Volume 53, Issue No. 8
A Greater Park Hill Community, Inc. Publication
August 2014
View from the Road
City Matters
Dave Felice
Part two of a two-part series
From left, new power lines bisecting trees along 25th Avenue through Park Hill, on 17th Avenue east of Monaco Boulevard and stretching along Magnolia Street.
50-Foot Power Poles March Through Park Hill Photos by Cara DeGette
Xcel Project Caught Many Off Guard
By Cara DeGette
Editor, Greater Park Hill News
“Dear Xcel Energy Customer,” the letter began, “We recently began construction in your neighborhood to replace our current electricity poles with new ones. This project is part of our investment to modernize our electric infrastructure throughout the state so we can continue providing reliable, safe service to you.” The letter was sent last year to many – but reportedly not all – residents of Park Hill whose properties would be impacted. It provided details about the tentative schedule for the work. It asked people to keep their gates unlocked, and their pets indoors.
But nowhere did the letter mention that the old electric poles were being replaced with 50-foot high voltage towers – nearly twice as tall as the existing poles. Nowhere did it mention that many of the trees that grew in the path of the power lines would be radically pruned. For many residents, what happened next was a shock. In April, Jim Korn, who lives at 17th and Pontiac, came home from vacation to discover a giant new power pole in his yard. “Obviously we were very upset – it was a huge pole.” Korn says he repeatedly called the city and Xcel Energy, trying to get an answer about what had been done. Eventually he reached an Xcel manager, who insisted that property owners had been sent letters of
notification. “We have lived at this address for 30 years and never got a letter,” Korn said. “He was extremely rude and arrogant, and finally just said, ‘We can stick those poles wherever we want on your property, and there is nothing you can do about it.’ ” Kirk Scheitler, Xcel Energy’s community affairs manager in Denver, says the project to upgrade everyone’s service is necessary. “Our number one duty is to safely provide electricity to our customers,” he said. Scheitler concedes that the power company could have done a better job providing notification about the work in Park Hill, but says in all, he is only aware of three complaints. Agrees Tony Leeling, Xcel’s manager continued on page 7
A Great Day in the Park (Hill, That Is) Tudor, Moderns, Restored Farmhouse To Be Featured By Kate Sultan, Nina Kuhl & Lisa Halstead
Here’s a great opportunity to show off our beautiful neighborhood and get a look inside some lovely homes. Bring family and friends to the 36th Annual Park Hill Home Tour & Street Fair on Sunday, Sept. 28. Show homes will be open and the street fair events run from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. All proceeds will benefit the Greater Park Hill Community, Inc., your neighborhood association. This is our biggest fundraiser of the year, so show your support for our community while enjoying a day of touring interesting homes, shopping a wide array of vendors, eating good food, and seeing your neighbors.
Home Tour update
The homes on this year’s tour have been finalized and represent more than 120 years of Park Hill’s diverse architecture. A new website (www.parkhillhometour. org) will be launched in early August with information about the homes and logistics. This year, we are also pleased to offer a tour of the Historic Smiley campus, which will be the new home of McAuliffe International
Affordable Housing Will Keep Denver Vibrant
Page 13
Six Years And A Few Million Cupcakes Later
Page 11
Inside This Issue
Page 6
August 2014
School this fall, and where many of Park Hill’s middle school students go to school. Here is a list of this year’s Home Tour homes: • 1932 Hudson St.: This is a classic two story home, with an addition, and a unique cooling and heating system • 2050 Grape St.: This is an 1890’s farmhouse that has has been added on to over time, and still has its origi- A carriage house and gardens surround this classic farmhouse at 2050 Grape St. Photo by Sara Donnelly nal carriage house • 2315 Monaco Pkwy: A Tufor adults, $10 for seniors, and $5 for childor home that seamlessly blends classic dren. Tickets purchased the day of the event architecture with new renovations increase by $5, so buy your tickets early. • 2334 Grape St.: A modern one story with Check out parkhillhometour.org for details butterfly roof and geothermal heating/ on where and how to purchase tickets. cooling • 2351 Grape St.: This is a modern new build For additional information about the Home that features a two story cement wall Tour: Nina Kuhl, Home Tour Chair • 2540 Holly St.: The Historic Landmark kuhlnina@yahoo.com 303-913-5858 Smiley campus, which will house the Street Fair Update McAuliffe International School beginning this fall. Along with the beautiful homes and Advance ticket sales start Sept. 1 at several continued on page 6 local businesses and online. Tickets are $15
While a 21-day driving trip through the countryside of Iceland, Scotland, and England goes beyond the usual big city touring, an encounter with Britain’s National Health Service is a remarkable experience. When my wife and I arrived in the city of Durham in northeastern England recently, the stomach troubles of the previous two days got so severe I could not go on. We took a taxi from Durham Cathedral to the Accident and Emergency (A&E) facility at University North Durham Hospital. Within two-and-a-half hours, I was in and out – after consultations with a triage nurse, a physician assistant, an ER doctor, and a comprehensive blood test. After a diagnosis of food poisoning and a prescribed supply of codeine, I was on my wobbly way again. The promptness I experienced does not seem unusual. While I was in the waiting room, I saw the ambulance service bring people in and watched as the same people departed post-treatment. There was no charge for my emergency room visit or prescription. The administrative staff only asked for my name, address, and date of birth. The National Health Service is not “free.” It is supported by taxes, assessments, contributions, and volunteer services. It is legitimate to ask why the United States is the only industrialized nation without national health service, but that question is not likely to be answered any time soon. The experience with NHS does show, however, that perhaps the provisioning of care in the U.S. is unnecessarily complex and costly.
Running the course
Just as Denver officials try to squeeze more and bigger “special events” into the city, communities in the Yorkshire Dales were preparing to host the first two stages of the Tour de France world bicycle championship. The small, windy, hilly roads were full of amateur and semi-professional cyclists following the route, “running the course.” Merchants anticipated an economic infusion from the cycling event being held outside of France for the first time. As with most special events, which bring in hundreds of thousands of spectators, there were mixed opinions were about the impact. Running the Tour de France in Yorkshire is truly an example of the “rip it out of the ground and sell it” approach to special events. Very little infrastructure had to be developed to run the race. In most cases, just closing the road was all that was needed.
Cities spreading out
The ruins of the monasteries of the Scottish Borders stand in silent testimony of how one man’s relentless and ruthless pursuit of power can change the course of history. While more recent power struggles led to
Keeping The Bees Happy With Park Hill Roots
continued on page 15
Next GPHC Meeting Thursday, August 7 at 6:30 p.m. 2823 Fairfax St., Denver
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