All the News About Denver’s Best Residential Community Since 1960 • Volume 59, Issue No. 9 • September 2020
High Simmer
Denver’s Ongoing Homeless Emergency, The Park Hill Golf Course Land, Future Of Johnson & Wales, Pit Bulls And Climate Change Dominate The Debate In This Long, Hot Summer By Cara DeGette Editor, GPHN
Great Ball Of Fire:
August brought a string of days with relentless temperatures climbing the high 90s. With the heat came fire, and the smoke from multiple wildfires across Colorado left a thick haze in the air. The conditions also made for beautiful glowing red sunrises and sunsets. This image of the sun rising over Cherry Creek Reservoir was captured on Aug. 16 by Reid Neureiter.
The Denver City Council in late August rejected referring a question to voters in November over the future of the conservation easement protecting the Park Hill Golf Course land. The proposed ballot measure, promoted by Save Open Space Denver, would have required that any measure to remove cityowned conservation easements must be submitted to the voters. It was clearly designed to protect the easement on the 155acre golf course property. The council’s 9-3 vote, effectively keeping the question off the ballot, is the latest in a growing, heated debate over the future of the golf course, which has been closed for two years, in the northwest corner of Park Hill at 35th and Colorado Boulevard. In 1997, Denver taxpayers paid $2 million for a conservation easement to protect the land from being developed. Last year, Westside Investment Partners paid $24 million for the property with the protective easement – a fraction of the per-acre cost of recent comparable commercial transactions in the area. Earlier in August, the board of the Great-
Park Hill Character
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Inside This Issue PAGE 4
Tamba Mbawa Says Goodbye
Get Ready To Vote Like Your Life Depends On It
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Popular Park Hill Gym Pinned by Pandemic By Bob Moses For the GPHN
PAGE 7 Tamba Mbawa, in front of his mural at the now-closed Up Gym on Colfax. Photo by Bob Moses
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that first free session, I signed on. That was five years, a heart attack, and 35 pounds ago. Did he change my life? Yes, you could say that. Fitness has always been Mbawa’s mission. When I learned the Up Gym was closing, I asked him what will he miss the most. “The people,” he replied, without hesitation. “I tried to hang on as long as I could, longer than I should have because I had become a part of their lives. We became friends. It’s been a pleasure to watch them grow and to see them change their lives. I’ll miss that the most.” When COVID-19 passes, I asked, will you open another gym? “No,” he replied. “The pandemic was scary for me. It was scary for my clients, as well. I should have closed three months earlier when I started to lose money. I dug into my savings. Then I dug into my kids’ savings. I’m not going to do that again. Who knows when the pandemic will end? Who knows if it will ever end? I need to go into a business where nobody can shut me down.” What’s next? I asked. “Real estate,” he said. “I’m studying for my license. I need to make some money.”
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Tamba Mbawa waved goodbye from his fitness studio at Dahlia and East Colfax in early August. The next day he painted over his portrait on the side of the building that housed the Up Gym for the past eight years. Growing up in Denver, Mbawa started lifting weights when he was 13. He attended South High School and played on the wrestling and football teams. He was named DPS All-City Wrestling Champion during his senior year in 2001. Today, married, he and his wife Takara have two lively children – a son, Malik, 12, and daughter Ziah, who is 8. When Mbawa opened Up Gym in Park Hill in 2012, a handful of his previous loyal clients followed him from his past tenure at Bally’s Total Fitness. The business grew slowly but steadily for the next eight years. Before the pandemic hit in early March, the gym had more than 90 regulars, many of who came several times a week for spirited group sessions. Others opted for individual appointments with Mbawa or one of his two trainers. By the end of June, business had had dropped by over 50 percent. No two sessions with Mbawa were the same. A typical “Tamba Time” could include stretching in every possible direction, exercising with or without weights, boxing, skipping rope, doing five to 10 exercises on a ball, and running around the gym – or the block. An hour or half-hour with Tamba was a hands-on experience. He instinctively knew your limits and would nudge you beyond them. Over the years, the business grew organically. Drawn by word-ofmouth, people stopped by to peek inside. Mbawa would invite them in – and to come back for a free session. That’s all it took. Over the years, when business dipped, Mbawa would use his free time to knock on doors in the surrounding neighborhood, invite folks to stop by and say hello. That’s how he found me. He knocked on my door. Not interested, I said. Well, stop by some time, he countered, leaving with a smile. Four months later, I did. Hooked after
er Park Hill Community, Inc. adopted a resolution, by a 12-4 vote, to support putting the question to a citywide vote. The board’s vote, conducted via Zoom, came after three and a half hours of at times emotional virtual presentations and discussion by people who support preserving the conservation easement, and those who support development. Kenneth Ho, the project lead for Westside, said the developer is committed to setting aside “at least” 60 acres for parkland on the property. The developer also envisions incorporating affordable housing, services and amenities “… we’re working hard to see if we can get a grocery store in this area,” Ho said. “Meeting the community needs are the driving force for what we at Westside want to do.” It is not clear how Westside would move ahead with development. Previously, a simple majority vote of the city council was all that was required to remove the conservation easement. However, a new state law requires a judge to make the final determination. In recent months, Westside’s advocacy of development has gained several support-
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Upcoming GPHC Meetings Community meetings are currently conducted virtually on the first Thursday of each month. The next meetings are Sept. 3 and Oct. 1 at 6:30 p.m. Link to attend at greaterparkhill.org/ join-us/community-meetings/ Check greaterparkhill.org for information and details to participate.