-8742

GARAGE & ESTATE SALES

Garage Sales KLIFE GARAGE SALE Benefitting non'profit

6500 E Orchard Rd Denver Multiple-family garage sale September 7th from 7am-12pm.

MERCHANDISE

TRANSPORTATION

Cash for all Vehicles!

Cars, Trucks, Vans, SUV’s Any condition • Running or not No title OK • Free towing

(303)741-0762

Cell: (303)918-2185 for texting

Bestcashforcarsco.com

Wanted to Buy WANT TO PURCHASE Minerals and other oil/gas interests.

Send details to: P.O. Box 13557, Denver, CO 80201.

REAL ESTATE

RENTALS

Apartments PARK LANE A

480 South Marion 2bed 2bath East Facing Luxury Apartment Mostly Furnished NS/NP Lease, $2600+ Available October 1st lking0007@gmail.com 970-390-7525

September 2019

Service Directory Auto Services/Repair

SERVICES

PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZER Now that the kids are back in school, it’s time to take stock around the house. Let WOW! Organized! LLC help you turn chaos into order, in your office, closets, garage and more. Let me give you more time to enjoy the important things in life. Free consultation. Claudia Winkler, 720.273.5693, Claudia@WowOrganized.com, www.WowOrganized.com

Brick BRICKFIX 303-667-6247 No job too small! We specialize in Brick Restoration, Tuck Pointing and accurate color matching. Angie’s List Approved. Quality Work Guaranteed.

Free Estimates. Email: stevedwyerbrickfixx@gmail.com.

Over 20 Years Experience .

Painting

Carpentry HOME RENOVATION EXPERTS New framing, remodel, kitchens, bathrooms, drywall repair, decks, patios, fences. Free estimates. Reasonable rates. JDB Enterprises. Call Dale, 303748-7202.

LIVING SPACE Transform your space Educated Carpenter/Craftsman

Specializing in everything from woodwork and trim to Historic Restoration; Cabinet Installation and General Lite Construction, deck & deck repair. 30+ years’ experience.

References and Photos available

Larry 970-712-9767

Electricians

B&W Electric, LLC

Licensed and Insured.

Residential or Commercial Ask about our Senior Citizen and/or Veteran discounts.

Call (720) 925-1241 Handyman

Lawn/Garden Services GREENCREST LANDSCAPING Specializing in lawn removal and resodding. No job too small. Call Bill at 303-722-5923 Ask about Astro Turf.

JOE MARINO Personal Landscaping & Garden Service @ $50 an hour. Yard & garden maintenance, preparation, cleanup (weeding, bush trimming, etc). Yearround service. 303-961-1495. Mornings Home Number 303-621-1121.

Cleaning TOO BUSY ...

TO MAKE YOUR HOUSE SPARKLE? Call Bob: 303-960-8100.

Thorough and dependable.

Detail-oriented. References available.

Established in 1989, Bonded & Insured.

Dental

Dentist Office Cody G Jorgenson, D.D.S. 100 Acoma St

Accepting new patients: Medicaid and most insurances.

We look forward to helping you with all your dental needs!

Call Today!

(303) 778-6703 Drywall THE WALL REBUILDER Cracks? Holes? Ugly texture? We fix any kind of damage in any age home.

Plaster (and Drywall) Repair/Remodel www.wallrebuilder.com Laura and Dan Pino 303-698-1057 Free Estimates.

WALL & CEILING REPAIRS Skimming, patching, drywall finishing & texture, ceiling & wall repair due to water damage. Call Tom, 720-5307586.

Organizing Services

Handyman Service Tile, Plumbing, Finish Projects Miscellaneous Repairs Small Jobs OK 303-345-4046 HOME REPAIRS & REMODELING Household repairs, remodeling projects, drywall, floor & wall tile, interior trim, plumbing repairs, vinyl installation, locks, caulking, cabinets, countertops, bathroom remodels, basements, new faucets, garbage disposals, wall patching, texturing, interior painting & much more! Top quality. Reasonable rates. Call Mike at 303-5872610.

Jewelry SOWILO ARTISAN JEWELRY Hand crafted designs in silver. Custom design, silver jewelry restoration and repair. 1221 S. Pearl St. 303-548-5467.

Tuesday - Saturday 12:00pm-6:00pm. sowilollc@gmail.com.

Lawn/Garden Services CLEAN-UPS/ YARD MAINTENANCE/ SNOW REMOVAL Hauling and yard clean-up. Longtime Baker neighborhood resident; 30 yrs. exp. Insured, references. Free estimates. Call Lou R. Varlaro, 303-8681539.

LANDSCAPING We offer design, installation and maintenance. Specializing in residential landscapes. The Green Fuse offers a full spectrum of services provided by a landscape architect and master gardener. Advanced knowledge of Colorado plant material and xeriscaping. Call 303-507-4772 for free estimate. Visit: greenfuselandscape.com.

BAUER PRO-PAINTING EST. 1996 We use only the highest quality materials from prep to paint. Drywall, plaster repair, replace damaged wood. A+ rating with BBB. Insured. 303-733-2870 or bauerpropainting@gmail.com.

Plumbing

MR. PLUMBER Licensed Master Plumber of 28 yrs.

Top Quality work & personalized service at reasonable prices! Call Jeff 303-523-6652. Credit cards OK. MrPlumberDenver.com

VAIL PLUMBING & HEATING The Older Home Specialist. Service: repair & remodeling; gas logs. Evaporative Coolers. Quality work. Licensed, insured, guaranteed. MC/VISA accepted.

303-329-6042.

Sprinklers

Sprinkler Solutions Professional Installations & Repairs Sod Installations

SAVE MONEY AND WATER PROFESSIONAL OUTDOOR SERVICES Evergreens, shrubs & trees; planted, trimmed, removed. Aeration; sprinkler repair; Gardens; natural rock or block walls; Sod & rock installed/removed; Fence repair. Snow Removal! Lic. & Ins. Dick, 303-783-9000.

ROSS TREE COMPANY 40 years of caring for trees in the Washington Park neighborhood. Pruning, planting, large tree removal, deep root watering, fertilizing and insect control. 303-871-9121 www.rosstree.net

Moving/Storage GATE CITY MOVING Local home & office moving. We’re competent, fast, and in the neighborhood. Rates: $108/hr., 2 men and moving van. Inquire about statewide moves. 306 Washington St. 303-7448692.

Buy Local!

Fast, friendly service Lifetime Warranty!

All Work Guaranteed!

Time to winterize

www.sprinklersolutionscolorado.com

303-523-5859 Tile JAMES TILE SERVICE

Walls Floors Backsplashes and more With prices that won't break the bank 20 years exp. Licensed/Insured From custom to simple No job too big or small!

Please call for FREE ESTIMATE:

720-298-7284 Windows

Double hung window RESTORATION includes replacing sash cords, removal of excess paint on wood and metal, plus lubrication. Also restore metal casement windows.

David 720-550-2786.

Washington Park Profile 31

September 2019

RECYCLING 101

Denver Public Schools offers recycling, compost options in 170 locations

By Bruce Goldberg Special to Colorado Community Media

You can add recycling to reading, ’riting and ’rithmetic to the Denver Public Schools curriculum after students returned to classrooms following the summer break.

The trash, recycling and composting programs continue to grow in number at DPS, with more than 170 schools participating in the first two activities and 42 schools into composting.

The DPS Office of Sustainability started to pay for the addition of composting programs at schools last year, and several have added such programs this academic year.

“Before that, the compostable bag liners and hauling fee was kind of prohibitive for some schools’ budgets,” said Brad Paterson, a program administrator for Denver Recycles who also manages hauling contracts for DPS. The timing is good, given all the current news about environmental degradation.

“First and foremost, we’re teaching young students how to be responsible for their ways, and how to be stewards of the planet,” Paterson said.

“When a school adds composting in the cafeteria, we can see an increase in trash loads of 75%. All that food waste gets composted, lowering what goes into the landfill.

And it helps make facilities managers’ jobs easier, as they’re not lifting heavy food bags anymore.”

Students have formed green team clubs at some schools, creating ways to improve the program, decrease contamination, teach others how to follow green practices and sometimes collecting recycled items from classrooms.

“You also see kids get really involved, get really excited about the programs,” said

Paterson, who also teaches these practices in school classrooms and assemblies.

“They start accepting leadership roles and volunteer opportunities — in general, good life skills.”

Paterson said the district is also encouraging students to take ownership of the progam, and engage with their fellow stu-

dents. He’s also hopeful students will take what they learn to their homes.

Zack Thrower is a second-year social studies teacher at Compassion Road Academy, a DPS alternative high school with about 150 students in grades nine through 12 at 1000 Cherokee St. in the Golden Triangle.

He has resuscitated the academy’s recycling program, which previously proved unsuccessful. He faces ongoing challenges to involve more students, teach everyone to properly sort one’s recyclables and to place them in the correct bin.

“To me, it’s kind of criminal that we don’t educate the public on what is recyclable and not recyclable,” he said. He finds it’s a problem outside of school as well when he notices inappropriate items placed into recycling bins at an alley near his residence.

“This program opens your eyes,” Thrower said. “There’s ‘wish recycling,’ where people think things are recyclable that aren’t.”

For example, he found that students didn’t know that a standard plastic bag will jam the sorter that divides up recycled items.

Still, he finds that “people are pretty optimistic” about the program, wanting to believe “they’re throwing that plastic bottle or can in the recycling bin, and that it’s going to go on and live another life,” Thrower said.

“The alternative is to put everything in the trash. In 2019, I don’t think anybody feels good about that.”

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32 Washington Park Profile

September 2019

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