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
Built On A Boneyard, Botanic Gardens Is 70
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For the GPHN
Park Hill Character: Chief Justice Mary Mullarkey Was A Trailblazer
PAGE 15
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/
Letters to the Editor Never In My Lifetime
I was shocked by the announcement in April by Park Hill United Methodist Church that they were going to host a sanctioned homeless camp on their property. Actually, not shocked by their plans, because that is what that church has always done — compassionate things. What was shocking was the reaction by some in our community. Never ever in my lifetime of living in Park Hill have I heard other human beings referred to as garbage. Never have I heard a respected institution called “those as***es.” And on and on. Has our neighborhood become just another place of intolerance and vitriolic speech? I hope not. Gary Martyn, Park Hill
We Are Here To Help
trent nestman, d.d.S., m.S. park hill'S full-time
OrthOdOntic SpecialiSt
As Executive Director and Region 4 Lead of the Alzheimer’s Association of Colorado, I wanted to share these free resources with the Park Hill community, where I’m a proud resident. We offer free resources to families and people with living with Alzheimer’s and dementia. All resources are currently virtual — you can attend a support group, take a live, interactive Zoom class, or take a class 24/7 on-demand. Classes start May 3 and go through the summer. The classes can be accessed at alz.org/co/helping_you/ classes_training/classes. You can also call us anytime, day or night, at 303-813-1669. Thank you! Amelia Schafer, Park Hill
An Open Letter To Parks Director Happy Haynes
2206 Kearney St., 720-735-9800 www.nestmanortho.com
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I am writing to you in your role as the Manager of Denver Parks and Recreation to ask you and your staff to reconsider mixed used of the Denver city golf courses. I have lived in the Park Hill neighborhood for 30 years, and have always enjoyed the City Park Golf Course, sometimes as a golfer, but more frequently as a walker and cross-country skier. My family and I have always been respectful of the greens and high use areas of the golf course. We have only engaged in these activities when the golf course could not be used for other purposes due to snow or nightfall. We were delighted to see the fences come down from around the City Park Golf Course because they had been so unsightly, but also because this would once again give us access to the golf course for walking and skiing. Denver’s golf courses are wonderful after a snowfall as they give residents a safe place to ski, walk or snowshoe, close to home. Many of the city parks themselves are crisscrossed by roads, making them very impractical for skiing. This
who we are Editor Cara Degette Manager Melissa Davis Art Director Tommy Kubitsky
how to find Us Voicemail: 720-287-0442 Email: newspaper@greaterparkhill.org Address: 2823 Fairfax St. Denver, 80207 Website: www.greaterparkhill.org Facebook: facebook.com/greaterparkhillnews Twitter: @parkhillnews
contact us Story Tips and Letters to the Editor: Cara DeGette; 720-979-4385, editor@greaterparkhill.org Advertising information: ads@greaterparkhill.org
Nina Kuhl
303-913-5858
Steve LaPorta
303-525-0640
Roberta Locke
303-921-5842
Ann Torgerson
303-522-5922
Classified ads: Melissa Davis; 720-287-0442 (VM), newspaper@greaterparkhill.org Deadline for submissions is the 15th of every month
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is the draw to the city’s golf courses for alternate activities. My husband and I were recently skiing at the City Park Golf Course and were told we must leave. We were very surprised by this, as we had been skiing the golf course for 30 years. I [subsequently] spoke with Susie Helmerich, at the City Park Golf Course, about this encounter. She did a very good job of explaining that the golf courses are stand-alone, pay-for-use properties. She explained that some individuals who have sledded and used snowmobiles on the golf course have damaged the property. Due to this, the golf course is discouraging all uses of the grounds other than golfing. I would like to appeal to you, and the golf community as a whole, to reconsider this policy. It seems as though walkers and skiers have respectfully co-existed with golfers at the city’s golf courses for many years. It would be so unfortunate to limit the use of this property exclusively to golfers, due to a few citizens who have been disrespectful. There are many neighbors and citizens who do not golf, but who have greatly enjoyed the use of the city’s golf courses over the years through mixed use activities. This practice is also very prevalent in Colorado’s mountain communities. It also seems that this year in particular, with the limitations of the COVID pandemic, is a season to exercise generosity of city facilities. Surely if Bandimere Speedway can make room for legal drag-racing, the city’s golf courses can exercise some discretion in allowing walkers and others to access the grounds after hours or during times of snowfall. To me, it would be tragic that a renovation of the City Park Golf Course would actually lead to less access to the outdoors for Denver’s citizens. Respectfully, Jody Allen-Smith, Park Hill
The Greater Park Hill News is published by Greater Park Hill Community, Inc. (GPHC) on the 1st of each month. Greater Park Hill Community, Inc. makes no warranties and assumes no responsibility for the accuracy of the information contained herein. The opinions expressed in articles are not necessarily the opinions of GPHC. GPHC does not necessarily endorse the companies, products or services advertised in The Greater Park Hill News unless specifically stated. GPHC reserves the right to run any advertisement. Circulation is 14,000 and is distributed in the Park Hill Area by neighborhood volunteers. The Greater Park Hill Community, Inc., is a volunteerbased registered neighborhood organization that: promotes the character and vibrancy of Park Hill; provides resources, information and advocacy; and preserves quality of life and the history of the neighborhood through community participation.
This newspaper is made possible through the support of our advertisers and members. If you are not already a member, please consider joining the Greater Park Hill Community, Inc.
The Greater Park Hill News
May 2021
Birdland | Mark Silverstein We Won! We don’t usually toot our own horn but thanks to you and the tools at Compass, we’ve been recognized as one of the top-performing teams at the 43rd Denver Metro REALTORS® Excellence Awards. A lot of hard work goes into juggling the pieces of any housing puzzle. We’re thankful for your business and are honored to be in the company of our industry’s leaders.
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Spotting a White Ibis during the summer months in Colorado is a real treat. The males are over two feet long with 28-inch wingspans, and weigh just two pounds. With their long red legs and long red bills, these wading birds winter in the shallow wetlands and swamps and estuaries in Florida and the Gulf Coast. In summer months they often wander through the west. This White Ibis was photographed by Park Hill resident Mark Silverstein.
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Anastasia’s Park Hill SOLDS Speak For Themselves! 3075 Clermont St 4114 E. 19th Ave 1612 Bellaire St 1607 Bellaire St 2595 Fairfax St 1558 Clermont St 1647 Clermont St 2816 Dahlia St 2383 Hudson St 2821 Dahlia St 2686 Dexter St 2248 Holly St 1901 Cherry St 2556 Elm St 2615 Elm St 2611 Birch St 2630 Glencoe St 2052 Krameria St 2884 Albion St 2967 Clermont 2886 Cherry 2646 Birch St 1638 Clermont St 2810 Bellaire St 2605 Fairfax St 2677 Ash St 2560 Birch St
May 2021
2681 Cherry St 2809 Birch St 2514 Glencoe St 2652 Fairfax St 2609 Eudora St 2800 Birch St 3060 Ash St 2810 Olive St 1623 Bellaire St 2037 Krameria St 2084 Forest St 1536 Clermont St 2224 Grape St 2345 Clermont St 2070 Birch St 2861 Albion St 2530 Bellaire St 2820 Birch St 2614 Glencoe St 2840 Clermont St 1929 Bellaire St 1915 Monaco Pkwy 1544 Leyden St 2920 Cherry St 2621 Grape St 2576 Fairfax St 2581 Dahlia St
2389 Cherry St 2829 Clermont St 2960 Ash St 2556 Clermont St 2681 Cherry St 4545 E. 29th Ave 2530 Glencoe St 2895 Birch St 2955 Ivy St 1610 Locust St 2575 Clermont St 4345 E. 16th Ave 2680 Ash St 2861 Birch St 2854 Cherry St 2091 Hudson St 2645 Ash St 2570 Bellaire St 2616 Fairfax St 4326 Batavia Pl 2845 Cherry St 2947 Clermont St 3035 Bellaire St 2670 Grape St 2655 Elm St 1418 Grape St 2680 Ash St
The Greater Park Hill News
2271 Clermont St 2817 Albion St 2684 Fairfax St 2894 Dexter St 2855 Ash St 3010 Clermont St 2295 Eudora St 3025 Albion St 2668 Elm St 2936 Albion St 2389 Cherry St 2654 Elm St 2514 Glencoe St 2065 Hudson St 2845 Cherry St 1623 Bellaire St 2855 Dahlia St 2825 Bellaire St 2900 Ash St 2681 Clermont St 2829 Ash St 2251 Ash St 2877 Cherry St 2341 Ivy St 2847 Clermont St 3010 Cherry St 2665 Forest St
2517 Elm St 1669 Newport St 3045 Fairfax St 4660 E 16th Ave 2877 Cherry St 2971 Bellaire St 2531 Clermont St 2894 Birch St 2801 Dexter St 3593 Monaco St 2668 Birch St 2664 Cherry St 2032 Holly St 2819 Ivanhoe St 1637 Elm St 2679 Albion St 3610 Magnolia St 1775 Monaco Pkwy 2582 Bellaire St 2233 Holly St 2229 Birch St 2862 Ash St 1855 Cherry St 2637 Eudora St 2542 Ash St 2045 Krameria St 2500 Dahlia St
2943 Birch St 2875 Albion St 2511 Birch St 2349 Forest St 2990 Cherry St 2379 Elm St 2870 Eudora St 2632 Cherry St 1450 Albion St #303 1925 Monaco Pkwy 3050 Bellaire St 2849 Kearney St
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Tributes
Honor your graduate in the Greater Park Hill News! Parents and guardians of Class of 2021: Honor your high school senior with a photo and brief message in the June issue of the Greater Park Hill News! Background colors will correspond with school colors • $35 (scholarships available) • Reservation deadline is May 20, 2021
Contact newspaper@greaterparkhill.org for more details.
Mary J. Mullarkey Former Colorado Chief Justice Was A Trailblazer By Emily Korson For the GPHN
Cong
Saman ratulations t on you ha Thomp son r grad Sprea d u ation!
your w CU B ings and g oulde ood lu Very p r next year. ck at roud o f you! Love, Mom and D ad
3 floors of books donated by our neighbors. Buy outright, or become a Member and buy with earned credits.
Thanks to all volunteers and neighbors for 50 years of loving books and supporting the store Monday-Friday: 10am to 2pm Sat: 9am to 5pm • Sunday: 11am to 3pm 4620 E. 23rd Avenue (at Dexter) (303) 355-8508, parkhillbooks@gmail.com www.parkhillbookstore.org
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Late last month, our family and our community lost a magnanimous woman: Former Colorado Chief Justice Mary J. Mullarkey. When my husband, Andrew Korson, walked his mother Mary into my life 22 years ago, she was leaning on a cane. It was plain then that she needed more help, but she refused it, choosing instead to endure: rising each morning at 4 to practice yoga and play the piano in her home at 2526 Dahlia St. before driving herself to work. She took that drive alone even when she was no longer able to enter or exit her car without the help of her husband, Tom Korson, and the security guards at the Supreme Court building. Her ability to persevere has outpaced that of any person I have ever known. A small-town girl from rural Wisconsin, Mary studied Colorado Chief Justice Mary Mullarkey, signing the Certificate mathematics at St. Norbert of Voting by the Colorado Electors to the Electoral College. College and then attended This photo, by the late John Schoenwalter, was originally Harvard Law School before it published in The Colorado Statesman on Dec. 17, 2004. It is even had a women’s restroom. reprinted with permission of Colorado Politics. After her graduation from was heartbreaking for our family to watch Harvard in 1968, Mary went her ploddingly surrender to it. Over time, on to work for the Department of the InMary was forced to give up so many of the terior in Washington D.C. There, she repthings she loved — skiing, sewing, hikresented federal agencies in water, enviing, swimming, gardening, piano — as she ronmental, and civil rights cases, and later slowly struggled to walk, to stand, to use developed expertise in race and gender her hands, and ultimately even to speak. discrimination cases under federal civil And yet Mary never uttered an unkind rights laws, thanks to an executive order word, complained about her lot in life, or issued by President Nixon. This work led even spent much time discussing her life her to Denver in 1973, when she took a posiin the law. She chose instead to focus on tion at the Equal Employment Opportunity the activities that brought her joy. From her Commission Office and purchased her first wheelchair, she was admiring art, discusshome in Park Hill with Tom. ing films, reading nonfiction adventure stoMary then worked for the office of the ries, attending Mass at Cure d’Ars Catholic Colorado Attorney General, where she first Church, cheering on her granddaughters worked on appeals under attorney general — and even delivering the Greater Park J.D. MacFarlane, and then transitioned to Hill News to her neighbors until her final the position of solicitor general from 1975 weeks of life. to 1982. Afterwards, Mary served as the Our family could not have asked for chief counsel to Gov. Dick Lamm and was a better wife, mother or grandmother. subsequently appointed to the Colorado Mary’s absence is acutely felt today, and Supreme Court by Gov. Roy Romer in 1987. always will be, but we take solace knowing In all, Mary served as a justice on the that she positively impacted thousands of Colorado Supreme Court for 23 years. lives during her tenure on Earth, and that Twelve of those were as Chief, the longest she has finally been liberated from a body tenure in state history. She was the second that all too often held her back. woman appointed to the Court, and the first woman to occupy the center seat. Emily Korson is married to Mary MullarShe heard more than 30,000 cases, aukey’s son, Andrew Korson and is a founder thored 472 opinions, helped to increase the of ReCreative Denver, a nonprofit creative number of Colorado’s judges by 27 percent, reuse store and community art center in instituted judicial training and juror appreDenver’s Art District on Santa Fe. She, Anciation programs, turned Colorado’s judidrew and Mary’s two granddaughters reside cial system into a national technological in the Washington Park neighborhood. model and instituted a rule that all court buildings must have waiting rooms to provide children with a safe space during their parents’ court appearances. And although she retired before its construction, Mary was instrumental in bringing Denver’s Ralph L. Carr Judicial Center to fruition. But the thing about Mary is that she did all of this trailblazing with tremendous personal strength and grace. During the 26 years following her diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis in 1994, Mary humbly en- In this undated photo, Mary Mullarkey is with her husband Tom dured her progressively Korson and son Andrew Korson at their Dahlia Street home. Murphy debilitating disease. It the Cat is presiding. The Greater Park Hill News
May 2021
Mikey Adair Kind, Hardworking, Friend To All By Ruth Baker For the GPHN
Michael (Mikey as he liked to be called) Adair was born at Denver General. He lived his entire life in Park Hill. He was a very good, kind, honorable, sociable, hardworking man. He always made conversation with people, and mostly made them laugh. He was very proud of his landscaping business, and pushed his lawn mower throughout Park Hill. He kept everyone’s yard immaculate. He would mow lawns, trim bushes, plant flowers, whatever was needed. In later years, when he no longer could push his lawnmower, he would sit on the sidewalk outside of the Greater Park Hill Community office at 28th and Fairfax. He would greet people as they came in for food pantry supplies. and would say “bye” when they left. More often than not he’d have something to say to make them laugh. He had more issues than many people but he enjoyed life and was always optimistic. He loved life and enjoyed it to the max. One thing he really disliked was getting his hair cut. He would put that off as long as
Seto Family Dentistry Photo by Brandon J Scott Photography
possible. He just hated it. When he was in his power chair he called it his Cadillac. It would take him everywhere, all around town. from Park Hill to Green Valley to Aurora to Downtown Denver and farther west. Mikey was a good man. He was loved by many. He will be missed by all. Ruth Baker was Mikey’s sweetheart.
Celebrating Lives Well Lived
The first of the 2021 All Saints Drumming Celebrations was held Saturday, April 17 from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. Drummers gathered on the front lawn of Park Hill United Methodist Church to honor and celebrate the lives of friends lost during the pandemic. So many died who did not have COVID-19, and their passing was lost in this difficult time. Honored on that day were community drummers extraordinaire Lee Bagby, who died from complications of kidney disease, and Slim who passed away in L.A. from a massive stroke. Many others were named, including Charlene, Deb and Phil who also went home this past year. The monthly event is intended to provide a space and time for celebration and joyous grief. The next ASDC will be held Saturday, May 15, again in Park Hill. Future ones will be held in conjunction with Juneteenth Festival.
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Drumming outside the Park Hill United Methodist Church. Lee Bagby, showing one of the wonderful hands that sounded those drums. Photos courtesy of Jacqui Shumway
It’s time...
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• HOME VALUES IN DENVER have risen 16% in one year source: DMAR
• MORTGAGE RATES have not risen past 4% = Inexpensive to buy • QUALIFIED BUYERS EXCEED the amount of inventory
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Know your value, then YOU can decide what’s next. Page 5
Screen shot from the April 20 Zoom meeting to discuss the project. In the main frame is Erin Clark, vice president of master site development for the Urban Land Conservancy.
News, continued from page 1 Denver School of the Arts, which currently occupies the building on the north side of Montview, across the street from the campus. If the plan is approved, the artsfocused school would take over the four westernmost buildings on the campus. “With regard to the remainder of the campus, [we are] focused on preserving the existing buildings for community-serving uses, particularly education,” Fouther said. “The work is still in process at this time.” Last year, the Providence, R.I.-based Johnson and Wales announced plans to close its Denver site at the end of this school year, citing declining enrollment and the need to consolidate. The campus is previously home to the Colorado Women’s College and the University of Denver Law School. On April 20, DPS sponsored a community Zoom meeting to discuss plans for the potential Denver School for the Arts expansion. Principal Anthony McWright noted that the school, with a current enrollment of about 1,100, is bursting at the seams. The expansion would allow for increased enrollment and also improved equity among the student population. The plan would need approval from the school board. “We were all incredibly sad to see [Johnson and Wales] leaving the neighborhood, however, we’re eager to see what is planned for that beautiful space,” said Colette Carey, the Greater Park Hill Neighborhood, Inc. board member whose district includes the campus. “We’re also encouraged that the Urban Land Conservancy and Denver School of the Arts are both involving the community in the evolution process, and that they both value that the history of that property is steeped in education and the hope is to maintain that storied tradition.” — Cara DeGette
Yes For Parks PetitionSigning Underway For The Park Hill Golf Course Land
More than 50 volunteers have hit the streets and parks of Denver in an effort to collect at least 10,000 signatures by June 18, hoping to secure a citywide vote in November to further protect the conservation
easement on the Park Hill Golf Course land. Colette Carey, a volunteer with YES for Parks and Open Space (yesopenspace.org), reports that as of mid-April, the group has held signature-gathering events in area parks, with many more planned in May. The measure would require future voter approval for the city to remove tax-funded conservation easements. “People [I’ve encountered] feel pretty strongly about this issue, and the response has been, we have to start protecting our parks,” Carey said. “I get comments about, why wouldn’t I sign this?” Under the direction of then-Mayor Wellington Webb, in 1997, Denver paid $2 million for the conservation easement on the 155-acre property at 35th and Colorado Boulevard. Two years ago, the development company, Westside Invest- Photo by Cara DeGette ment Partners, bought the land for $24 More recently it was home to two resmillion, with hopes to develop at least a taurants, Kate’s and The Garden. In recent portion of it. The golf course is currently years the house has fallen into disrepair, closed. and the remainder of the block is being Last year Denver’s Parks and Recreation built out with rowhouse-style townhomes. citizen advisory board unanimously apThe house is on the National Register of proved a recommendation that the city Historic Places, but is not currently protectbuy the land for a regional park. Earlier this ed as a local historic landmark — though year, however, the city’s planning office, in the city planning department has deemed conjunction with Westside, kicked off what it has the potential for such protections. Its it calls a “visioning” plan to entertain conowner is currently listed as MOJ Servicing, cepts for potential development. City offia limited liability company based in Greencials have not clearly articulated why they wood Village. would support removing the conservation Shane Sutherland, the historic preservaeasement. tion chair of Greater Park Hill Community, In March the city paid $21,000 for a surInc., reported at press time that a group has vey designed to ask people living near the filed a notice of intent to seek landmark stagolf course land what they prefer for the tus. In addition, the property now appears 155-acres. The survey was immediately to be under contract with a new buyer, who criticized by park advocates, as it provided may be “more preservation friendly” than respondents with two options: reestablishits current owner. If so, Sutherland said, ing the land as a golf course, or supporting “there is a chance that the Certificate of De“a variety of community-serving uses” — molition application may be withdrawn.” and then guiding respondents through a selection of development options. — Cara DeGette “Additionally, there is no mention of the conservation easement in the survey which, to us, is a fatal omission for a statistically valid survey,” Carey says. Park Hill is mostly missing from Phil An independent, scientifically valid Goodstein’s latest book, The Denver That survey conducted in 2019 by the Greater Is No More: The Story of the City’s DemolPark Hill Community, Inc. found that an ished Landmarks. overwhelming majority — 74 percent — of Goodstein, author of many history Park Hillians favor preserving the land as tomes, grew up in Park Hill and previously undeveloped open space. explored the neighborhood in the highly— Cara DeGette detailed Park Hill Promise. With a few exceptions, he says, Park Hill has generally done well in preserving its notable homes and landmarks. The book focuses on the demolished landmarks that once defined the The future of one of the oldest homes in Queen City of the Plains, from the late Park Hill is uncertain, after its owners filed 1850s to current times — lost when a certificate of demolition eligibility with later generations deemed them dated, the city in March. ugly, or obsolete. Included are the manThe Queen Anne-style house, at 35th sions of the rich as well as structures of and Albion and just across the street from the poor. There are chapters about lost the now-closed Park Hill Golf Course, hospitals, movie palaces, schools, and was built in 1889. Known as the Robinson businesses. highlighting what Denver House, it was advertised in the May 5, 1889 was once all about. edition of the Denver Republican newspaTo be sure, Park Hill has changed. In per as offering “delightful air, scenery, recent years, it has lost the “Hut” — the pure artesian water,” and noting that, “away rambling historic home at 1980 Albion from the dust of the city, you will live 10 St, which was demolished last year. The years longer.” former home of Kate’s Restaurant, at
Disappearing Denver
Uncertain Future For Park Hill Landmark
3435 Albion St., is currently threatened with demolition (see photo at left). By understanding what the city has been and its defining buildings, Goodstein argues residents can grasp what Denver currently is and so shape its future. The book is available at the Park Hill Bookstore, at 23rd and Dahlia Street. — Cara DeGette and Phil Goodstein
City Park Golf Tourney Set For June 28
City Park Alliance has announced its First Annual City Park Alliance Golf Tournament will be held at City Park Golf Club on Monday June 28. The day of golf will include an innovative approach to the “longest drive” and hole-in-one contests. Register to play at cityparkalliance.org. Tournament proceeds will be used to assist in funding City Park capital improvement projects. City Park Alliance is a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit organization comprising board members whose memorable experiences in City Park are only eclipsed by their dedication to preserving and improving the park experience for others. — Pat Maley
Color Art Installation To Be Uprooted
The Color Field art installation in City Park is slated to be removed, as it was a temporary exhibit. The uprooting of the 6,000 brightly painted stakes will begin on May 7 at 8:30 a.m. Upon removal, the stakes are free to whoever wants them, and could be repurposed in neighbors’ gardens or for student projects or some other creative use. If you’ve missed seeing Color Field, it’s not too late. Artists Sarah and Josh Palmeri, City Park Friends and Neighbors and City Park Alliance invite you to participate in the “evacuation” of this beautiful project. The installation is in the garden beds south of the Museum of Nature and Science. It garnered support from Denver Arts & Venues, Denver Parks and Recreation, the Zoo, the Denver Museum of Nature and Science and many individual donors. — Hank Bootz
Photo by Mark Silverstein
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The Greater Park Hill News
May 2021
RAW POLITICS
This Year’s Big Ideas Colorado’s Legislature Heads Down The Home Stretch With Front Range Passenger Rail, Immigration Reform, Gun Control By Penfield W. Tate III For the GPHN
As the 2021 legislative session winds down, things will move fast and furious. Committee and floor sessions will become more tense, anxious and a little more exciting. At the time of this writing, 529 bills have been introduced this session in Colorado — and most remain on the calendar waiting for action. The most extreme measures — too conservative or too progressive — are long gone, killed in committee. What remains are those that are pivotal to each caucus and the big ideas. The pivotal bills are likely the subject of negotiations to see if compromise is possible, which paves the way for progress on the big ideas. The big ideas normally happen late in the session because they take time to build consensus and gather the necessary votes to pass. What are this year’s big ideas?
Train On The Range How about Front Range passenger rail, stretching 300 miles from Cheyenne, Wyo. to nearly the New Mexico border? The long-held dream of a rail line has been revived in SB21-238. It’s a bipartisan measure supported by business and possibly the federal government, which may provide some of the funding. At this writing, the bill has yet to be heard in committee and has a serious uphill battle. But it speaks to the aspirations of many in Colorado. Spanning 11 rural and urban counties, the goal is to create a district charged with planning, designing, developing, financing, constructing, operating, and maintaining a passenger rail system. The federally-owned National Railroad
Passenger Corporation, which you know as Amtrak, is an enthusiastic supporter. “The examples are there” showing that regional rail lines can attract riders and reduce highway traffic, the Amtrak CEO said, citing its routes in Washington State, North Carolina and between Chicago and Milwaukee. “We believe we’ve got the right partnership with Colorado and, ultimately, with Wyoming, to build that out.” The district would be required to work with Amtrack and the Regional Transportation District to share resources and move toward the implementation of the rail line that works in conjunction with the existing Amtrak infrastructure and the Winter Park train. Vested with bonding authority and the ability to seek voter-approved taxes, the estimated price tag is as high as $14.2 billion with the thought that a “serviceable” initial line can be built for as “little” as $2 billion. If passed, the district must be formed by April 2022. Then the hard questions about the rail line’s alignment and timing would be addressed. Stay tuned.
Immigration reforms Immigration reform remains another big idea. As I have discussed in prior months, several key bills to modernize the laws impacting immigration are working their way toward final passage. One measure, HB211194, creates the Immigration Legal Defense Fund to finance nonprofits that give legal advice, counseling and representation to indigent undocumented immigrants in Colorado. It’s hoping for an appropriation to jump-start a program that must rely on gifts, grants and donations to survive. This is likely to pass.
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A second measure with 39 House sponsors, HB 21-1057, has passed to the Senate. It makes it a crime to threaten to report a persons’ immigration status to induce them to perform an act or to refrain from performing a lawful act against their will. This is nearly assured of passage. A bill allowing witnesses to cooperate with law enforcement without fear of deportation, the U visa program, continues to move toward passage. HB21-1060 will align Colorado law with federal law. A final measure nearing passage, SB21077, eliminates the requirement that applicants for a license from the departments of education and regulatory affairs need not first establish that they are lawfully present in the U.S. With Democrats controlling both chambers and the governor’s office the prospects for this bill look promising, but it may be a bridge too far for some moderate Democrats and the Republican caucuses in the House and Senate.
48 mass shootings in a month Colorado’s legislature has a history of revisiting some topics year after year, with each party using their existing majority to shift the momentum of the law in their direction. Which brings us to the ongoing battle over firearms. From mid-March to mid-April this year in the U.S. there were 48 mass shootings – incidents where four or more people were shot. Boulder was one of 39 cities or towns where mass shooting occurred. Shooters chose churches and synagogues, schools and restaurants, naval yards and hospitals, massage parlors and hotels, airports, newsrooms and peoples’ homes for their rampages. There is no place in this country where we can be safe from the threat of gun violence. And the legislature is focused on addressing the issue. The “Promoting Child Safety Through Responsible Firearm Storage Act” (HB211106) requires that a firearm must be responsibly and securely stored when not in use. It’s already signed into law, with the purpose of “promoting safe and responsible
firearm storage practices [that] furthers the goal of protecting children and communities from interpersonal violence, unintentional shootings, and self-harm.” It also requires firearms dealers to post notice of the laws regarding safe storage requirements and includes funding for a safe storage education campaign. It requires the state court administrator to produce a report annually on violations under the law. Another bill, SB 21-078 requires firearms owners to report if their weapon is lost or believed stolen within five days Failure to report is a civil offense that rises to the level of a misdemeanor crime for repeated offenses. Expect more legislation on large capacity magazines, gun stocks and additional registration requirements.
More grandstanding ahead And here are some proposals that have, mercifully, failed: Efforts to repeal federal firearms regulations. Allowing a concealed carry permit to serve as an alternative to a background check in the transfer of a firearm. Making someone civilly liable for supporting the passage of HB19-1177 (previously signed into law) if someone was prevented from using a firearm to protect themselves due to their being the subject of a risk protection order under the bill. This last measure was particularly bizarre. You could be sued for supporting a bill, passed by the legislature and signed into law by the governor. Wow. Amid the backdrop of gun violence this year it is clear that this debate is far from over in this session. With an ending date of June 12, we will see more interesting legislation and more grandstanding. Stay safe. Penfield W. Tate III is an attorney in Denver. He represented Park Hill in the Colorado House of Representatives from 1997 to 2000, and in the State Senate from 2001 to February 2003. He lives in Park Hill.
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Page 7
Bookstore, continued from page 1 qualified neighbors wired, painted, built shelving and messed up the plumbing.” A number of political celebrities have been members or customers of the store, including congresswomen Patricia Schroeder (who attended an author signing for her book Champion of the Great American Family in 1984) and Diana DeGette, governors Dick Lamm and John Hickenlooper, Mayor Wellington Webb and City Councilperson Happy Haynes. Joyce Meskis, longtime owner of The Tattered Cover (also celebrating its 50th birthday this year), has appeared. The store has presented numerous fundraisers, with local authors Joanne Greenberg, Helen Thorpe, Dusty Saunders, Dick Kreck, John Fielder, Don Morreale and Robert Greer. The store has also hosted international folk dancing lessons by Schukr Basanow in the parking lot behind the store.
Many of the newest members and volunteers are young families — a sure sign that print literature is not an endangered culture. The store takes pride in its selection of local books, including the encyclopedic Park Hill Promise, by historian and gadfly Phil Goodstein, and The Park Hill Neighborhood, an Historic Denver publication by Tom Noel and James Hansen. Sadly, many of the people who made the bookstore what it is are no longer with us. To name a few: Lynne Lake wrote hilarious reviews of romance novels for the store newsletter for many years. John Eberhart, a co-founder of the Kansas University Student Co-op, introduced the store to mysterious concepts like budgeting and computing, and for many years maintained the membership roster. Barbara Moe, journalist and children’s book author, managed the store’s sales of greeting cards from the Gathering Place. Toni Martinez stepped in to manage the store when it looked like it was close to insolvency. All will be missed. The store is open 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays, and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sundays. (Those hours may change soon per COVID-19 protocols.) Individual annual memberships are $20, seniors and students $15, and families $25. In addition to a 15 percent discount on all purchases, members receive credits when they purchase the membership, and continue earning credits for books brought into the store. Volunteers receive a 20 percent discount on purchases. The phone number is 303-355-8508. The email address is parkhillbooks@gmail.com. The website address is parkhillbookstore.org. We’re also on Facebook and Instagram.
Charter Members included: • Barbara Charnes • Richard and Helen Francis • Elizabeth (Buzzie) Gibson • Sarah Obermeier • Robert J. Page • Mary Scharf • Joyce Shaw • Barbara Smith • Don Roberts • Sarah Tappan
Paid Managers have included: • Barbara Charnes • Nan Doha • Judy Caldwell • Lucy Horton • Toni Martinez • Bettina Basanow • Mike Stickney • Sandra Niemi
Current Bookstore Board of Directors include: • John Krause – President • Jackson Turnacliff – Vice President • Polly Wirtz – Treasurer • Jack and Pam Farrar – Co-Managers • Joan Beam – Secretary • Linda Baie – Volunteer Coordinator Page 8
Plenty Of Steam Sustained By Generosity, Creativity, Intelligence
Our bookstore reminds me of that Little to encourage more gatherings. Engine climbing up that big hill chugging, People in places that have lost these “I think I can. I think I can.” While some bookstores can still buy books from screens bigger engines, sidetracked or out of steam, featuring algorithmically highlighted sedidn’t make the climb. lections, and do so without For independent bookany community at all. Of stores the hill has been — and Our … long journey course in so doing they have remains — steep as we witalso bypassed supporting the continues because local economy, the oppornessed during the pandemic-plagued year, when every tunity to come to know the of its love affair month brought news of more work of local authors, and with giving. bookstores closing while Amhave missed that serendipiazon’s book sales increased tous discovery of the book and posting record profits. they hadn’t known about but The loss of independent bookstores suddenly wanted to take home. brings a loss of community. There is comDenver is fortunate to have several exmunity in the space, in the community of cellent independent bookstores. Though fellow browsers, looking through books among the smallest, our Park Hill Comcurated by booksellers who care you are munity Bookstore’s long journey continues there, care for the books and for the combecause of its love affair with giving. Our munity where they have set up shop. Many community gives us most of our books, our also sponsor book clubs and host readings volunteers give us time and talent and we
News Flash
Books Are Still Popular (and other fun quirks) My volunteering began after retirement, perhaps around 2000. There was a computer on the desk, for some purpose. The manager at that time made an arrangement with a fellow to work on a system so we could sell books online. It was a very new concept. That system has morphed several times. Now die-hard bookstore workers have established a bookstore website and the system to sell books on Amazon. During 2007 there was grave concern whether the store could weather the depression. So much was on the internet, would readers stay loyal to actual books? Surprisingly, a national news item verified that, according to Amazon and bookstores from coast to coast, reading books was becoming more popular. Park Hill Community Bookstore and Tattered Cover enjoyed an increase in our customer base. When the Board decided to change to a low-flush toilet, an Arvada plumber donated his service to make the connections. The
Ann Long, in the bathroom with champion French racehorses. Photo by Cara DeGette
Photo by Cara DeGette
give back to the community everything we take in. Can we continue our journey? Sustained by the generosity, compassion, creativity and intelligence of our unique Park Hill community, “We think we can. We think we can.” — John Krause, Bookstore President walls in that treasured resource (i.e. the bathroom) had been covered in a cheery yellow chintz with patterned flower since The Flood. I knew the Wesco fabric outlet had wondrous spring and fall sales of their curtain and upholstery materials. Some, for $1 a yard. I found a handsome upholstery woven with circa 1800 champion French race horses and jockeys that provided an androgynous atmosphere. I googled some of the horses, and they indeed, were champions. Amazon participation had some fun quirks. A fellow from the East Coast phoned in. He had seen we had an obscure and expensive psychology tome. He was coming to Denver the next week. Would we hold it so he could get it on his visit? I’m proud we generously provide teachers with books for their students and that the store is a vendor at the Home Tour parkway event. Parents of families in Park Hill drop in when visiting their children. Former Park Hill residents visit us to say, rolling their eyes, that they’d left Park Hill 25 years ago. It is a special pleasure to chat with tourists from other nations who love bookstores and somehow found us. — Ann Long, Longtime Volunteer
‘A Bookstore Is A Matchmaker’ There Is Beauty In Finding The Perfect Fit There is no “I” in Bookstore, and “We” here refers to the members, volunteers, board, Park Hill community and sometimes Me, the manager, of the Park Hill Community Bookstore from 2002 to 2012. A bookstore is a matchmaker, bringing together people and information, facts, fantasy and enlightenment. Sometimes the person entering the store knows exactly what he or she wants, and other times new vistas are about to unfold. I think We should be proudest of the boxes of kids’ books on the floor near the door, suitable for little fingers to open. These small about-to-be readers usually came in with adults, but sometimes grade schoolers investigated on the way home from school. Thanks to the generosity of the community, these books were donated and could then be given to the children interested in them. Park Hill’s books also help adults. Our next-door neighbor, Dr. Tom Croghan, DDS, on Fridays worked on the dental problems of prisoners in area institutions. We would assemble bags of paperback books for him to distribute among his shutin patients. Prison officials only allowed paperbacks; hardbacks could be used as weapons. Someone donated a few boxes of books written in a Middle-European language. We determined the language but didn’t think they’d ever move off a place on our shelves, so We called a reference librarian at the Denver Public Library, who gave us the number of a center for that ethnic group.
Interior shot of the Park Hill Bookstore. Photo by Jack Farrar
They were overjoyed to get the books. And We helped Our members — people just walking in and visitors to Park Hill. Book conversations are always fun, a sharing of enthusiasms. It’s exciting to see someone find that James Patterson or Rex Stout they’ve been searching for for years. In order to do those good things We had to do well enough to pay the bills and stay in business. A number of strategies — some even successful — were tried or continued from the previous manager, Bettina Basanow. The 21st Century brought competition from internet book sales. So under the
leadership of Sue Weinstein and her band of inputting volunteers, the Bookstore started sharing its bounty of books donated by Park Hill residents with the world. Who would have thought that that book on piano tuning, which probably hadn’t moved off its shelf in years, was actually scarce and would find a happy home and untuned pianos in Vermont? Internet sales probably saved the Park Hill Bookstore so it can continue to serve the Park Hill community and others. — Mike Stickney, Manager, 2002-2012 The Greater Park Hill News
May 2021
Ed/Equity Corner
When Students Have No Home It’s Hard To Learn, When You Don’t Know Where You’ll Sleep By Erin Pier For the GPHN
I grew up in the suburbs of Kansas City, surrounded by white, middle-upper class Catholics. Because my experience with those who were different from me was so minimal, I have distinct memories of my first encounters with diversity of any kind. I was around 7 when we took a family vacation to Washington D.C. Other than getting separated from my family on the subway (a memory as fresh now as 30 years ago), the only other thing I remember from that trip is the first time I saw a person asking for money on the street. An older Black gentleman was standing outside a storefront. As we passed by, he held out a worn styrofoam cup containing a few bills and loose change, and said something to us. As many parents do, my mother pulled me closer, and instructed me not to make eye contact. I didn’t understand why he was asking for money on the street. And I didn’t understand why I wasn’t supposed to look at him. But I heeded her direction and spent the rest of the trip, and many years that followed, making sure to look away.
Stop looking away “Hidden in Plain Sight.” “The Invisible Million.” “Unseen and Unheard.” These are some of the many headlines I read while researching information about the unhoused in America … an entire population, unseen. As humans, our brains attempt to shield us from experiences that are traumatic or uncomfortable, especially when we are repeatedly exposed. What once triggered an intense emotional reaction from us can become an accepted part of the human experience when we feel we lack the ability to change the outcome. We normalize
trauma, violence, and poverty, suppress our emotional response, and instead of asking what we can do, we look away. But instead of looking away, we need to turn toward that which makes us uncomfortable, and ask, why? Why are we uncomfortable? Who are the people that we turn away from, and how did they get where they are? As our neighborhood prepares to welcome a community of unhoused individuals, I felt compelled to explore the answers to these questions. And as with all of the issues we tackle here at Park Hill Neighbors for Equity In Education, education is a central theme.
Students without homes According to a report from the Institute for Children, Poverty and Homelessness (ICPH), 1.3 million students are experiencing homelessness across the country. In the Greater Denver area, 13,000 K-12 students were documented as homeless in 2019. This year 1,417 DPS students are identified as eligible for services through a federal program that provides services to students who lack “a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence.” Given that this number is dependent on families reporting their circumstances, it is likely that these numbers are an underrepresentation of those who are unhoused. While we often envision the homeless in America as living on the streets, many of the unhoused among us are families who find shelter in our neighborhood, students who attend our neighborhood schools. According to the nonprofit, Invisible People, one-third are families. The typical homeless family is a young, single mother of two children, often fleeing a situation of domestic violence and seeking safety in a motel or emergency shelter. Most mothers
who experience homelessness have limited education, so finding a job that pays enough to cover rent, childcare (so she can work) and other expenses is not just challenging, but often impossible. Six percent of the unhoused among us are young people, without a parent or guardian, between the ages of 14 and 24. Black youth are at an 83 percent increased risk compared to their white peers. Youth who identify as LGBTQ are more than twice as likely to have experienced homelessness. There is also a disproportionate representation of foster youth — approximately 12 to 36 percent of youth who age out of the foster care system become homeless. Most often though, youth become homeless because of abuse, neglect, or other trauma at home.
Racial inequities of homelessness In DPS, homelessness disproportionately affects Black and American Indian/Alaskan Native students, mirroring the national data. While Black students make up 13.8 percent of the student population, they account for 23 percent of students who lack a regular residence. American Indian/Alaskan Native students make up 0.7 percent of the student population, but account for 2.3 percent of unhoused DPS students. While the racial inequities of homelessness are the end result of multiple failures within our social system, we would be remiss to not acknowledge the link education plays in continuing the cycle of homelessness. I have highlighted in previous columns how students are unable to participate in education in any meaningful way if their basic needs aren’t met. Data from the School House Connection, a national nonprofit, shows that children who have experienced housing instability are at an increased risk for delays in language, literacy, and social-
emotional development, behavior concerns, difficulties with classroom engagement and social skills. Without intervention, these gaps in development and school performance follow students who have experienced homelessness, leading to disconnection from the educational system and putting them at increased risk for suspensions, expulsions, and dropping out before completion. In fact, unhoused students are 87 percent more likely to drop out of school than their peers with stable housing. Without a high school diploma, youth are 4.5 times more likely to experience homelessness later in life … and thus, the cycle begins again.
A smile would be nice Decades after my first encounter with homelessness in D.C., I was driving down a street in Denver when I saw a cardboard sign from one of our city’s unhoused citizens that read, “You don’t have to give me money, but a smile would be nice.” The message struck me deeply; sure some spare change would be welcome, but a basic acknowledgement of his humanity? That would be even better. We can no longer look away from the unhoused in our community, or pretend that the systemic failures of multiple systems is the fault of those from whom we turn. There is much to be done, but it can start with a smile. An acknowledgement of the humanity behind the cardboard sign. A desire to not look away. Join us at 7 p.m. on May 12 for PHNEE’s monthly (virtual) EdEquity Corner. We’ll discuss how you can help move the needle toward equity in all our neighborhood schools. Register here: http://tinyurl.com/edequitymay21 Erin Pier is a mother of three, a Stedman parent and school psychologist at AUL Denver. She is an active member of Park Hill Neighbors For Equity In Education, which works toward diversity, equity, and inclusion in all schools in the neighborhood.
To make sure lead stays out of your water, we’re starting with your pipes. Denver Water is committed to delivering safe water to our community. So, we’re replacing customers’ lead pipes, one impacted property at a time. To find out if you’re one of them, visit our website.
Learn more at DenverWater.org/Lead
May 2021
The Greater Park Hill News
Page 9
Tiny Bits Are In Our Air, Our Drinking Water, Our Oceans. That’s A Big Problem. By Tracey MacDermott For the GPHC
Tracey MacDermott is chair of the board of Greater Park Hill Community, Inc. She was trained as a Climate Reality Leader in 2017, and is currently the Statewide Co-Chair of the Climate Reality Project for the 100% Committed Campaign.
Board Member, GPHC, Inc.
It is time for some spring cleaning, neighbors. This is a chance to get out and meet up with folks down the block. That’s right, it’s time to take it to the alley. Greater Park Hill Community, Inc. is planning an old fashioned Alley Clean-Up day on Saturday, June 5 to help kick off the Park Hill the Beautiful Campaign. Here are a few details; Who: You and neighbors on each side of your alley if you have one. If not, commit to cleaning the curbs, sidewalks and streets in front of your house. What: It’s been a long winter inside. Get outside with rakes and brooms in hand, to pick up a year’s worth of alley stuff that has
gathered along fences. When: Saturday June 5, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Where: In your alley all over Park Hill, between Colorado Boulevard and Quebec Street, from Smith Road to Colfax. Why: For Park Hill the Beautiful, we are using this effort to give our neighborhood a solid Spring cleaning! To help rid the bad ju-ju of the past year. The week of June 7 marks the city’s next large item pick-up throughout the neighborhood, so the timing is perfect to get our neighborhood sparkling clean and get the accumulated trash hauled away. Check out the June issue of the newspaper for more from your Park Hill the Beautiful Crew, in preparation of the Great Alley Clean-Up of 2021 and the rollout of the Park Hill the Beautiful Campaign.
Peach Blossoms In Spring
A mid-April snowfall in Denver was shocking to Park Hill’s newlyblossoming peach trees. The good news: The Western Slope was spared from a big freeze this spring, which decimated Colorado’s famous Palisade peach crops last year. That means come August, peach lovers will rejoice. Photo by Felix Nitczynski
Roadmap To Better Recycling EPA Rolls Out Nationwide Plan: 50 Percent By 2030 By Mark Kuhl
cussing the U.S. recycling system 3. Improve markets. They’ll share materials data broadly and aim to use recycled The Environmental Protection Agency materials locally while increasing naestablished a program in 2018 called tional demand for these materials. America Recycles and their goal S KUH is to collaborate with organiT’ In 2021 the EPA will finalize a zations (290 so far) that have roadmap and kick the program pledged to improve the recyin to high gear. As a result we cling of municipal waste. may notice national recycling Their goal is a rate of 50 percampaigns encouraging us to O L cent recycling in the U.S. by RECYC recycle more and better. Denver 2030 — versus around 30 percent Municipal Waste already does this, today. Good progress was made in so hopefully the national efforts reinour country between 1980 (10 percent) force the local message. and 2000 (29 percent) but it’s been stagMuch of this program’s effort will be nant for the last 20 years — hence this out of sight of the public as it’s focused on initiative. the recovery facilities and markets — so They created a national framework for wish them luck so we can start to see our recycling with three key objectives: national recycling numbers grow again. 1. Reduce contamination. People normalNext month we will help unravel the ly want to recycle but are sometimes unmystery of where your recycles go, and sure of what’s accepted so they inadverwhat they end up becoming in their next tently dilute the recycling stream with life. contaminants. The plan is to establish Mark Kuhl is an environmental advocate national standards and educate people who lives in Park Hill with his family. on how to better recycle. His handy tips and news about recycling 2. Improve efficiency of material recovery household items appear every month in facilities. They’ll do this by supporting these pages. A directory of his past colresearch and development, designing umns for recycling everything from paint products to be recyclable, and estabto Styrofoam to shoes is at greaterparkhill. lishing national standards so we’re all org/sustainability/recycling-directory/. speaking the same language when disFor the GPHN
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Next month we are launching a Park Hill, The Beautiful Campaign. This campaign will focus on keeping our streets and alleys free of litter (check out Jon Bowman’s update on the June 5 clean-up project at top right on this page). This is another great way you can help keep plastics from getting into our waterways, away from wildlife and into recycle bins. Please consider volunteering to adopt a block or a problem area. It will take all of us to not only make change but demand it from our local and federal officials.
By Jon Bowman
T
The world has an addiction, and it’s to plastic. News that microplastics — tiny pieces of plastics — are swirling around our earth’s atmosphere at alarming levels, has dominated the airwaves for the past month. Unfortunately, this is not new. Last year’s reports were of plastic particles literally raining down on our National Parks, and swirling around our oceans. The toxic pollutants from plastics contribute to contaminants in our food and water and contribute to air pollution. The large-scale use of plastics began around 1950 and is ubiquitous in our lives. Plastic can only be recycled once or twice before it can no longer be used for the same purpose. It can only be downcycled, including into the clothing we wear. Every time we wash clothing made of polyester, rayon, nylon and spandex we are contributing to the millions of microfiber of plastics ending up in our waterways and oceans. According to the organization PlanetCare, plastic particles that shed from synthetic clothes through washing machines contribute up to 35 percent of the primary plastic that is polluting our oceans. PlanetCare has engineered an attachment for washing machines and reports that the device removes up to 90 percent of microfibers that have shed from our clothes. France will require all new washing machines to include a filter to stop synthetic clothes from shedding into our waters by 2025. Another option to prevent the shedding of microfibers is Guppyfriend, a product made by the company Langbrett. It’s a bag designed to collect the microfibers from your clothes. Simply place your synthetic clothes in the bag and toss it in your washer. Yet, these products are just the starting point. Currently, nearly 4.8 million metric tons of plastic end up in our oceans every year. The plastic that ends up in the ocean eventually breaks down into microplastics, which are smaller than the size of a standard pearl, and eaten by fish and other sea life. We have all seen the pictures of birds, turtles and fish with their stomachs full of plastics they cannot digest. Research has shown that microplastics can reach the brains of fish and cause behavioral disorders and brain damage. The journal Science Advances last year published data that the United States is responsible for as much as five times more plastic than previously thought, making the U.S. the largest plastic producer in the world. Less than 9 percent of plastic that was generated in the U.S. was recycled. And, the U.S. is the largest contributor to plastics in our oceans.
This is the wrong kind of leadership. Last month President Joe Biden convened the first Climate Summit of his presidency, facing the tough job of reestablishing the U.S. as a trusted leader in combatting climate change. Members of Congress, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, are pushing for their more aggressive version of a Green New Deal. Climate change legislation must include a proposal to address our plastic problem. We cannot simply recycle our way out of this problem, as more than 90 percent of plastic is not recycled and plastic never really goes away. We must make radical change to stop the trajectory. Closer to home, the pandemic caused my own household to have an increase in plastic use and it is frustrating. Between togo containers (as we no longer were able to provide our own) to no longer being able to supplying our own containers for bulk purchase our plastic use went up, and it felt defeating. As we begin our long exit out of the pandemic let’s refocus on reducing our plastic use. What can we do? Here are a few suggestions: • Bring your own to-go containers to restaurants • Say No thanks! to plastic utensils in your to-go orders • Wrap leftovers in beeswax or glass containers • Utilize silicone storage containers over plastic baggies • Choose gum with no plastic • Eliminate plastic straws • Stop using bottled water • Make your own cleaning products • Share ideas with your friends, family members and neighbors about how to wean off plastic
Neighborhood-Wide Alley Cleanup Is June 5
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When It Rains Plastic
Making Park Hill Beautiful
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The Greater Park Hill News
May 2021
open book
Report From The Front Line Back In Class, And It’s An Adventure By Anya Nitczynski
the opposite. In past columns, I wrote about some of the small things I missed about normal life, Recently, my school returned to ~alspecifically school. For example, the ability most~ full time and in-person school. We to casually interact with someone without go four days a week, and it has being super good friends, like been an adventure. a desk partner. Back in person, Often it seems the school is still while it took us a second to get working out the bugs on comIt seems we going and to remember our social munication updates, or things skills, it’s been refreshing to get all forgot get changed last minute, but it that back. seems like we’re finally settling Some classes are starting to how to talk. in. However, the challenges don’t make more sense than they did stop there. online. Classes that you wouldn’t Being in school online for the expect, like math, depend more past year put a buffer in our social skills. than I expected on conversation. We’re so used to being on mute that we My classes feel a lot less overwhelming mimic it in real life. In other words, it seems and being in-person increases commuwe all forgot how to talk. nication between teachers and students. It’s been especially hard to get back into There’s more time and ability to ask questhe swing of things in classes that depend tions than there has been all school year. on discussion. My history teacher even had A couple students are still fully remote to step back from our curriculum for a day learning and sometimes that adds to the simply to let us talk, to hopefully encourage sometimes chaotic reality of refiguring future discussion in class. out school. It also makes it hard to include Other than our lack of social skills howeveryone. ever, going in person is nice. All in all, in-person school definitely has I’ve been taking a dance class this semesits ups and its downs but I’m beyond grateter and it’s been a million times easier. One ful to have the opportunity to be back. positive is, ironically, the social interaction. Anya Nitczynski is an 8th Seeing my friends in the hallway during grader at Denver School passing periods is strangely motivating. of the Arts. Her column Having people around who are experiencappears monthly in these ing the same thing at the same time in the pages. same place is really exciting after a year of For the GPHN
th
l a 8nnu a
new dates June 5th • June 6th 10 am ~ 5 pm RK HILL PA
artwork by Paul nzalamba. ray agenbroad. david harms. come and meet them at the show!
In the hIstorIc Park hIll neIghborhood 80 colorado and natIonally tourIng artIsts! PaIntIngs, jewelry, sculPture, Pottery & Much More! Admission $3. Proceeds benefit The Colorado Artist Relief Fund. Masks will be required for everyone - patrons & artists • Attendance will be closely monitored Extra hand sanitizing & hand washing stations throughout the festival May 2021
The Greater Park Hill News
4819 e MontvIew blvd. denver On the grOunds Of the Park hill MasOnic lOdge More info at www.parkhillartfestival.com Page 11
Safe-Camping Site, continued from page 1
George Washington Senior Caelen Hilty drives a free kick through the Denver East wall to score the only goal of the game on April 8.
GW Sophomore Nicholas Chadd (No. 15) battles Denver East Sophomore Tayler Secrest (No. 11) for the ball as they both fall to the turf.
Patriots Upset Angels GW Scores Winning Goal 10 Minutes From Time Story and photos by Reid Neureiter For the GPHN
The East – George Washington High School athletic rivalry shifted from the basketball hard courts to the soccer fields in April as the Denver Public Schools League continued the third of its four COVID19-affected sports seasons. East came into the April 8 match, which took place on the GW Patriots’ home field, the heavy favorites, undefeated and ranked seventh in Colorado’s 5A division. Recent history boded ill for the Patriots’ chances, with East having beaten GW each of the last six years by a combined score of 21-3. The start to the game favored the
Angels as well, with East dominating possession and looking dangerous through the middle of the field. GW’s excellent goalkeeper had to make a diving save to deny East the lead 15 minutes in. But halftime came and went without a goal, and GW became more confident as the minutes passed, making a number of threatening counterattacks. Ten minutes from time the Patriots had their chance for a breakthrough, awarded a free kick on the left side of the penalty area, 20 yards from goal. East set their wall expertly, blocking off half the goal-mouth. But GW Senior Caelen Hilty was undeterred, driving the ball hard directly at the middle of East’s wall. The power of Hilty’s shot caused the wall to flinch, allowing the ball to skid through and past East’s helpless keeper for the winning goal. As of mid-April, GW’s record stood at 5-4. East, for its part, lost to North High in their match after GW, also by the score of 1-0, to fall to a record of 6 wins and 2 losses. Of the DPS boys soccer teams, North High School, appears to have the best chance of advancing deep into the Colorado state playoffs, sporting an 8-1 record as of mid-April and leading the DPS league and No. 10 RPI ranking in 4A. According to the Colorado High School Activity Association, state soccer playoff games are to begin April 23, with state championship matches for all classes scheduled for May 1.
East Senior forward Zach Arend (No. 12) leaps high to head the ball toward goal in East’s 1-0 loss to GW.
Page 12
residents through the hottest of the sumby representatives of the Colorado Village mer months. Why not, some have wonCollaborative, which will operate the site. dered, put the safe-camping site in a more Instead, Denver Councilman Chris Herncomfortable setting — like at the currentlydon, who indicated he had also just learned closed Park Hill Golf Course at 35th and the news, told her. The church congregation Colorado Boulevard? After all, the golf was notified during Sunday services. Nearcourse has plenty of open space and trees. by neighbors say they learned the news a Bus lines and light rail are close by, along day later, reading about it online. with stores, restaurants and other ameniAssociate Pastor Laura Rainwater says ties. church leaders wanted to notify the conChandler said he indeed approached gregation first, as well as the congregation Westside Investment Partners, the developof Temple Micah, which shares space in the ment company that owns the 155-acre golf church. The intent, she says, was to then course land, but was turned away. notify neighbors. “We spoke with the Park Hill Golf Course “Park Hill United Methodist Church has team broadly,” Chandler says. “They took a long history of living our faith through our materials and seriously thought about social justice and compassion, and this was it and … decided it was not a project they a natural extension of who we are,” she said. wanted to pursue.” “When people say ‘we don’t want those Many Park Hillians have people in our neighborembraced the project. “Inhood’, I’m not sure I have an answer to that.” “ These are our sisters stead of getting angry at a church that’s actually trying Cole Chandler, the director of Colorado and brothers and mothers to help people, let’s just help people,” wrote one. “EveryVillage Collaborative, and daughters. They one complaining in their says he is hopeful that are members of our houses waxing theoretical neighbors’ concerns will danger can figure out how be addressed. More than community.” to deal with living in a com6,000 people are home— Cole Chandler munity.” less in Denver, and at Noted another: “I’m going least 1,000 of them are to help my homeless neighbors right here, living on the streets. and nuts to the NIMBYs.” Via a contract with the City and County In an interview, Chandler said residents of Denver, Chandler is currently operating of the safe open space will be screened, and two safe-camping sites in church parking those with convictions of violent crimes or lots in Capitol Hill near downtown. Those sex crimes will not be allowed. Drug and leases are set to expire at the end of May. alcohol use will not be permitted. Many of Earlier this year, United Methodist Church the residents work, and many others are Pastor Nathan Adams offered to host a actively looking for work. Volunteers will safe-camping site at the Park Hill church. patrol the neighborhood to pick up any The Denver city council gave the OK for trash, and encourage people to not loiter. temporary safe-camping sites last year. There is no reason to believe, Chan“Every part of the city has a role to play in dler says, that unauthorized tent sites will finding a solution,” Chandler says. “These sprout up nearby, especially since there are are people. These are our sisters and brothno walk-up services provided to people ers and mothers and daughters. They are who aren’t residents. members of our community.” And, there have been no reports of an The safe-camping site will be comprised increase in crime stemming from the other of high-quality tents, which are placed on safe-camping sites in Capitol Hill. concrete bases and have electrical outlets. The church and Colorado Village ColThe site will be fenced in, with port-o-potlaborative initially scheduled public input ties that are emptied daily, Showers and sessions to occur in mid-May, just two meals are provided on site. There is regular weeks before the new, temporary residents garbage pick-up, and COVID-19 testing/ are scheduled to move in. Facing intense vaccine access, mental and physical health pushback, they subsequently held at least services, employment, benefit and housing two community Zoom meetings in April to navigation services. address concerns, including one that drew The safe spaces are designed to be tempo240 people. rary, with the goal of providing a pathway At that meeting, MacDermott, the GPHC to residents into stable, permanent houschair, said she is confident the community ing, Chandler says. can work together to make it a positive exStill, the logistics of whether the parkperience for neighbors and for the tempoing lot is the best place for the camp elicrary residents at the church. ited concerns, including the possibility of Additional meetings, and tours of CVC’s increased trash in the neighborhood, posexisting safe-camping sites, are scheduled sible drug and alcohol abuse, and whether in May. unsanctioned campers would set up tents along Forest Parkway and 17th Avenue Parkway. Some noted the fact that it will not be on a direct bus line, and there are no nearby grocery or convenience stores. Other services are blocks, and even miles, • Thursday, May13: 7p.m. to 8:30 p.m. away. Still others have expressed concern • Saturday, May 15: 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. the site is next to the Children’s Center, a • Link at coloradovillagecollaborative. preschool operated by the church. org/ safe-outdoor-space-park-hill Many have noted the tents will be on asphalt, making life uncomfortable for
Upcoming Community Zoom Meetings
The church parking lot on Glencoe, just north of Montview, where the safe-camping site will be from June 1 to Dec. 31. Photo by Cara DeGette
The Greater Park Hill News
May 2021
BRING YOUR OWN BAG AND KEEP YOUR Everyone Is Our Neighbor CHANGE.
The front of Park Hill United Methodist church and Temple Micah, on Montview at Glencoe Street. The Safe Outdoor Space, which will house 50 people, will be in the parking lot behind the church. Photo by Cara DeGette
opinion
A Letter From Church And Synagogue Congregants And Leaders Who is our neighbor and what responsibility do we have to them? That’s a question that we ask ourselves at Park Hill United Methodist Church and Temple Micah. In the Gospel of Luke, the same question is posed to Christ and he responds with the parable of the Good Samaritan, which end with His radical response: everyone is our neighbor. The COVID-19 pandemic laid bare the flaws in our systems and made it more apparent that many of our neighbors are struggling simply to survive. The 2020 MDHI Point-In-Time Survey counted 6,104 men, women, and children who were experiencing homelessness in the seven-county Metro Denver area. Prior to COVID-19, our city was already struggling to provide adequate services to those who needed it; COVID-19 only exacerbated this problem. Our hearts broke as we looked at the data, and we wondered if there would be a way for us to help. In 2020, the Colorado Village Collaborative began operating a city-sanctioned Safe Outdoor Space as a necessary step towards addressing the problems of homelessness and affordable housing. To quote Rev. Brian Henderson, whose First Baptist Church hosts another SOS site, these act as a “sacred safe sanctuary from crime and COVID for homeless people.” When the Affordable Housing Task Force at Park Hill UMC was made aware of an opportunity to serve as the next SOS site, we knew that we needed to pursue it. It would serve as another step for us as a church to put our faith into action. Park Hill UMC, a part of the Park Hill
neighborhood for more than 110 years, has a long and rich history of social justice — from integrating racially as a church in the 1950’s and 60’s to practicing inclusion of our LGBQTIA+ siblings in all areas of our church, to acting as a sanctuary church for those in jeopardy of being deported and reading and mentoring students at Hallett Academy, we believe in putting our faith into action. This includes serving those experiencing homelessness, as we have done for the past seven years with the Women’s Homelessness Initiative. Throughout our history and now, we feel a profound sense to put our mission into action and to help our neighbor, especially our most vulnerable neighbors. We ask our neighbors in Park Hill and beyond to consider the role that they can play in not only housing our unhoused neighbors in the short term, but in shaping public policy in the long term. Homelessness isn’t just a “downtown problem” or a “Cap Hill problem.” It is, quite simply, a Denver problem. It is apparent that there is the need for a Safe Outdoor Space through the rest of 2021. To quote John Lewis, “If not us, then who? If not now, then when?”
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The Greater Park Hill News
Page 13
Peonies, by Tanis Bula, one of the featured artists in this year’s Park Hill Garden Walk.
Blooms And Art In June Park Hill Garden Walk Includes Art En Plein Air By Micki Amick
woodblock prints and other items. Kate Kennedy will display her bright oils and Tracy Wall will offer contemporary mixed One of the great joys of early summer media work. is the annual Park Hill Garden Walk and The artists are also volunteers, who ofthe chance to wander through beautiful ten return year after year because they love neighborhood gardens, talk with gardenpainting in the gardens, working with garers — and to encounter local artists whose deners to place their pieces and interactwork is inspired by and displayed alongside ing with attendees. Check out the art being the flora. Many artists will be created and displayed during painting en plein air, and all This year’s Garden the Garden Walk — and maywill have work for sale. be take a piece for your own Walk is Sunday, This year’s Garden Walk home or garden. is Sunday, June 13 from 9 Tickets go on sale May 1 June 13 from 9 a.m. a.m. to 4 p.m. and features to 4 p.m. and features at parkhillgardenwalk.org. eight gardens and 14 artists. Advance tickets are $15, seeight gardens Participating artists include niors (age 65-plus) are $12 and 14 artists. many beloved regulars like and children under 12 are Tanis Bula and her vibrant free. Tickets will also be availwatercolor close-ups of flowable starting in May at these ers. Kate Maley will feature her watercolor retail locations: City Floral (1440 Kearney garden scapes, Ginny Abblett always brings St.), Spinelli’s Market (4621 E. 23rd Ave.), a new painting passion project, Brandy Cake Crumbs (2216 Kearney St.), Park Hill Bixler creates bright mixed media paintCommunity Bookstore (4620 E. 23rd Ave.), ings, Amy Martin does pastel and waterAce On The Fax (7100 E. Colfax Ave.). color work, James Dixon makes dramatic The Park Hill Garden Walk committee is organic metal sculptures, and Tiffany Rusa group of volunteers working to raise funds sell Miller features award-winning wildlife to support Greater Park Hill Community, paper constructions. Inc. GPHC, Inc., is a volunteer-based regisOther familiar faces include Terrie Lomtered neighborhood organization that probardi and her fresh floral oils, Calvin Lee motes the character and vibrancy of Park and his watercolor and ink creations, and Hill through its resources, information and Jeannie Paty with her contemporary oils. advocacy, while preserving the quality of There are also some newcomers this year. life and the history of the neighborhood Charlotte Zink will be installing her whimthrough community participation. Learn sical metal sculptures designed for gardens, more and get involved at greaterparkhill. and Jennifer Ghormley will be showing her org. Park Hill Garden Walk Organizer
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Page 14
The Greater Park Hill News
May 2021
The headquarters at 9th and York Street is a designated Denver Landmark and National Register property. Photos courtesy of Tom Noel
One of the concrete “trees” inside the gardens, with globe-light “fruits.”
Birth Of The Gardens
Built On A Boneyard, Denver Botanic Gardens Has Grown To 40 Gardens Over 70 Seasons By Thomas J. Noel
Rose gardens and lily ponds
Special to the GPHN
Incorporated Feb. 3, 1951, DBG started out with rose gardens and water lily ponds of the south side of the Denver Museum of Nature and Science in City Park, just west of Park Hill. In 1957 DBG leased from the U.S. Forest Service the 169-acre Mt. Goliath Alpine Study Area on the Mount Evans Highway in the mountains about 50 miles northwest of Denver. A two-mile nature trail meanders through this rare forest of 1,500-yearold bristlecone pines, a prime timberline attraction to this day. In 1958 Ruth and James Waring purchased the Denver mansion at 909 York St. to give to DBG as its headquarters. Designed by Jules Jacques Benoit Benedict, the large two-story residence had been built in 1926. Now a designated Denver Landmark and National Register property, it is a cornerstone of the Morgan’s Addition Historic District. Next to the new headquarters, in 1958 DBG began to transform the city-owned grounds of the old Catholic cemetery into gardens. Nationally prominent San Francisco landscape architect Garrett Eckbo planned the gardens with water features and plantings that have grown to include Colorado high plains, rose, and vegetable gardens as well as Saco DeBoer’s Rocky Mountain Garden. The Japanese Gardens, designed by Koichi Kawana, opened in 1979. The adjacent Bill Hosokawa Bonsai Pavilion, honoring a Denver Post editor and leader of the Colorado Japanese community, opened in 2012. A Home Demonstration Garden offers suggestions for home gardeners, while the world’s first Xeriscape Demonstration Garden opened in 1987 to showcase lowwater gardening.
Established in 1951, Denver Botanic Gardens (DBG) has grown from a small group of horticulturally minded citizens into a major civic organization. With a prominent conservatory and core city gardens at 9th and York Street, complemented by a 750-acre suburban campus southwest of Denver, DBG has become the nation’s most-visited botanic gardens. From an original collection of mostly native plants, it has expanded to include plant material from all over the world in more than 40 different gardens.
The old City Cemetery DBG’s main York Street site occupies an area fertilized by the Catholic section of the original city cemetery. William H. Larimer Jr., who founded Denver in 1858, established the cemetery a year later. The city acquired most of the property in 1872 and ran it as City Cemetery. In the late nineteenth century, City Cemetery increasingly lost customers to newer cemeteries, including Riverside (1876), Fairmount (1890) and Mount Olivet (1890). In 1890 the city converted much of the site to Congress Park, the larger western portion of which was reorganized in 1910 as Cheesman Park. Mount Calvary Catholic Cemetery continued to operate on the original site until 1950, when the City of Denver bought the 18-acre burial ground and agreed to remove its roughly 6,000 bodies. An estimated several hundred bodies still lie under the gardens and Cheesman Park to the west. During recent construction at the gardens, about 50 bodies were unearthed and respectfully reburied.
The Conservancy and Chatfield site
Childrens’ grave marker from the old cemetery.
May 2021
The Greater Park Hill News
The Boettcher Foundation, whose money came in large part from the Ideal Cement Company, funded much of DBG’s construction and encouraged use of concrete throughout. Even the lamp posts are concrete “trees” with globe lights posing as fruits. Concrete is used in the gardens’ signature building, the Edna C. and Claude K. Boettcher Memorial Conservatory. Opened in 1966, the conservatory was designed by Denver architects Victor Hornbein and Edward D. White, Jr. Their highly original design uses faceted plexiglas panels between interlaced cast-inplace concrete arches soaring 50 feet above tropical trees. The panels are sloped to prevent condensation from raining on visitors. Inside, in a humid, warm climate, some 600 species are cultivated amid waterfalls and pools constructed in a sloped, naturalistic environment. In 1973 DBG leased a 750-acre nature preserve southwest of Denver from the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The Corps had acquired the site along Deer Creek as part of its floodplain for the Chatfield Dam, reservoir, and state park built after Denver’s disastrous 1965 flood. The Corps leased the land to DBG on the condition that it remains as a natural area, including wetlands along Deer Creek accessible by hiking trails. The Chatfield site opened to the public in 1988. The complex includes the 1886 Deer Creek School House as well as two working historic farms. The Hildebrand Farm complex, dating to 1866, is a National Register site consisting of a farmhouse, dairy barn, granary, ice house, working blacksmith shop, and other outbuildings. It and the neighboring Green Farm have been restored as a working farm and interpretive center. The nearby 1886 one-room schoolhouse has been restored for educational purposes. Chatfield hosts a popular fall corn maze and pumpkin festival as well as holiday lights. Rotating sculpture exhibits and lavender and other gardens adorn the site.
Music, lights, and growth Since 1980, DBG has used its grassy, sunken amphitheater at its York Street site for a sold-out summer concert series. Every winter since 1989, Blossoms of Lights
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The iconic concrete conservatory, designed by Victor Hornbein and Edward D. White, Jr., opened in 1966.
attracts crowds to a spectacular holiday show of shrubs and trees decorated with more than 250,000 colored electric lights. In 2019 Blossoms attracted 145,406 visitors and brought in $1.6 million in revenue. In 2007 Denver architect David Tryba helped DBG handle its growing need to handle more visitors with a $45 million expansion. Tryba’s work included a new Bonfils-Stanton entrance and gift shop and a three-level parking garage. Inside the gardens, a new greenhouse complex with 12 greenhouses visible to the public along a long exhibit space known as the Orangery. Most recently, the $40 million FreyerNewman Center for Science, Art, and Education opened on York Street in 2020. Designed by the Denver firm of Davis Partnership, the building includes a 277seat auditorium, six classrooms, three art galleries, a coffee shop, laboratories, and spacious new homes for the Kathryn Kalmbach Herbarium and Helen Fowler Library. Two stories of underground parking at the new building serve staff and the DBG’s small army of some 3,000 volunteers, freeing up the older garage for visitors. The Freyer-Newman Center is the last piece of a $116 million, 13-year masterplan that, under CEO Brian Vogt, has catapulted DBG into the top tier of botanic gardens. Historian Tom Noel, known as Dr. Colorado, is the author of more than 50 books about Denver and Colorado, including the history of the Park Hill neighborhood. He lives in the nearby neighborhood of Montclair. For tours, talks, books and other info, check dr-colorado.com.
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Park Hill Librarian Tara Bannon Williamson says, come on back and feed your imagination at the library. Photo by Alicya Tebo
THIS MONTH AT THE LIBRARY
Crack Those Books Park Hill Libraries Reopen With Limited Hours
Red Dogs Of April Story and photos by Reid Neureiter For the GPHN
April brings the arrival of baby bison at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge, six miles north of Park Hill. Affectionately called “red dogs” because of their initial light red color that helps to camouflage newborns in the high prairie grass, baby bison can weigh between 30 to 70 pounds at birth. According to the Refuge, the first baby bison of 2021 was born on April 4. A to-
tal of 40 calves are expected to arrive this season, adding to a herd that has grown to 200 animals. Per the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, a bison pregnancy lasts 9 to 9.5 months. Calves can walk within an hour of birth and are fiercely protected by the entire herd. If calves are in danger, adult bison will form a circle around them. Refuge officials ask that if you visit during calving season with a drive through the area, to please give the animals extra distance.
Bison calf with mom at Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge on the morning of April 17.
Page 16
By Tara Bannon Williamson For the GPHN
Welcome back! We’ve missed you. Additional branch libraries, including Park Hill Branch and Pauline Robinson Branch, opened to the public as of Tuesday, April 13, as part of our phased approach to reopening safely. The Central Library downtown remains closed to the public for planned renovations, but curbside pick up is available. Locations opened with limited hours to allow for cleaning and with limited capacity to allow for physical distancing. I asked Teen Advisory Board (TAB) Member and frequent library visitor Siara Edwards what having the library open again meant for her. “As a high schooler, having Park Hill open means putting on real pants and actually doing my homework,” she says. “It is an indoor space away from my screaming siblings and oh-so-tempting bed. I feel safe and focused here. Also, teens join TAB!” Here are the hours we’re now open to the public: • Pauline Robinson Branch Library, at 5575 E. 33rd Ave.: Tuesdays through Fridays from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturdays from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. • Park Hill Branch Library, at 4705 Montview Blvd.: Tuesdays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Curbside hours remain 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at both locations. Please provide your full library card number when calling. Customers visiting branches will be able to access the library’s collections, check out materials, use computers and more. Meeting rooms, study rooms, and ideaLABs remain closed and in-person programming and events are suspended for now. As our branches reopen to the public we ask that customers to please: • Refrain from visiting if you are not feeling well • Practice physical distancing by remaining six feet apart from others at all times • Wear an appropriate face covering during your entire visit if you are over the age of three
• Wash your hands frequently for 20 seconds • Please only bring covered beverages into our locations (no food allowed at this time, though you are welcome to eat outside our locations) • Remain patient as staff and customers adjust to new procedures and adapting situations To keep our staff and customers safe, we will have: • A welcome station at the entrance of all locations to answer questions • Sneeze guards at points of service • Rearranged furniture and computer workstations to allow for physical distancing • Clear signage with new guidelines • High touch surfaces like countertops, computers, railings frequently disinfected The library continues to offer services and programming by phone at 720-8651111 or online by visiting denverlibrary.org.
Park Hill Teen Advisory Board (TAB) Member and frequent library visitor Siara Edwards. Photo by Tara Bannon Williamson
The Greater Park Hill News
May 2021
Annual Membership
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There are some 18,500 species of butterflies in the world, and they come in all sizes, shapes and colors. the Tiger Swallowtail is one of the most graceful and majestic butterflies you will find flitting about your Colorado garden. In some Asian cultures, butterflies have come to mean long life or love. With yellow and black coloring, and touches of blue and red on their lower wings, Tiger Swallowtails are said to represent intuition, inspiration, vulnerability, inner beauty and consciousness. Photo by Mark Silverstein
Park Hill VET
Trauma Takes A Toll May Is Mental Health Month. Please, Remember To Be Kind By Margot K. Vahrenwald, DVM, CVJ
cent increase in demand for our services with pandemic puppies and sick pets with a I don’t know about you, but I’m exhaust30 percent nationwide loss of staff at all leved by the mental drain of pandemic life els due to burnout and compassion fatigue, and work. A recent podcast linked on an along with many other factors. Couple that industry email had an observation about with the significant difficulty of hiring and the impact of the last 12-plus months on training at a time when many interviewees the veterinary industry, as well as all of us do not show up for their scheduled interjust as humans. view because they are only responding to We have all been traumatized mentally document some level of job-hunting effort from fear, anxiety, worry, loss, grief, illness for continued unemployment benefits. (COVID-19 or other) along with significant We also had and still have the daily huevents in the news that are having impacts man resources lottery of how many staff on our society – and that’s existing under members will be out any given day for woreach and every person’s mask, risome clinical signs as we folboth physically and figuralowed CDC guidelines or their I’ve yet to meet a need to be present for a family tively. I’ve yet to meet a person who member. person who has has not been impacted personNationally, clients, current ally by the past months with not been impacted and prospective, have been stress. Many have had fam- personally by the past regularly nasty directly on ily members and friends with the phone and in person, and COVID-19 or diagnosed with months with stress. also dishing out negativity onanother serious disease. Many line to veterinarians. There is have lost or face the upcoming nothing wrong with critiques loss of a family member, including beloved that help us correct issues or own when we pets. Others have lost their jobs or seen a as humans make mistakes. But remember reduction in pay. Still others have been dothat emotional vitriol takes a toll on the reing the nonstop cha-cha of taking care of cipients. Veterinarians and veterinary team children learning from home, special needs members all came to this profession to be of children who need more support, elderly service to our patients – but there is a physiparents facing health issues along with trycal and mental limit to what we can do. ing to maintain their own work. The industry, as a whole, is working to try All of that has had an impact on our staff, to make positive and long-lasting changes, and the staff at every practice across the but like any social challenge, there is not a country and Canada. way to make change happen overnight. We The veterinary industry has already been will get there, but there may a huge price to struggling with mental health. The highclients as corporations acquire more pracest rate of suicide for any medical field for tices, leaving individually owned neighbormore than a decade and the pandemic’s hood practices a thing of the past. impact on veterinary practices has led to In a world where you can be anything, a further increase of mental health issues. remember to be kind – to everyone in every The Not One More Vet group (a veterinary industry. industry Facebook page) reported on four Dr. Margot Vahrenwald veterinarians and one veterinary techniis the owner of Park Hill cian committing suicide in a 10-day span Veterinary Medical Center in early March 2021. at 2255 Oneida St. For more Veterinary practices, small and large, information, visit www. have been trying to balance a 30 to 50 perparkhillvet.com. May 2021
The Greater Park Hill News
YOU’VE SPENT 30 YEARS BUILDING YOUR NEST EGG. NOW COMES THE HARD PART: MAKING IT LAST ANOTHER 30.
CALL 303-803-1016 TO LEARN MORE
Kuhn Advisors, Inc 2373 Central Park Blvd., Suite 100 Denver, Colorado 80238 Phone: 303.803.1016
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GPHC Command Central Lana Cordes, Executive Director
Happy To See You Again Garden In A Box, Community Yard Sale, Garden Walk: Welcome To Spring, And A Return To Normal
Spring is really here and the warmer last year. The entire event takes place outweather brings so much hope and promise. side and we’ll be metering the entrance to We hope to also bring you a bit of joy with each garden to ensure safe distancing. some safe, in-person programTickets are on sale now online and ming. in retail outlets. See page 14 and visit This month we have the Garparkhillgardenwalk.org for details. den in a Box Giveaway, which The Emergency Food Pantry at will be distributed to somewhere 2823 Fairfax St. continues to be around 50 novice and low-income open to clients on Mondays and gardeners. We prepare and disWednesdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., tribute kits with seedlings, seeds, providing a three-day supply of food and instructions, to help hopeful to neighbors in need. We accept food gardeners grow vegetables in a 4×4 at our office on Mondays Lana Cordes donations plot. Typical offerings include toand Wednesdays between 9 a.m. and matoes, peppers, cooking greens, 3 p.m. Non-perishables can also be lettuce, and flowers but what’s included in dropped off at Cake Crumbs, at 2216 Kearthe kits largely depends on the plants we ney St. during their business hours. are able to secure through donations and For additional details on how to utilize sponsorship. the food pantry or make donations, check The Garden in a Box distribution will out greaterparkhill.org take place on Saturday, May 15 and we Currently the food pantry is in need of kindly request that participants pre-regthe following: ister to ensure we have enough supplies. Toilet paper Visit greaterparkhill.org/food-programs/ Paper towels garden-in-a-box for more details. Coffee Closely following will be the Park Hill Dish soap Yard Sale, slated for Saturday, May 22. This Laundry detergent spring is the perfect time to purge from all Mouthwash that winter, pandemic hunkering. Why not Wipes do it with your neighbors? Fruit If you want to hold a yard sale on this Size 5 and 6 diapers. date, simply hop on greaterparkhill.org/ We can always use milk, cheese, butter events/yard-sale and fill out our brief regand meats. istration form. We’ll add you to the official GPHC’s operations are supported heavmap and offer information to help you get ily by volunteers and almost entirely by the most out of your sale. And of course, donors. In 2021, I’m sharing a quote each one person’s trash is another’s treasure so month to express our gratitude for our dovisit that same link to view the shopping nors and volunteers: map and go snag some smoking deals! “Since you get more joy out of giving joy to In June we are excited for the return of others, you should put a good deal of thought the Park Hill Garden Walk. Sunday, June 13 into the happiness that you are able to give.” is the big day and we’ll be featuring eight – Eleanor Roosevelt beautiful gardens that we all missed out on
Donors AARP #995 Queen City Bank of America Charitable Gift Fund Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church Cake Crumbs Bakery and Cafe Cure D’Ars Catholic Church Dahlia Campus Farms and Gardens Delwest Development Corp. Esters Neighborhood Pub Food Fight Food Drive Long Table Brewhouse Messiah Community Church Other Side of Monaco Neighbors Park Hill Community Bookstore Park Hill United Methodist Church Spinelli’s Market St. Thomas Episcopal Church The Blackbaud Giving Fund The Spicy Radish Youth at Montview Christine Allen Ally Bailey & Matt McConville Penny AshleyLawrence Annabelle Asp Katherine Atkins Pearl Barnes Carolyn Benoit Kathy Bochwitz Reiley Boyle
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Justin Bresler Alex Brown Buffy and Vernon Naake Jennifer Calderone Inga Calvin Anthony Caravella City Floral Rachel Coates John L Collister Craig Umbaugh and Lisa Zoeller Charlie Curlee Carrie Damon Bernice and Steve Donohoue Cody Dreher Duane and Jean Gall Beth and Robert Duncan Ellen Reath and Craig Maginness Steve Farley Frances and Russ Wehner Anne & Joe Frank Virginia Fuller Bobbi Gillis Geneva and Luther Goldsby Elaine Granata Mary Hacking Kate Hakala and Dirk Turner Simon and Elizabeth Hambidge Amy Harris Dale R Harris Lee Hillman Kimberly Hoober Dana & Bill Hughes Richard Hughes Julie Ann Jensen
Thomas and Candice Johnson Julie Chiron and Ames Pallante Vera Kalba Kathryn and James Blanas Kelly and Bujar Ahmeti Bernadette Kelly Jeanne Lee Andrew Lefkowits Natalie and Patrick Love Lisa Lucas Emily Magner Mary Jo Stark and Edward Larock Matt McCarter Caitlin McGavran Ann McLaughlin Paul and Barbara Moe Diane Montagne Melanie Morales Bob Moses Harriet Mullaney Nancy and Tim Weil Chris and Erin Nielsen Hilary O’Byrne Michele Papale Keith Porter and Eve Cohen Samantha Lehni Reeves Lawrence and Sue Ricketts Mark & Marianne Rinehart Robert and Joan Root Ellen Roberts Mary Salsich Linda Siderius Cheryl K Solko Sue Bruner and Gordon Pedersen
Marilyn Swan Andy Sweet Simone Taylor Tom and Carol Odwyer Crosby Trohan Roger Turner 1 Van Camps’ Quality Floors, CO Sue Weinstein and Marekah Stewart Alfred Wellnitz Kevin Wiegand Pam Willet Abbey Winter Polly Wirtz Sue Wofford Oliver and Helen Wolcott Guy and Susan Wroble Debbie Zucker and Brian Field
Volunteers Sue Bruner Mike Bufton Celine Davis Greg Davis Kevin Doyle Claudia Fields Jamie Fields Maria Flora Nora Funk Erika Hutyra Debra Lovell Mia Peterson Dezmarie Roberts Sandy Robnett Deb Rosenbaum Mary Salsich Heather Shulman Aleta Ulibarri Nikki Wiederaenders
Greater Park Hill Resources Active Minds Active Minds has transformed itself during the pandemic from a live, in-person series of lectures to a web experience. Check out free lectures on topics ranging from music to history, current events to foreign affairs. A complete schedule of upcoming events is at activeminds.com
Art Garage 6100 E. 23rd Ave., artgaragedenver. com, 303-377-2353. Check the website for schedules.
Denver Police District 2 3921 Holly St., 2.Dist@denvergov.org, non-emergency number is 720-9131000. For emergencies, dial 9-1-1.
Denver Public Schools dpsk12.org Check the website for resources and updates. Call the helpline at 720-423-3054 for support in many languages.
Faith Community greaterparkhill.org/faith Greater Park Hill’s faith community, home to over 30 places of worship in just four square miles, is as diverse and robust as the neighborhood itself. The GPHN maintains a list of Park Hill’s places of worship at the website above. Contact individual places of worship for information about their current state of operations.
Greater Park Hill Community, Inc. 2823 Fairfax St., greaterparkhill.org, 303-388-0918 The GPHC neighborhood association community meetings are currently conducted virtually on the first Thursday of the month, except for December and July. The next meeting is Thursday, May 6 at 6:30 p.m. Link to attend at greaterparkhill.org/join-us/communitymeetings/. Check greaterparkhill.org for information and details to participate. The June meeting is Thursday, June 3 at 6:30 p.m.
Libraries denverlibrary.org See the “At the Library” feature in this
month’s issue for updates and resources offered by the Park Hill, Pauline Robinson and Sam Gary branch libraries.
Northeast Park Hill Coalition The Northeast Park Hill Coalition hosts its monthly meeting the second Thursdays of the month. Check its Facebook page @ Northeast Park Hill Coalition for updates.
Park Hill Community Bookstore Established in 1971. Denver’s oldest nonprofit bookstore. Used and new books. 6420 E. 23rd Avenue. 303-3558508. Members and volunteers get discounts and book credits. The bookstore is open; check parkhillbookstore.org for current hours.
Park Hill Peloton A recreational group of road cyclists that roll from Park Hill once or twice a week. Check the current status of their rides on the Park Hill Peloton Facebook page.
Sie Filmcenter 2510 E. Colfax, denverfilm.org, 303-5953456. Check the website for updates and information about its Virtual Cinema.
Free Zoom Tai Chi Free morning beginner Tai Chi classes on Zoom every Friday at 10 a.m. and Saturday at 8 a.m. Register at taichidenver. com/beginner-tai-chi-zoom-class/. Longtime Park Hillians Jacqui and Joe, who teach the class, will send you the link to join.
Walk2Connect www.walk2connect.com Park Hill Sunrise Walking Trips and the Northeast Park Hill Bilingual Walk have been suspended until further notice.
Submit your neighborhood events and resources to editor@ greaterparkhill.org • Deadlines are the 15th of the month, for the following month’s issue.
GPHC, Inc: Who We Are, What We Do, Our Mission
The Mission and The Officers of Greater Park Hill Community, Inc. The Greater Park Hill Community, Inc., is a volunteer-based registered neighborhood organization that promotes the character and vibrancy of Park Hill, provides resources, information and advocacy, and preserves quality of life and the history of the neighborhood through community participation. The Greater Park Hill Community board is comprised of volunteer at-large representatives, as well as 10 district representatives. If you are interested in volunteering or serving on a committee, contact current GPHC Board Chair Tracey MacDermott at chair@greaterparkhill.org for details. The following are current board members, and their best contacts. Many representatives prefer to be contacted through the main office – at 303-388-0918 or info@ greaterparkhill.org. If you have an issue you’d like to discuss about the neighborhood, contact your board representative. For those board members who don’t have a phone or email contact in the list at right, leave a message at the main number and it will be forwarded to your elected representative by GPHC Executive Director Lana Cordes. The GPHC office is at 2823 Fairfax St.
• Board Chair Tracey MacDermott: chair@greaterparkhill.org • Secretary and Zoning/Property Use Chair Bernadette Kelly • Treasurer and District 3 Rep Heather Shockey • District 1 Amy Harris • District 2 Ryan T. Hunter • District 4 Kevin Wiegand • District 5 Ken Burdette • District 6 Vacant • District 7 Jon Bowman • District 8 Nam Henderson • District 9 Doug Schuler • District 10 Colette Carey • At-Large Maria Flora • At-Large Shanta Harrison • At-Large Louis Plachowski: lplachowski@gmail.com • At-Large Sandy Robnett • At-Large Shane Sutherland • At-Large and Community Planning Chair Lisa Zoeller • Community Safety Chair Geneva Goldsby • Public Information Chair Melissa Davis: newspaper@greaterparkhill.org • Youth Services Chair Rick Medrick The Greater Park Hill News
May 2021
GPHN Classifieds Concrete Concrete work and repair. Driveway, patios, and sidewalks. Small jobs welcome. 25 years experience. Free estimates. 303-429-0380
Dining
Now Open! Clean Eatz, located off Colfax & Jasmine, provides convenient and affordable meals that fit every person’s lifestyle. Our delicious cafe is available for dine-in or take-out, in addition to our fresh and customizable meal plans that change weekly. Sign up for our meal plans and receive 50% off your first order of 10 meals online at http://cleaneatz.com/ locations/denver-co or visit us in store.
For Sale
Licensed, bonded, and insured. References. Call Shawn 303-907-9223
Painting
PREMIER PAINT WORKS since 1993. Denver’s Residential Paint Specialists. Int/Ext Neat, conscientious craftsmanship by polite, respectful, honest & fully insured crew, impeccable references. Call or text John at 720-849-3921.
Handy Man
Licensed GC. Expert home repair/ handy man/woodworker. Can fabricate missing/broken pieces for furniture, staircases, trim, molding, etc. 30 years Park Hill area. Peter 720-2916089 text ok.
Roofing
Residential reroofing and repairs, 17 years experience, licensed, bonded, and insured. Gutter replacement and cleaning. Call Shawn 303-907-9223
Lawn Care
Aeration – Sod fertilizer – Power rake – Lawn mowing, Rototilling – Hauling – Stump removal – Weed control – Lawn mower repair – Shrubbery care – Small trees removed 720-327-9911
Masonry Services
Masonry Services- Brick, Stone, Concrete, restoration, tuck pointing, chimneys, retaining walls, city sidewalks.
4628 E 23rd Ave, Denver CO 80207 www.honeyhillcafe.com • 720 242 6048
Plumbing
Plumbing & Sprinklers - Repair or replace, disposal, toilets, water heaters, faucets, sinks, drain cleaning, sump pump, water pressure regulator. Sprinkler blow out, repair and install. www. vertecservices.com 720-298-0880
Cut Rate Hauling - A trash, clutter, and junk removal service. Estate clean up, eviction clean up, construction debris, etc. denvercutratejunk.com Call Ruben today 720-434-8042
We offer online, call-in, curb-side pickup or come on by. 50% Indoor Dining as well as heated patio.
THE WALL REBUILDERS Interior plaster (and drywall) repair. We repair cracks, holes, crumbling walls, etc. Specializing in older homes, though we fix houses of every age. Dan and Laura Pino 303-698-1057 VAIL PLUMBING & HEATING - The Older Home Specialist. Repair, service, remodel. Hot water heat. Licensed, insured, guaranteed. 303329-6042
Hauling
StARtINg mAy 4tH mON-SUN 7-7pm COCktAIlS & lIgHt fARE HAppy HOUR 4-6
Plaster Repair
Income property for sale. Beautiful 4-unit apartment complex in West Washington Park. The location is prime. Fully refurbished, in-unit HVAC units, in-unit washer/driers. Can be rented as Airbnb, corporate, or longterm rental. Fully furnished, decorated, and stocked. Call at 303-261-2577 or visit www.incomeproperty4saleDenver.com for more information.
Brush & Hammer- 303-895-5192 Affordable-reliable services. Clean gutters, repair, replace, wood fences, gates and decks, interior painting, install small paver or flagstone patios and walkways.
NEW HOURS!
Tree Trimming
Tree trimming and trash removal. General yard work and clean up. Gutter cleaning. Please call 303-429-0380
Windows
Double hung window RESTORATION includes replacing sash cords (ropes) and removal of excess paint on wood and metal plus lubrication for smooth opening and closing. 40 year resident of PH. Contact David 720-550-2786.
Twenty years of experience working with Denver’s classic homes Numerous Park Hill references Design and Renovation Specialists
720-338-0748
www.CitySideRemodeling.com
HOUSE CLEANING Many Park Hill & Central Park References Mask & Gloves Worn At All Times • Additional Disinfectant Now The Norm • Park Hill Resident • PaulinaLeon22@hotmail.com
20 years experience • Paulina Leon 720-628-6690
MAYFAIR VISION CLINIC
Adult and Children’s Vision • Complete Visual, Eye Health and Glaucoma Testing • All Types of Contact Lenses • Frames with One Year Guarantee • Most Insurances Accepted • Free Adjustments and Minor Frame Repair • 15% Discount for Senior Citizens
Dr. Janice I. Jarret 1336 Leyden
Across from Safeway
303.333.9898
To advertise in the Classifieds contact Melissa Davis
newspaper@greaterparkhill.org 720-287-0442 (voicemail) the deadline for submitting a classified ad is the 15th of every month
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May 2021
The Greater Park Hill News
Page 19
SOLD
1145 Hudson Stunning Tudor with turret entry • Updated throughout • One of the best blocks in Mayfair
Keith Combs 720-218-9614 kcombs@denverrealestate.com
Jaden Combs 303-324-1437 www.combssellhomes.com • DenverRealEstate.com
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The Greater Park Hill News
May 2021