All the News About Denver’s Best Residential Community Since 1960 • Volume 60, Issue No. 5 • May 2021
Rollout Of Safe-Camping Site Met With Mixed Response
News In Brief
50 People To Take Up Temporary Residence At Park Hill United Methodist Church Parking Lot By Cara DeGette GPHN Editor
The announcement that 50 unhoused people will temporarily move into tents on a church parking lot in the middle of a Park Hill neighborhood surrounded by milliondollar homes, landed with a thud. Many neighbors living near Park Hill United Methodist Church at Montview and Glencoe first learned about the planned safe open space not from church officials, but by reading an April 5 story on the news site Denverite. The fenced off parking lot will hold some 45 tents from June 1 through Dec. 31. Neighborhood response was instant, and, depending on perspective, ranged from anger and confusion to compassion and support. Comments on neighborhood social media pages came fast and furious. “The poor form and rollout of this project is what is upsetting to most,” one person wrote. “The real sadness is neighbors have been forced into a ‘you are with it or against it’ posture, which will not end well for either side.” One commenter opined that communications from church leaders had been ‘hap-
Centennial Hall, on the Johnson & Wales campus, is on the National Register of Historic Places. File photo
Land Conservancy Makes A Move
Johnson & Wales Campus Plans Include Expansion of Denver School of the Arts
This Safe Outdoor Space, behind Denver Community Church at 16th and Pearl Street, is one of two sites currently operated by the Colorado Village Collaborative. Photo courtesy CVC
hazard at best.” The Neighborhood Registered Organization, GPHC, Inc., was not notified of the project until late on the Friday before Eas-
The Park Hill Community Bookstore has reached the ripe old age of 50 — a golden achievement, given the precarious state of independent bookstores and the multitude of electronic media devices competing with print literature. The shop obtained its birth certificate from the State of Colorado on May 6, 1971. Originally known as the Park Hill Cooperative Bookstore, it is the oldest nonprofit bookstore in metro Denver, and perhaps the only one managed completely by volunteers. It is the oldest continuously operated
merchant in the historic business district at 23rd and Dexter. Various activities are planned to recognize the bookstore’s 50th, including BookStory, an effort to collect stories, anecdotes and poems about the store. Some will be published in a future issue of the Greater Park Hill News, and displayed permanently in an album at the store. To submit your BookStory, mail it to 4620 E. 23rd Ave., Denver CO 80207, drop it off at the store, or email it to parkhillbooks@gmail.com. Drop by the store in May and enter our drawing for a $50 gift certificate for the store. Other anniversary activities and special
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Ed/Equity Corner: It’s Hard To Learn, When You Don’t Know Where You’ll Sleep
Making Park Hill Beautiful: Neighborhood Cleanup is June 5. Get Ready To Join In The Big Street And Alley Scrubdown Of 2021
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For the GPHN
Park Hill Character: Chief Justice Mary Mullarkey Was A Trailblazer
Built On A Boneyard, Botanic Gardens Is 70
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By Jack Farrar
Inside This Issue
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Park Hill Bookstore Celebrates A Half-Century Making Its Mark. A New Generation Ensures The Tradition Continues.
sales will be announced. Since its founding, the bookstore has not only sold tens of thousands of books, it has donated thousands to schools, shelters, churches, group homes, schools, correctional institutions and other community organizations and charities. It has also supported literacy by donating money to school libraries and provided retail work experience to young people through programs like the DPS Alternative Cooperative Education Program. The store has been supportive of Greater Park Hill Community, Inc., including promoting and selling tickets to annual garden and home tours. More than 40 volunteers, up front and behind the scenes, tend to the bookstore’s business. More than 500 members support the Bookstore with patronage, used book donations, and ideas about store improvements. Many of the newest members and volunteers are young families, a sure sign that print literature is not an endangered culture. “We’re very encouraged with the involvement of young people at the store, as members and volunteers, and we’ve done some things to broaden our audience a little, like developing a great web site and expanding our presence on social media like Facebook and Instagram,” says Board President John Krause. The store has an inventory of more than 20,000 books, mostly used, in an eclectic range of genres, and features a good selection of regional and local books. The founders originally conceived it not only as a bookstore, but a gathering place to share ideas and creative talents. A women’s center was once “headquartered” in the basement. A pottery co-op was in the loft. “We had no carpenters, electricians or plumbers in our group,” wrote the store’s first manager, Barbara Charnes, in a 1994 edition of Footnotes, the store newsletter, “so psychiatrists, lawyers and similarly un-
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50 Is The New 30
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Katie Belcher and daughter Ruby peruse children’s literature. Photo by Jack Farrar
ter. Board Chair Tracey MacDermott said she was not contacted by church leaders nor
The Denver-based Urban Land Conservancy is moving forward with plans to purchase the 25-acre Johnson and Wales campus at Montview and Quebec. The conservancy, whose mission is “preserving, developing, stewarding, and managing permanently affordable housing and shared office space for nonprofits and mission-minded organizations” is under contract to buy the campus, said Director of Communications Angelle Fouther. The purchase price has not been disclosed. The organization is working with Denver Public Schools to expand the neighboring
Your Library Is Open. Come On In!
Upcoming GPHC Meetings Community meetings are currently conducted virtually on the first Thursday of each month. The next meetings are May 6 and June 3 at 6:30 p.m. Link to attend at greaterparkhill.org/ join-us/community-meetings/
