All the News About Denver’s Best Residential Community Since 1961 • Volume 56, Issue No. 5 • May 2017
Inside This Issue
talk of the neighborhood
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Saving Polar Bears And Marching For Science
Park Hill Art Festival On For May 19-21
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Owners and brewers Chris Cunningham and Tauna Rignall, in front of the building that used to be home of Eis Gelato, at 29th Avenue and Fairfax Street. They, along with another couple, are renovating the building and plan to open a craft brewery in September. Photo by Cara DeGette
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Denver Is 6th Smoggiest. We Need To Get Real.
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Brewmaster Chris Cunningham provided an update on plans to build a craft brewery at the southwest corner of 29th and Fairfax, in the building previously occupied by Eis Gelato. Cunningham, a chemical engineer by trade, is partnered with his wife Tauna Rignall and another couple (all of them also chemical engineers) on the venture. “We have a lot of beer experience – both drinking and making it – since 1992,” Cunningham told the audience. The partners had long wanted to eventually open a craft brewery, he said, and when they found the old building – originally a grocery store – in the diverse north Park Hill neighborhood, they fast tracked their goals from a 5-year plan into a 1-year plan. Cunningham and his wife began renovations last fall, with the hope of opening this September.
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The following is a synopsis of what was discussed during the April 6 Greater Park Hill Community, Inc. monthly meeting. The next community meeting is Thursday, May 4 beginning at 6:30 p.m. at 2823 Fairfax St. It is free and open to the public, and everyone is welcome.
GPHN Honored In Regional Journalism Contest
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GPHN Editor
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By Cara DeGette
“We don’t want to change the feel of the neighborhood, but rather give a nod to what it was in the past,” Cunningham said. “We want to be the kind of place where people come and talk. We want to be a gathering place, not just a business on a block.” The brewery is not affiliated with the Park Hill Commons development that will be happening along much of the rest of the Fairfax business block, plans of which were detailed in the November and February issues of the newspaper. Cunningham answered nine (plus one) questions from the crowd – which he termed as those most frequently asked about the brewery. 1. What is the seating capacity? The interior capacity will be 50, and patio maximum is 30. 2. The brewery will be on the south side of the building. What will be on the north side? That has not yet been determined, but Cunningham plans to rent to a compatible business. 3. Will there be an adverse effect on safety or surrounding property values? “Absolutely not,” Cunningham said. “We’re pretty serious about the responsible enjoyment of craft beer.” 4. Are you going to brew a wheat beer? Yes.
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Protect Your Best Friends From Disease
Next GPHC Meeting is on Thursday, May 4 at 6:30 p.m., 2823 Fairfax St., Denver All are welcome to attend
Park Hill Character | Jack Farrar
Vance Johnson’s Tonsorial Talents Catching Up With The Dean Of Barbers Vance Johnson could be forgiven for having a somewhat dim view of the world. He has been through the ringer financially and personally, and has been forced to reinvent himself at the age of 62. But he has faced his demons and he’s moving on. Considered by many as the dean of barbers in Northeast Denver, Vance currently employs his considerable tonsorial talents in a rented space in the back of Winning Coiffures, an iconic hair salon just west of Krameria and Colfax. Not so long ago, Vance presided over a small empire of barbershops in Aurora and Park Hill, including in the Oneida Park Center at 23rd and Oneida. He rented space to a fleet of more than 80 stylists. It was a franchise in which he took enormous pride. But things happened. Vance went through a divorce and, because his wife was his financial manager, his grip on the day-to-day details of the business loosened a might. Four offices shrunk to one. He tried to make a go of it at several different independent locations, but that didn’t work out and he now cuts, clips and snips in his current modest, spotless space.
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Vance Johnson, trimming the hair of longtime friend Larry Cherry. Photo by Jack Farrar
Throughout a recent interview, conducted while he landscaped longtime friend Larry Cherry’s head, I couldn’t help but admire Vance’s approach to life. He has an almost corny affability. Thin and efferves-
cent, his wide, toothy smile is infectious. Like any decent barber, he is full of stories. Like how he first came to cut people’s hair for profit. “My Dad had a barbershop in Washington, D.C. I was the shoeshine boy,” Vance says. “He gave me some clippers. My first client was my brother. When I got pretty good at it, I started walking over to the projects and gave haircuts for 25 cents each. Word got around. I would walk around with a little red wagon, cut hair and do shoeshines, and sell candy. I sold gum by the stick. I was making $30 to $40 a week. To me that was big money.” One of Vance’s cherished childhood memories was “meeting” John F. Kennedy. “We lived at 9th and Constitution in downtown D.C.,” says Vance. “JFK’s limo came through our neighborhood from time to time. He would roll down the window and wave at us.”
From drumming to hair art Vance came to Denver in 1972. After graduating from George Washington High School, he intended to become a professional drummer. “I’ve been a drummer, here and there, on and off, for about 30 years. I used to practice when I was a kid on Kentucky Fried Chicken containers and stacks of old records.” His musical career never took off, but he continued on page 17