EDGEWATER MAYOR A Thank You To Local Heroes
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NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS Respite Care Available To Families Of Disabled Children Page 7
NEIGHBORHOOD ARTS New Art Spaces For Kanon Collective And Core Art Page 11
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| SLOAN’S LAKE | WEST COLFAX | TWO CREEKS | WEST HIGHLAND August 14 – September 15, 2019 • ngazette.com • FREE
What Will New Growth Limits Mean For Housing, Traffic? n By
Mike McKibbin
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akewood’s growth limit initiative will virtually “shut off” affordable housing development in the city, according to one of the major providers of low-income housing projects. Tami Fischer, executive director of Metro Housing Solutions, said the voter-approved ballot measure 200 completely changes the city’s building permit process and will prevent her agency from obtaining crucial state lowincome tax credits that require a “guaranteed” permit. “Without a guaranteed permit, we can’t build,” Fischer said. “It will effectively shut off Lakewood for any real, permanent affordable housing development.” The July 2 question asked city voters to limit residential growth to no more than one percent per year — estimated at about 700 building permits in the first year — through a permit allocation system that will begin in January 2020 and require city council approval of allocations for projects of 40 Continued on page 10
MURALISTS CREATED MASTERPIECES AT COLFAX ARTFEST (previously known as the West Colfax MuralFest) the weekend of Aug. 3 and 4 at Lamar Plaza, while a live DJ provided music for onlookers and revelers. PHOTO COURTESY 40 WEST ART DISTRICT.
Trolley Car No. 25 Rolls Again n By
M
Sally Griffin
y family loves to use the light-rail system when we visit downtown Denver. It’s fast and easy and saves hunting and paying for a parking space. To judge by the ridership, more and more people are becoming aware and using this light rail system. But what many people don’t know is this is not the first rail system in the Denver area. Denver once had an extensive electric rail transit system that included over 250 miles of city tracks and 40 miles of highspeed interurbans connecting Denver with Golden and Boulder. This rail system used electric trolley cars running on 600 volts of electricity through connection to overhead electrical wires. These trolley cars started running in1911. I can remember my mother talking about riding the trolley every day to her work downtown at the phone company. With increasing use of the automobile and a new gas-run bus system, this rail system was abandoned and the trolley cars all but disappeared. It is said that automobile companies bought up as many of the cars as they could and had them crushed. (Talk about “crushing” the competition!) However, one trolley car, No. 25, was saved. It is the last remaining, completely intact, electric railway car out of more than 250 that once served the Denver area. It was built by Woeber Carriage Company in Denver, which means it was one of the original group of cars build for the rail line. The car is now 108 years old. Starting in 1988, the Rocky Mountain Railroad Club Historical Foundation began a 22-year-long restoration project. This involved more than 500 donors and 96 volunteers who spend almost 24,000 hours working to lovingly restore Car No. 25. The restoration took the car back to its
1911 paint scheme. This was found when the volunteers removed the sheet metal that had been added to the all-wood exterior My husband and I had a chance to ride in the car at the Car No. 25 Open House, Saturday, Aug. 10. It is evident that the car is lovingly restored down to the last detail. The window and seating drew admiration from our fellow passengers, who noted how ingeniously designed and comfortable they were. The volunteers who narrated the ride,
punched our tickets and saw to the safety of all the riders, clearly loved the car and its place in history. We admired both the modern work of those who restored it as well as the craftmanship and artistry that were practiced by those who built it originally. The cars running on the line could hit 40 to 45 miles per hour and even higher when they hit Lakewood Gulch. For its time, it was a fast, convenient ad comfortable way to get around the Denver area.
These cars could be operated from either end, meaning they didn’t need to be turned around at the end of the line. The windows can be opened and slide down into the car body. There was a spot for a potbelly stove, which was later converted to gas. Each wooden seat had electric heat. The cab could be separated from the operator with decorative pocket doors, which come together or apart using either of the door Continued on page 6
PEOPLE YOU SHOULD KNOW
Edgewater City Manager H.J. Stalf Retires After 10 Years n By
Mike McKibbin
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hanging a government structure can be a daunting task, but one H.J. Stalf took on a decade ago with the City of Edgewater. Now he’s ready to hand over the reins of a financially sound city to someone else. The first city manager in Edgewater, Stalf received an award for 10 years of service at a July city council meeting and announced he would be leaving his post in January 2020. However, after an Aug. 6 city council executive session, Stalf’s effective retirement was announced as Friday, Aug. 9, said Mayor Laura Keegan. “It was for H.J.’s reasons and because it’s a personnel matter, I can’t say any more,” Keegan said by phone. “These things happen quickly sometimes.” Keegan said the council had already been looking at a process to find a new city manager. Deputy City Manager Dan Maples was named interim city manager and Keegan said the city would be in “very good Continued on page 2
H.J. STALF’S 10-YEAR TENURE AS EDGEWATER’S FIRST CITY MANAGER ended when he formally retired on Friday, Aug. 9. His position will be temporarily filled by Deputy City Manager Dan Maples until the city council begins a process to fill the position. PHOTO BY MIKE MCKIBBIN.