BY LONDON LYLE SPECIAL TO COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA
e Denver Central Library will fully reopen to the public at 10 a.m. Nov. 3, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony held just outside, followed by a day of family-friendly celebrations complete with grab-and-go refreshments, giveaways and entertainment throughout the day.
Following multiple semi-closures since early 2023, library sta and management are really looking forward to a big crowd and to turning the Central Library back over to the people, said Olivia Gallegos, communications manager at Denver Public Library.
As the world shut down in March 2020, libraries were not immune to closures, and the full library eventually shut its doors to the public due to COVID-19. Despite facing an uncertain future, library sta took advantage of this time to kickstart the long-overdue construction projects.
“Our team was really strategic and worked with the contractor to determine what areas of the library could open on a limited basis while working could continue. We wanted to still provide that access,” Gallegos said.
e renovations mark the most signi cant changes to the Central Library since the Michael Graves addition back in 1995, the 540,000-square-foot expansion of the original building.
While large parts of the li-
brary have remained closed throughout the construction process, the library team was committed to being thoughtful and intentional in what areas and features remained accessible based on the level of need they saw in the community. is included leaving a common space open for community gatherings, having a space with computer access as well as prioritizing the early construction of the children’s library and public services center.
Although community members who frequent the library most often may have already seen some of the upgrades, including the new Parkview Event Space that will host author visits, library programming and after-hours events and the Children’s Library, the public has yet to see the newly revamped Schlessman Hall, which provides a welcoming entrance to the library.
“It’s lighter, it’s brighter, it looks bigger now, and we removed the 1990s-era escalators that were in Schlessman Hall and replaced them with a beautiful new grand staircase, so it still provides that mobility up and down those oors,” Gallegos said. “It’s a lot more visually appealing and I think will be the biggest visual change for people who visit the library.”
Library visitation dropped dramatically between 20192022, but library sta is hopeful that the renovations will help them return to pre-pandemic levels of community engagement. As of now, the Central Library welcomes about 2,500
people a day.
One bright new spot the library team hopes will boost visitation is the brand-new teen library. It features an idea lab, makerspace computers and more.
“We’re really hoping that our new teen library becomes a hub for youth in central Denver, which is really kind of lacking one right now,” Gallegos added.
For folks who are interested in learning more about history or research genealogy, they can feel free to check out the Special Collections and Archives Department on the fth oor, a library feature that was previously very popular among visitors pre-renovation but has been further enhanced with exciting new features. e library also has new bathrooms on every oor.
e funding for the renovations, which was just over $60 million, comes from various sources, including the voterapproved 2017 Elevate Denver Bond, support from the Denver Public Library Friends Foundation, and Strong Library, Strong Denver, which is supported by the Denver Public Library Fund.
As Denver continues to grow and evolve at a rapid rate, library representatives said they’re excited to be part of the overall revitalization of downtown.
“We kind of anchor, along with the other city buildings and the capitol building, that area around the Civic Center,” Gallegos said. “We really hope
BY LONDON LYLE SPECIAL TO COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA
In two of Denver’s most Democratic Party-dominated districts, two Republican candidates are stepping up to challenge the status quo.
Denver attorney Michael DiManna is running against Democrat incumbent Steven Woodrow in House District 2, while media production professional Kyle Witter faces Democrat nominee Sean Camacho in House District 6.
Despite the overwhelming blue majority in these districts, both candidates are optimistic about their campaigns and aim to present themselves as viable alternatives for voters seeking change.
that folks who are new to the area nd us as a destination, but we also want to welcome back our regulars.
“ e area around the Central Library, the Golden Triangle area, has grown tremendously with more residential housing lately,” Gallegos added, “and so we’re hoping to attract those folks into what will now be their branch library.”
In recent months, public discourse surrounding the decline of “third places,” a term originally coined by sociologist Ray Oldenburg in the 1980s and de ned as locations outside of work or home where people regularly gather to socialize, has been on the rise.
Younger generations long to frequent the staple dive bars, diners, or mall hangouts prominently featured on popular sit-coms from the 1990s, but today’s suburban lifestyles and rising costs at restaurants and cafes have made third places seem to be a thing of the past.
But perhaps public libraries could be a saving grace, Gallegos suggested.
“Libraries are one of the last remaining spaces that welcome anybody for absolutely free,” she said. “ ere are resources and materials available for everybody. It doesn’t matter your age, it doesn’t matter your interests. ere’s something for you at the library. I think everyone should take a trip down to Central Library or any of our other branch locations and check us out and see the way that we’ve evolved to meet the needs of our community.”
House District 2, which covers parts of central and southwest Denver, has been represented by Democrats for decades. ere has not been a Republican representative in the position in more than 70 years. In 2022, Steven Woodrow won with more than 75% of the vote against Republican nominee Stephanie Wheeler. Witter’s House District 6 covers eastern Denver, which boasts a similarly liberal base. e upcoming election for both Republican candidates is likely going to be an uphill battle.
Witter graduated with his degree in journalism from Colorado State University and has since worked on the TV production tech side of things for the broadcast network WeatherNation. A self-proclaimed moderate, he emphasizes the importance of taking a down-to-earth approach to politics.
“I grew up conservative. I hold conservative values, being responsible with money and things like that,” Witter said. “But I consider myself a moderate because I hold what some conservatives would consider to be more liberal positions.”
“I support public assistance programs, for example, because I have experience being on those programs,” he continued “I want to help strengthen programs like that for the people who need them, which may not be a classic conservative position, but I feel like it’s something that will help the most people.”
Another one of Witter’s platform goals is to improve public transportation and transit infrastructure, an issue he said a ects many residents in District 6. Many folks living in District 6 rely on public transit.
In terms of environmental issues, Witter acknowledged that especially among conservatives, climate change was a hot-button topic, but he hopes to nd common ground. He is a fan of electric vehicles and the bene ts they could have in the future.
Parkview Event Space inside Denver Central Library.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF DENVER PUBLIC LIBRARY
CANDIDATES
”I think the tax break idea is a good idea,” he said, adding that providing more charging stations would help ease anxiety and encourage gradual EV adoption.
Witter’s challenge is winning over a district with roughly 25,000 registered Democrats compared to 3,000-5,000 registered Republicans. But he sees an opportunity among the district’s unafliated voters.
”If I can win the una liated vote and the Republican vote and a few Democrats as well, I could win the election,” he said.
But Witter is not naive. At just 31 years old, he was not hesitant to say he plans to use this campaign as a launching point for what he hopes to be a long political career. Win or lose, he said, it’s de nitely been worth it to learn about politics at the local level.
“ ere are some really great people trying to make a di erence in Colorado, and I will want to run again, even if I do lose the election,” he said.
He added he’d like to stay in touch with the local precinct level as well as the
Democratic winner to swap notes about “what the Republican side of the district is thinking about issues.”
DiManna, on the other hand, seemed more con dent in his ability to beat the odds and win the election. While he acknowledged that his opponent won by a landslide in 2022, he noted that he’s taken on a di erent approach to campaigning than Wheeler did, and he is feeling cautiously optimistic.
DiManna did not hold back in his criticism against Woodrow, whose policies he warned could be dangerous to Denver’s future.
“He is a self-interested legislator,” DiManna said, adding that Woodrow has neglected issues such as crime, illegal immigration and housing a ordability. To put it plainly, DiManna said, a vote for Woodrow is a vote to keep Denver exactly as it is, while a vote for him is a vote for solutions.
“I think Denver’s ready for solutions,” he said.
DiManna has been particularly critical of Woodrow’s record of being soft on crime, citing his opposition to increasing penalties for crimes committed with rearms. DiManna suggests o enses involving rearms should carry far harsher penalties, including implementing a mandatory minimum law of ve years in
prison for these types of crimes.
“Criminals understand punishment, and they understand mandatory sentencing,” he said, bringing up how his own experience as a criminal defense lawyer taught him this. He said he believes that tougher penalties will serve as a deterrent and reduce overall crime rates in the district.
Both candidates have faced challenges in setting up meetings, much less debates, with their Democratic opponents, and both candidates told said they had heard of similar problems from other Republicans. Witter said it was di cult to arrange a meeting for co ee with Camacho, despite Camacho’s being open to it, which he chalked up to scheduling. While there were no hard feelings or ani-
mosity, he said, it would be nice to meet before election day.
“He had to cancel last minute because he had a client coming into town,” Witter said. Meanwhile, DiManna has also experienced obstacles in organizing a meetup and eventual debate with Woodrow, saying he has been frustrated with the incumbent’s lack of communication.
“We were going to try to set up a debate at the University of Denver. I’d like to not only meet him in person but I have some questions I want to ask him,” DiManna said.
While November’s results remain to be seen, both candidates share a commitment to o ering voters alternatives in districts that have historically leaned heavily Democratic.
FROM PAGE 2
Michael DiManna Kyle Witter
Ground has recently broken on the Bus Rapid Transit program intended to make improvements to public transit. Story on page 4.
PHOTO BY MERYL PHAIR
BY MERYL PHAIR
SPECIAL TO COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA
Construction on the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) has broken ground on East Colfax Avenue and is expected to progress eastward along the popular Denver throughway.
e BRT is intended to improve efcient public transportation and boost commerce and the community feel of one of Denver’s most historic and welltraversed streets.
e construction’s initial phase spans from Broadway to Williams Street and will move down Colfax in ve segments. Expected to reach completion by 2027 and budgeted at $280 million, work will progress from Williams Street to Monroe Street, then to Niagara Street, Yosemite Street and nally to the light rail R-Line Station at I-225.
Following completion, the roadway will have two side-by-side bus lanes running down the center of Colfax with a lane on either side for general-purpose vehicles. Expected to operate constantly, buses will arrive every four minutes on weekdays during daylight hours and every 15 minutes at night.
e project aims to create a calmer transportation experience for bus riders, bikers and pedestrians alike, said Frank Locantore, executive director of the Colfax Ave Business Improvement District (BID).
“Instead of acting as a barrier with cars speeding by, the new bus system and the calmer movement of vehicles is going to act more like a zipper in stitching the
north and south communities together,” said Locantore. e current RTD bus service along East Colfax is the transportation agency’s most used route, shuttling 20,000 people down the throughway each day, a number that is expected to grow. In the next decade, the east-west transportation route is projected to experience a 25% jump in ridership, 25% growth in population and a 67% boost in employment,
according to the city of Denver.
e project initially got o the ground in 2008 when Denver’s Strategic Transportation Plan identi ed the e cient movement of people as a critical need to improve tra c ow and boost the safety of riders and pedestrians.
rough a collaboration between the cities of Denver, Aurora, RTD, Denver Regional Council of Governments (DRCOG), Colorado Department of Transportation and the Federal Transit Authority, several studies were conducted along with six years of outreach to the immediate community before the design process was initiated in 2020.
“ e vision is to move people more eciently, safely and sustainably along East Colfax Avenue,” said Jon Stewart, Colfax BRT Program Director in a community meeting this July. “ at highlights three priorities that we’ve heard from the public over and over: to provide more transposition options, to increase the safety of the transposition network and to provide more environmental resilience.”
e project has been funded by $23 million in grants from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) along with $55 million in funds from the city through the voter-approved Elevate Denver Bond Program.
any issues with current delivery routes. Tra c on Colfax, however, could potentially slow things down.
In a more residential area, such as the Colfax Ave Bluebird Business Improvement District (BID) where construction will get underway in 2025, community response has been a mixed bag.
Spanning from St. Paul Street to Colorado Boulevard, the majority of patrons come from nearby and there are concerns about tra c diversions into side streets, changing the composition of the residential neighborhood.
“We won’t know how this plays out until it gets going and we see how the community reacts to it,” said Anne T. Kuechenmeister with the Bluebird District. “Will roadway capacity decrease so much that people make the jump to transit?”
Some residents have expressed frustration with potential gridlock and concerns about air pollution from the diesel-run buses. e city has stated following environmental reviews, the amount of cars the project is projected to remove from Colfax will lead to an overall decrease in CO2 emissions.
Colorado Housing and Finance Authority’s (CHFA’s) mission is to strengthen Colorado by investing in affordable housing and community development. We believe everyone in Colorado should have the opportunity for housing stability and economic prosperity. We appreciate the opportunity to get to know you.
Celize with her family, CHFA homeownership customer, Colorado Springs
In addition to adding the transportation service, the project includes new bus platforms and improvements to existing ones, various service amenities and an improved pedestrian and bike experience. e Colfax BRT will also connect people living in Aurora to Denver’s Civic Center Station and is expected to reduce transit travel time by 15 to 30 minutes.
While area businesses are expected to remain open during construction, it’s unclear how the project will impact their operations.
“I’m pretty optimistic it’s not going to have a huge impact on business but that remains to be seen,” said Josh Robinson with Argonaut Liquors, located in the rst segment of construction. “I hope it brings more people through the corridor and helps the area become the interesting neighborhood it could be.”
Parking is a concern for many business owners along the corridor, and although Argonaut may lose a few on-street parking spots, the business isn’t expecting
“ ey say if we have busses, then we won’t have all these cars, but if you don’t have a city that’s responding, why do it,” said Constance Mortell who lives two blocks from Colfax and said she was not aware of any community outreach by the city regarding the project. “It’s just going to tie up Colfax for all these years. I think it’ll be a nightmare.”
RTD o cials said delivery and haul routes will be identi ed to keep construction tra c o neighborhood streets. While on-street parking may be a ected as work progresses, construction parking will only be within work zones or designated areas, not on residential streets. Initial construction will last four to six weeks and involve occasional lane closures. Construction is scheduled to take place between the hours of 7 a.m. and 5 p.m., the transposition agency stated. “ ere will always be at least a lane of tra c going in each direction, sidewalks will be open and people will always be able to get into the businesses that they want to get into,” said Locantore, who has long supported the transit project.
This rendering shows the di erent phases of the BRT project on East Colfax Avenue.
BY ERNEST GURULÉ SPECIAL TO COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA
For anyone taking a trip down memory lane in Denver, there’s no better place than Colfax Avenue.
It’s not only the longest continuous street in the United States, stretching nearly 50 miles from end to end, but also a corridor that tells the most interesting stories.
Like so many businesses on this eastwest stretch across metro Denver, Colfax has seen countless cycles of boom and bust. One living testament to these economic spikes sits at 3015 E. Colfax Ave. e address once belonged to the Rockbar, a joint where the music ran the gamut from 1970s-era disco to every sound that followed. Above Rockbar was a motel, one that saw its nal days were less a good life lived than a cry for a merciful ending.
Decay had more than snuggly wrapped itself around the once popular go-to nightspot and cost-friendly stop for travelers. Transient squatters had become its rent-free tenants. e place had the patina of blight. But that is about to change.
Brian Toerber, president of Inspire Investment Group, said his organization broke ground in June to revamp the motel. Toerber and his partners, along with the city of Denver, have put the pieces in place and work has begun on the All Inn Hotel, a boutique hotel scheduled to open “the fourth quarter of 2025.” e Inspire Group purchased the property in 2016, thinking at the time it would begin its new life as micro-apartments. But the city saw it as something else. Denver government o cials wanted a hotel in an area that desperately needed a presentable, a ordable and safe dwelling for visitors. ey also wanted a magnet they hoped might entice other new businesses to drop anchor.
e property is within minutes of a number of high-tra c seasonal sites and historic neighborhoods, including City Park Golf Course, e Denver Museum of Nature and Science and the Black American West Museum and Heritage Center.
Toerber, a fellow who understands property development, said he knew nothing about hotels, but he has since learned volumes and will be watching
BY MELANIE ASMAR
e family of Luis Garcia,a 16-year-old who was shot outside Denver’s East High Schoollast year and died of his injuries, has led a wrongful death lawsuit against Denver Public Schools.
e lawsuit, led Monday, alleges that East High “subverted and weakened the security and safe environment” of the school when armed police o cers were removed, allowing “potential shooters to believe they would be able to execute an attack.” e Denver school board hadvoted to remove all school resource o cers from DPS schoolsin 2020.
e lawsuit accuses DPS of violatingthe Claire Davis School Safety Act, a state
the progress of what one day soon will blossom into a 54-room hotel, with a ground- oor restaurant and retail space that will hit the sweet spot both for its location and price point.
Toerber said he predicts the newest addition to Denver hotels will “appeal to leisure and business travelers looking to experience the local community.” Opening-day rates, he guessed, will be around $200 a night.
Lining up investors for Toerber’s project proved as challenging as any undertaking he’s experienced, he said. e place, when he rst spied it, had barely a whi of potential. Some investors got cold feet. Another led for bankruptcy.
e project screamed more dead on arrival than return on investment. And then, he sighed, there was Covid.
To launch the project, Toerber met numerous times with the city, and despite not getting a unanimous greenlight from Denver City Council, he did get approved for $3.5 million from the city’s tax investment funds. e city council was divided, with opposition standing rm on spending the money on housing.
Council members who favored opening the purse strings prevailed, citing “a ordable retail” that might sprout up.
An outdoor pool that will open for community members to use also may have sweetened the pot.
Because Toerber originally saw the project as micro-apartments—something he had experience with—and not a hotel, his learning curve has been steep, certainly steeper than he had expected.
“To be honest, it’s taken several years to understand,” he said.
To get up to speed, the Denver developer’s schooling involved, “lots of phone calls, meetings with hospitality companies…it took a few years.”
But after numerous stops and starts, redirection and total replanning and, of course, the bankruptcy of a potential lender, Toerber thinks it’s all been worth it. “It’s going to bring a lot to the community.”
law named for a Colorado student who died in a school shooting. e law allows school districts to be held liable if they fail to exercise “reasonable care” to protect students and sta from “reasonably foreseeable” acts of violence at school, including murder.
In addition to DPS, the lawsuit names past and present members of the Denver school board as defendants. e boardreversed its decision to remove armed police from schools in 2023after Luis’ death anda shooting inside East High a month later. East High now has two SROs.
A Denver Public Schools spokesperson said the district does not comment on pending litigation. Board President Carrie Olson, who has served on the board since 2017, said the same.
Jose Luis Garcia-Bobadilla, known at school as Luis Garcia, was shot while sitting in his car outside East High on Feb. 13, 2023, after dropping his cousin o at the school. Luis was himself a junior at East High and a talented soccer player who wore #11 on his jersey.
Luis was shot in the head.He died of his injuriesmore than two weeks later on Feb. 28, 2023.
Using pseudonyms, the 16-page lawsuit also names as defendants a juvenile male and his mother. e lawsuit alleges the juvenile male shot and killed Luis.
e lawsuit says the juvenile male stole a white Kia Sportage, then ran a red light outside East High, drove the Kia “on a direct path straight to Luis,” and opened re on Luis as he sat in his black Honda
Accord on school property.
e lawsuit says the juvenile male’s mother “knew or should have known that her son was in possession of rearms, ammunition, and other illegal weapons” because of his social media and because of “items found in her home by law enforcement.”
e lawsuit says the Denver Police Department investigated Luis’ death but that “no charges have even been led by the Denver District Attorney’s O ce.”
Neither the Denver Police Department nor the Denver District Attorney’s O ce responded to requests for comment on the status of the case.
Melanie Asmaris the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Colorado. Contact Melanie atmasmar@chalkbeat.org.
The former All In Motel, 3015 E. Colfax Ave., is set to reopen in late 2025 with 54 rooms and a ground-floor restaurant and retail space.
PHOTO BY ERIC HEINZ
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Women’s Wellness: The e ects of symptomatology
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enced.
ymptomatology is the branch of medical science that focuses on the study of disease and overall symptom patterns shown by a patient or associated with a speci c disease. is is important, especially for women, where care can often be informed on the basis of symptoms and signs.
It’s central to understand that not all conditions can be detected early on. A symptom is something an individual experiences, while a sign is something a medical professional notices. Subjective symptoms can only be known if acknowledged by the individual experiencing those conditions and cannot alone constitute a diagnosis.
For example, pelvic pain, irregular periods, brain fog and fatigue are all considered symptoms. Objective symptoms are those clear to the observer and called physical signs such as pulse rates and temperatures. No matter who observes the symptoms or signs, it is the body’s way of signaling something might not be functioning properly. Each body creates symptoms and signs uniquely, and every woman reacts in a unique way. Some experiencing the conditions show no symptoms at all. Another person may be hypersensitive to the signs and symptoms experi-
Everyone is di erent, which can pose challenges for identifying treatment. As a physician, it’s important to know our patients to discern between what is an alert versus a non-urgent concern. One symptom by itself usually means very little. It is its relationship to other symptoms that may be signi cant.
For instance, frequent bathroom visits and frequently having to start and stop while using the bathroom may indicate pelvic oor dysfunction, while a feeling of heaviness around the lower tummy or a dragging discomfort in the reproductive organs could lead one to suspect something causing pelvic organ prolapse. Whether it is a symptom or sign, talking to your doctor is the rst step.
As a physician, I rely on patients to share what symptoms or signs they may be experiencing. Ongoing appointments are recommended for the most accurate evaluation and success of treatment options.
It’s a must to understand a patient’s background, determining abnormal ndings if any and weighing the patient’s problem(s) with the pattern of the known disease processes. It’s important to know your body and to “listen” to the signs it is giving to ensure health issues are not overlooked.
Dr. Terry Dunn is the owner of Foothills Urogynecology, a Denver-based practice specializing in women’s health. To learn more, visit www.urogyns.com.
Give experiences, not things, this holiday season
Let’s be real: we’ve all been there. at moment when your kid, wide-eyed and full of excitement, unwraps that musthave toy of the year—whether it’s the colossal plastic parking garage or the stu ed animal that somehow emerges from a cloud of fog like a B-list magician. It’s magical...for about a week. en, poof! It’s collecting dust in the corner while you’re left wondering, “Was this worth the clutter?” is holiday season, instead of giving more stu , how about giving something that sticks around longer than the battery life of a remote-control car? ink experiences—those core memories with family that last a lifetime,
out how to operate a noisy toy. You’re giving them moments, not just objects. You’d probably appreciate the extra closet space, right?
where no assembly or AA batteries are required. Why experiences over things?
ere’s science behind it: studies show that people derive more lasting happiness from experiences than material possessions. Imagine the joy on your loved one’s face when they get to spend time with you doing something meaningful, rather than guring
Five Experiential Gifts for Kids in Denver (Under 16)
1. Elitch Gardens eme & Water Park Season Pass
Give your kids the thrill of roller coasters, water slides, and carnival games with a season pass to Denver’s iconic Elitch Gardens. It’s fun for the whole family and guarantees summer days packed with excitement. Plus, no one ever forgets their rst big roller coaster ride!
“Belief Creates” Find the S for start and navigate to the W to solve the maze.
Megan Trask and Cody Galloway WOMEN’S WELLNESS
Dr. Terry Dunn
BY MERYL PHAIR
SPECIAL TO COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA
Two laughing women with wrinkles and gray hair sit at a bar with glasses in hand, having the best night of their lives, while gold orbs of light dance around their colorful out ts.
“It captures that feeling when you’re having a wonderful night with someone you’re close with, and it’s almost as if there’s a glowing light emerging around you, even though it’s not there,” said Carrie Shi rin, a local Washington Park artist who crafts surrealist paintings from scenes of everyday life, visualizing feelings and experiences we all live through.
“My work has oscillated between a realistic, grounded style with surreal elements,” the artist said. “Real life can often feel surreal and that’s the realm I try to live in.”
Although her work constantly evolves, Shi rin has been especially drawn to the interactive aspects of visual art. Growing up in an artistic family, her mother studied art in college while her father was involved with a professional regional theater, sparking Shi rin’s passion for performing arts. Sitting in on rehearsals for plays in her childhood home of Washington, D.C., she said the experience greatly in uenced her artwork.
After receiving a BFA in Studio Art from New York University in 2009 and a Master’s in art education from the School of Visual Arts in 2012, Shi rin worked as an art teacher for a decade, her interest in the participatory elements of art
BALANCED
2. Denver Zoo Membership
e zoo is the gift that keeps on giving. Your kids can visit the animals any time, take part in special programs, and enjoy behind-the-scenes experiences. Watching a tiger up close beats another action gure, don’t you think?
3. Children’s Museum of Denver at Marsico Campus
For younger kids, a membership or visit to the Children’s Museum is a great way to mix fun and learning. Interactive exhibits, hands-on activities and outdoor play areas make this a perfect place to engage curious little minds. And, no assembly required!
4. Little Kitchen Academy
Give the gift of discovery with a Little Kitchen Academy membership! Kids en-
was always directed at creating her own work, channeling her creative energy into crafting lessons, and drawing creativity out of her students was a ful lling and creatively challenging endeavor.
Making the move to Denver from the East Coast with her husband, Shi rin returned to her own art-making in 2022 when her son was born. She started bringing the surrealist elements she had long been drawn to into the grounding scenes of domestic life she was experiencing.
“When I was home with my son, I found a lot of my time was occupied, but my brain wasn’t intellectually occupied, which freed up space to look at my surroundings in a new way, leading me to make observational paintings,” Shi rin said. “It was during the pandemic when I was imagining things that I couldn’t experience and couldn’t see. I would go on long walks with my son on little sleep and start to imagine things, so these domestic scenes I was creating began to drift more into the surreal.”
gage their senses with hands-on cooking, learning math, science, and fostering con dence and independence—all while building healthy habits. A deliciously smart gift for any little one on your list!
5. Indoor Rock Climbing at Earth Treks
Get your kids climbing the walls—in a good way! Earth Treks o ers indoor rock climbing for all ages and skill levels. It’s a fun, physical activity that’s also perfect for beating the winter blues. Plus, it’s something you can do together!
Six Experiential Gifts in Denver for All Ages
1. Red Rocks Amphitheatre Concert Tickets
Whether it’s your teen’s rst concert or a family night out, Red Rocks is the ultimate Denver experience. Concerts at this iconic venue under the stars create memories that last a lifetime. Trust me, that live music will resonate longer than any gadget.
en, the artist began to work in watercolor and ink out of convenience as using more toxic materials was out of the question. Falling in love with the medium, she continues to primarily work in the materials.
In her process of creating an image, Shi rin will use photos and scenes from real life, often going on image hunts and developing digital collages for inspiration. As another tool for stretching, the artist has begun to use AI software, typing in prompts and seeing what gets generated.
“It will spit out things that look surreal, but in my experience I can never get it to create something surreal intentionally, but its misunderstandings have also sparked ideas,” Shi rin said.
While she may have associations or narrative stories when creating her pieces, Shi rin said it’s important her work leaves enough room for the viewer’s imagination, and she said she hopes others will be inspired to create their own stories when engaging with the surrealist pieces.
2. Winter Park Resort Ski Lessons
For an unforgettable day, treat the family to a ski lesson at Winter Park Resort. Whether you’re seasoned pros or complete beginners, hitting the slopes together is the kind of experience that turns into a beloved family tradition.
3. Meow Wolf Denver: Convergence Station
Take your family on a surreal adventure at Meow Wolf, an immersive art experience like no other. is mind-bending maze of interactive art installations is great for teens and adults alike, and it’s a day of creative exploration they won’t soon forget.
4. Denver Botanic Gardens e Denver Botanic Gardens’ Blossoms of Light is a magical holiday experience for all ages. Walking through the gardens lit up in dazzling holiday lights is a beautiful, shared moment—and it’s a tradition worth repeating year after year.
5. Escape Room Adventure
lection, which explores aging and time, she said only one was based on a real person.
“It’s more of a mixture of people I’ve known or my projections of what my future will look like,” she said.
Challenging the notion that aging leads to a dilution of self, the series explores the rich and interesting ways we become more ourselves as we age.
In addition to having an interest in working with larger-scale pieces, Shiffrin said she has recently been inspired to continue her thematic interest in our perception of time.
“I’ve been interested in the distortion of time that a person feels as you get older where you never stop feeling like the person that you are even if you look in the mirror one day and you’re close to 40,” Shi rin said. “I’m thinking about how to create work that captures that feeling that explores time as a nonlinear entity and expresses multiple moments in time in a still painting.”
Why not bond over a little puzzlesolving action? Denver is home to several escape rooms that challenge families to work together to “escape” before time runs out. It’s a fun, interactive experience perfect for making memories—and maybe a few inside jokes, too! is holiday season, think beyond the wrapping paper. Give the gift of adventure, excitement, and, most importantly, time together. ose core memories you create will last longer—and mean more—than any toy ever could. So, this holiday season, think beyond the gift wrap and give the gift of time, adventure, and experience. After all, isn’t that what the holidays are really about?
Happy memory-making!
Megan Trask and Cody Galloway are Denver residents and co-founders ofTULA Life Balanced. Learn more about their business at tulabalanced.com.
Artwork by Carrie Shi rin titled “Lila and Lenu.”
COURTESY OF CARRIE SHIFFRIN
Carrie Shi rin
female journalists had a home— and they paid o the mortgage with a series of Jazz Age extravaganzas that attracted the rich and famous.
Because female journalists often wrote the society columns, they were courted by prominent Denver socialites like Louise Crawford Hill.
“ ese society people wanted their names in the paper,” said Gail Beaton, archives chairman of DWPC.
When Mrs. Hill attended the press club’s rst ball in 1924, she could expect to see herself written up the next day in gushing prose.
e newly-acquired clubhouse provided a sanctuary for female journalists, who often lived in boarding houses with little privacy to write. It also relieved their obligation to Denver’s elite.
During the 1920s, a number of the wealthy opposed labor reform and were members of the Ku Klux Klan—putting them in direct opposition to reformminded journalists.
No one’s sure if the Denver Woman’s Press Club (DWPC) in Capitol Hill is haunted. But if it is, the ghosts might include amboyant reporter and gossip columnist Polly Pry, celebrated etching artist George Elbert Burr and various 1920s society women who loved to dress up as amenco dancers, harem ladies journalists, novelists, playwrights and poets have been gathering since it was rst purchased in 1924. Once a famous artist’s studio, the 1910 brick building now sits in a parking lot at 1325 Logan St. It dates from an era when female journalists had no place to meet. e Denver Press Club,
PROJECT
e Colfax Ave BID will serve as a resource for businesses along the Colfax corridor along with other business improvement districts such as Bluebird.
“We’re there for the businesses. We’re here to help connect them to someone as things come up,” Kuechenmeister said. Colfax Ave BID plans to improve signage to alert people that businesses are still open
and connect construction workers to lunch spots in their work area. e BID will also hold regular nancial forums to prepare businesses to apply for grants from the city through the Business Impact Opportunity Fund (BIO) which will open in early 2025.
While the city has available grant money approved annually for construction impacts on businesses, many such as District 5 Councilwoman Amanda Sawyer have said it’s not enough to cover the cost of impacts along Colfax.
e Bluebird District has been
founded in 1867, did not admit women until the mid-1960s. For years, DWPC meetings rotated among the homes of wealthy patrons.
Enter George Elbert Burr, an artist nationally celebrated for his etchings of Colorado, who designed and built 1325 Logan St. as his home and studio. DWPC acquired the house from Burr when he moved to Arizona for his health. At last, Denver’s
advocating for the city to double its funding for 2025.
For the rst time this year, Colfax Ave BID will participate in Colorado Gives Day with all contributions going to micro-grants for businesses, and it will organize the annual Bag of Colfax, available for purchase after anksgiving. Locantore said they will also hold regular events near the construction area such as an upcoming tree-lighting celebration to get people out and about.
e city has also launched a “We Back e Fax” campaign to encourage people to support lo-
“Mrs. Hill wore a stunning fancy dress of gold cloth with black ostrich decorations,” the Rocky Mountain News duly reported. “ e gown was draped at side and back and caught with the ostrich trimming. Her headdress was three exquisite plumes held in place by a crown of gold.”
e rst ball raked in enough for a downpayment on the Burr home. More costume balls followed, including a luxe Oriental Ball in 1925, organized by DWPC member Polly Pry. In three years, the mortgage was paid o .
cal businesses during construction. ey will also be hosting regular Chats on Colfax with the immediate business community regarding project updates.
While businesses may deal with the added challenges of construction in the short term, Locantore said the project is expected to bring more people to the area to shop at local businesses.
In addition to transit, the project is expected to include wideranging community bene ts such as planting nearly 100 trees to improve shade, a quieter atmosphere with fewer cars that will
e clubhouse became a place where the women could work, socialize and host visiting literary celebrities, such as William Faulkner, James Michener and Mary Higgins Clark. Costume balls aside, some society women took a deeper interest in DWPC and joined the club. Some, like civic leader Elizabeth Byers, did not write. Others, like Titanic survivor Margaret Brown (aka Molly) and entrepreneur Mary Elitch Long—who founded Elitch Gardens—went on to publish.
In a nod to history, DWPC recently revived its A liate Membership category for unpublished writers. Once again, the club welcomes new members who simply care about writing—and who don’t mind a few ghosts.
hopefully invite residents to create patio spaces and safety improvements such as lighting, sidewalks and pedestrian crossings.
For area residents and businesses alike, safety improvements are a big draw.
“A big part of this is the community’s response to the project during construction,” said Kuechenmeister. “We hope people will keep coming out and not turn away from Colfax during construction because it’s messy. If people can still show up through the process, we’ll be stronger on the other side.”
A poster advertises the first Denver Woman’s Press Club ball exudes 1920s glamor. The costume ball raised enough money to help the press club acquire its Capitol Hill clubhouse, which is still in use today. COURTESY OF DENVER WOMAN’S PRESS CLUB
The Denver Woman’s Press Club recently celebrated its historic building in Capitol Hill, acquired from celebrated artist George Elbert Burr in 1924. At the party, historian Thomas Noel (aka “Dr. Colorado”) joined club members in period costume. Pictured from left to right are writers Corrine Joy Brown, Gail Beaton and Debra Faulkner.
PHOTO BY MINDY SINK
BY ASHLEY LOVE ALOVE@DENVERLIBRARY.ORG
As seasons change and the days become shorter, I often nd myself reaching for books about the natural world. While I’m not an avid non ction reader, short books about someone’s love for the outside are among my favorites.
“ is is How a Robin Drinks: Essays on Urban Nature” by Joanna Brichetto is just that. Brichetto, a naturalist and writer from Tennessee, has written a collection of 52 seasonal essays that blend her life experience with chronic illness with observations of nature in urban areas and the human relationship with it.
From the beginning, I could sense that Brichetto and I were kindred spirits. While I am not a naturalist by training, I can certainly talk about native bee populations and the beauty of a cottonwood tree (a keystone species!) with anyone willing to listen.
Her essays about the importance of hackberry trees, the function of dandelion clocks, and the beauty of samaras were a balm to my soul. I saw the re ection of my own tendency to engage with the outside world and the seemingly commonplace.
In one particularly poignant essay, Brichetto details her astonishment at the imprints left by fallen leaves on the sidewalk after a rainshower. A man working nearby notices her looking at them and of-
fers to power wash them away. She writes “We speak at the same time while looking at the same thing, though we do not see it the same way. I want to capture the art. He wants to wash it away.”
As humans, we interact with nature in a multitude of ways each day–whether by watering our house plants, walking the dog, or driving past color-changing trees. In this collection, Brichetto invites readers to see beauty in the often ignored and mundane, to slow down and realize the miraculous ways that nature moves and adapts around us. She stated, “Nature is under our feet, over our heads, and beside us—the very places we need to know rst.”
An ode to the virtues of our everyday lives and the nature that exists all around us, “ is is How a Robin Drinks” is a moving, funny, and approachable book that urges us to take care of our world and the creatures we share it with.
“ is is How a Robin Drinks” can be found at your closest Denver Public Library location or as an eBook at denverlibrary.org. Already read it? Check out these read-alikes: “ e Book of Delights” by Ross Gay, “World of Wonders” by Aimee Nezhukumatathil, “Earth Keeper” by Scott Momaday or “ e Comfort of Crows” by Margaret Renkl.
Ashley Love is a librarian at Denver Public Library’s Central branch. She spends her free time gardening, hiking, and reading long fantasy books.
BY TEAGUE VON BOHLEN
TO COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA
When Washington Park resident Sue Seserman had her rst seizure, it sure didn’t feel like a positive thing. Seserman describes the experience as “out of the blue,” made even more so when the second seizure happened later that Spring. And then again in the summer. After a lot of monitoring, her doctor nally diagnosed her with epilepsy. And Seserman turned that diagnosis—eventually—into an opportunity, one that could ght social stigma around disabilities and empower those who nd they have them. It’s a tall order, admittedly. Maybe one that requires heroics. Super-heroes, even. is is how Seserman came up with the idea for her new graphic novel “Epilectra” (available now at local bookstores and online), which tells the stories of a superhero and her friends who nd their powers through their conditions: the titular Epilectra has epilepsy, of course. ere are super-friends of hers with cerebral palsy, too, and autism and typeone diabetes and endometriosis. Doubtlessly there are heroes with similar stories and other condi-
tions waiting to be introduced— Seserman is already planning a second book.
“I’ve always been a writer,” Seserman said. “Writing has always been what I’ve done, no matter what job title I’ve had.”
And she’s had a lot of interesting jobs in her long career. She worked as the only woman on a sports marketing team of ve men at Edelman Worldwide in Chicago. When her husband’s job took them to California, she secured an enviable position as director of public relations with LucasArts Entertainment, the computer gaming company owned by lmmaker George Lucas and his Star Wars empire (no pun intended).
“People always tell me how much fun it must have been to work there, and it was,” Seserman recalls. “But the work itself was insane—media relations and tours, press releases, sell sheets, a quarterly company magazine, conference planning and execution, speech writing—but so was the camaraderie.”
Seserman said she’s especially fond of the holiday parties, which were weird and wonderful.
“I still have a picture of myself with Chewbacca on my fridge,” she laughed.
Seserman, who served as editor-in-chief of the LucasArts magazine e Adventurer for a time, wasn’t far a eld from the comic book genre to begin with—but Seserman says it was her daughter who suggested turning the idea Seserman had been percolating on into a graphic novel.
“She thought about a comic book,” Seserman said, “and that got me thinking. e idea in the end seemed too big for just a comic book, so I decided on a book-length graphic novel series.”
e book has been out since the summer and has received nothing but ve-star reviews on Amazon. Meanwhile, she’s at work on book two while she enjoys her Platt Park home, enjoying her Sweet Cow Ice Cream and dinners at Sushi Den. But she says it’s the “intangible spirit of the neighborhood” that most inspires her, a “feeling of acceptance that exists regardless of age, gender, or orientation.”
Or, more applicably to her graphic novel, any sort of physical challenge.
“One of the things I’m most proud of with ‘Epilectra’ is that it’s not a how-to book on disability,” Seserman says. “It’s more intuitive than that. More subtle
and also more speci c. I wanted the story to speak to everyone. I wanted to share with readers how these characters transform their disabilities into super-abilities. e super-team in the book has a motto: ‘Your di erence is your strength.’ at’s really the key to the message I’m trying to send
to my readers, especially young readers. ere’s nothing holding you back from becoming the superhero you can be. Nothing at all.”
“Epilectra,” book one, is available nationwide now and at Sue Seserman’s website at epilectra. com.
How many seats are lled and whether the neighborhood is experiencing declining enrollment are the rst two criteria that Denver Public Schools sta will consider when deciding which schools should be recommended for closure.
at’s according to a methodology released Monday night, a week and a half before Superintendent Alex Marrero is expected to make school closure recommendations on Nov. 7. e school board is set to vote on those recommendations two weeks later, on Nov. 21.
District o cials have not indicated how many schools will be closed or consolidated. e board directed Marrero to close schools to address declining enrollment. Although DPS enrollment is up 2% this year due to an in ux of migrant students, o cials said the bump is not enough to o set yearslong downward trends. DPS has about 90,000 students this year.
In an interview, o cials declined to reveal speci cs about the methodology for fear that communities would try to guess which schools will be recommended for closure before the list is announced.
For instance, Andrew Huber, the district‘s executive director of enrollment and campus planning, did not say how few of a school’s seats would need to be lled for the school to meet the closure criteria. But he said a healthy building utilization rate would be between 85% and 100% of seats lled.
“ e criteria that we are fashioning to advance schools [for a closure recommendation] is well below that level,” Huber said. “We’re planning on being proactively transparent with the data that is
mendations so that people can follow our logic and our thinking.”
Once the district identi es schools with more seats than students that are located in regions with declining enrollment, it will group those schools together in clusters, o cials said. e clusters will be made up of schools that are near each other and not separated by “hazardous roads” that would be di cult for students to cross on their way to and from school.
Within those clusters, the district will look at several more factors to determine which schools should be recommended for closure, o cials said. e factors will include:
e enrollment at each of the schools. How many students who live in each school’s boundary “choice out” to attend other schools through the district’s yearly school choice process. How many students who live in other boundaries “choice in” to each school. What programs are available at each school, including for students learning English and students with disabilities. e quality of each school building, including whether it has air conditioning and enough space to accommodate more students. Each school’s academic performance.
e methodology is an attempt to approach school closure recommendations more holistically rather than base the recommendations largely on whether a school has low enrollment, said Laney Shaler, senior advisor for the district’s schools o ce.
“ is methodology allows us to bring in … additional data points, drawing from lessons learned over the past years,
Denver has approached school closures differently in the past
DPS has used di erent methodologies in the past to close schools — and for different reasons.
In 2015, the school board adopted a policy called the School Performance Compact. It was driven not by declining enrollment but by a desire to boost student test scores. e policy called for DPS to close schools with a history of low ratings, low scores on the most recent state tests, and low marks from a committee that visited the school to see if it was on the right track.
e school board used that policy to close one school, Gilpin Montessori, and “restart” two others with new programming. But the process was rocky, and after signi cant pushback from the community, the board backed away from the policy in 2018.
In 2021, declining enrollment prompted the school board to pass a new resolution directing the superintendent to engage with parents, educators, and neighbors to come up with options for reducing the number of under-enrolled schools in the district.
A committee recommended several criteria based primarily on enrollment, including that schools with 215 students or fewer should be considered for closure.
In the fall of 2022, Marrero recommended 10 schools that t that criteria for closure. But the school board rejected his recommendation, even after Marrero whittled the list from 10 schools down to two. e board complained of a rushed process, and it rescinded the resolution directing the superintendent
In the spring of 2023, Marrero returned to the board with another recommendation to close those same two under-enrolled schools, plus one more. e board quickly agreed. Fairview Elementary, Math and Science Leadership Academy, and Denver Discovery School closed just a few months later at the end of the 2022-23 school year.
In the 2023-24 school year, DPS enrolled thousands of new immigrant students from Venezuela and other South American countries, boosting the district’s enrollment.
Although that boost has carried into this school year, the district is projecting enrollment will eventually drop 8% by 2028. Four months ago, in June, the board adopted a new school closure policy called Executive Limitation 18. at’s the policy Marrero will rely on to make his school closure recommendations on Nov. 7. EL 18, as it’s known, frames the school closure decisions as nancial. Colorado schools are funded per-student, and schools with fewer students have less money to pay for things like mental health sta , art and music teachers, and extracurricular programs.
Over the past month, the district held a series of six regional meetings to make the case for why school closures are necessary. Still, this year’s process has been criticized by parents, advocacy groups, and former school board members as rushed and lacking transparency — the same complaints that have dogged Denver’s school closure decisions for years. is story is from Chalkbeat Colorado, a nonpro t news site covering educational change in public schools. Used by permission. For more, and to support Chalkbeat, visit co.chalkbeat.org.
Denver Public Schools buses parked in a lot o Federal Boulevard on July 17, 2024.
