Belleview Station keeps expanding with no answer for traffic at the Belleview-I25 interchange

BY FREDA MIKLIN STAFF WRITER

Last month, the 310-unit Vue West apartment complex at 4811 S. Niagara Street in Denver’s Belleview Station neighborhood sold for $123.5 million, or $398,387 per unit. The building is six stories tall and apartments range in size from studios to three-bedrooms.

The purchaser, Sequoia Equities, Inc., reportedly has also recently purchased two other area rental properties, both in Greenwood Village, the 248-unit Parc Apartments at 5500 DTC Parkway and the 236-unit Isabella

Darlis Lamb, a resident of Greenwood Village for over 40 years, passed away January 17, 2023 after a brief illness. Born in Wausau, Nebraska in 1938, Darlis was a renowned sculptor who spent her life pursuing her passion for art.

Darlis’ sculptures were recognized for their elegant form, classical expression, and sensitive design, whether capturing the grace and dignity of the female figure or an intimate moment in the human spirit’s journey. Her remarkable trompe l’oeil still life series entitled French Lessons portrayed fruit and objects in relationships that encouraged viewers to create their own narrative.

Darlis was educated at the University of

Apartment Homes at 5400 S. Park Terrace Avenue.

The new nine-story Vectra Bank headquarters building opened in December at 7222 E. Layton Avenue in Belleview Station.

We reported last month that the 19-story, 204-guest room Kimpton Claret boutique hotel is well underway in Belleview Station. It is set to open next year.

Front Range Land & Development company, the master developer of Belleview Station, is said to have proposed two more towers at 6700 E. Union Avenue. One would be 19 stories and the other would be 20 stories.

Meanwhile, the stalemate over how to manage ever-increasing

Nebraska and Creighton University, Omaha, and worked as a painter and printmaker before becoming a sculptor in 1982. Her sculptures are represented in several prestigious public collections and gardens, including Benson Park Sculpture Garden in Loveland, Colorado, where she has three permanent bronzes: The Old Greek, The Old Greek’s Wife, and The View, a bas relief. She was the first woman to complete 25 consecutive years of participation in their Annual Sculpture in the Park and the third woman to have a permanent bronze added to the Park.

Throughout traffic in the area continues with no movement from any of the participants who are stymied by the position of the City and County of Denver. It has been over three years since Wilson and Company, a consultant hired by all the area jurisdictions, concluded that the most sensible way to address the longstanding, increasing traffic bottleneck at the Belleview and I-25 interchange is to build a new highway exit at Quincy Avenue, between Hampden and Belleview, primarily to handle vehicles headed to and leaving from the Belleview Station development.

Arapahoe County, Greenwood Village, Centennial, and several of the area’s metro districts agreed her career as a sculptor, Darlis won numerous international, national, and regional awards, identifying her as one of the country’s most accomplished sculptors. Her still life bronzes began in 1997, winning two Gold Medals and a Bronze Medal for this series, along with many other awards, both regionally and nationally. Her oeuvre of works over the years successfully included figures, nature subjects, zen landscapes, and her most well known works within the series entitled “French Lessons”.

In addition to her contributions to the art world, Darlis was known for her willingness to share her knowledge and expertise with others. She was a jurist in art shows, taught workshops in figurative terra cotta sculpture, and inspired many with that solution, which was also supported by CDOT (Colorado Department of Transportation). Denver disagreed because its overall traffic and transportation plan for the city designated Quincy Avenue as being focused on multi-modal transportation, primarily bikes, pedestrians, and busses. young artists to pursue their dreams. Her biographies are included in Who’s Who in American Art, Who’s Who in the West, and Who’s Who of American Women, among others.

Nothing has changed in the past three years, except for the addition of multiple office and residential buildings, along with the first hotel in Belleview Station, each bringing hundreds of cars to the area and the Belleview and I-25 interchange, even though many of the residents and employees make use of the Belleview light rail station.

Darlis and her artwork were featured in many publications, including Sculpture in the Rockies (Southwest Art Magazine, pub., 2009) and Successful Women Speak Out-A Collection of Personal Experience and Wisdom from Successful American Women (Stan Shur, 2011).

Her works are included in galleries and private collections across the country. Her website, www.darlislamb.com remains a source of the variety and richness of her prolific career.

Darlis’ family was a significant source of inspiration for her. Her kindness and generosity touched many throughout her life. She was a member of several art organizations, including the North American Sculpture Society, the Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club, and the National Sculpture Society. Her contributions to the art world and her community will not be forgotten.

Darlis Lamb will be remembered as a talented artist, a

John Chesser, one of the consultants, said, back in March 2020, “When we looked at 2040, the issues at this interchange (Belleview) are different than they are today… The transit-oriented development that Denver is doing in the northwest quadrant (Belleview Station) is one of the biggest deals effecting traffic in this whole area in 2040 that you don’t see the effects of near as much today.”

The Villager reached out to the Denver Department of Transportation and Infrastructure for this article but had not received a reply as of press time. fmiklin.villager@gmail.com devoted wife, mother and grandmother, a teacher who inspired others to pursue their dreams, and a kind and generous person. Her legacy will continue through her sculptures and the countless lives she touched. She is survived by her husband James R. Lamb (Englewood, Colorado), daughter Sherry Lamb Sobh (Urbana, Illinois), sons Michael Lamb (Walterville, Oregon), and Mitchell Lamb (Queensland, Australia) as well as nine grandchildren and eighteen great-grandchildren.

Correction

In last week’s Villager, we reported that SSPRD board candidate Elizabeth Watson said that the cost of sending ballots to everyone in the district was $500,000 and it was likely cost prohibitive.

Ms. Watson’s actual words were, “From running last year, I was given the statistic that it would cost $500,000 to mail ballots to every in-district member” and, “I do understand the concern about being fiscally responsible.”

The Villager regrets the error and thanks Elizabeth Watson for pointing it out.

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