Denver police are searching for leads in a cold-case shooting that killed a man nearly 30 years ago, according to the department.
Robert Escobedo Jr., 28 was shot and killed Oct. 16, 1997 during an argument behind the now-defunct High Rise Lounge, 3240 W. Colfax Ave., according to the Denver Police Department.
Witnesses told investigators that they saw several men leaving the scene of the shooting in a white Chevrolet S-10 pickup, police said.
Escobedo was seen arguing with three unidentified men before shots were fired, according to police.
“Despite many years of investigative efforts, this crime remains unsolved,” police said Thursday in a crime alert.
Anyone with information on the 1997 shooting is asked to contact investigators at 720-913-7867. Tipsters can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a cash reward.
There will be no cliff divers entertaining guests at Casa Bonita on Halloween as the restaurant’s cast of performers initiates a three-day strike.
On Wednesday, the Actors’ Equity Association announced that Casa Bonita’s divers, magicians, roving actors and other unionized performers would picket outside the pink palace, at 6715 W. Colfax Ave. in Lakewood, following unsuccessful efforts to bargain their first contract. The strike is scheduled to take place on Oct. 30 through Nov. 1 from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Casa Bonita serves thousands of diners each week and actors previously told The Denver Post there have been numerous incidents involving guests that had staff concerned for their safety.
The bargaining unit of 57 people has been engaged in negotiations since April, according to the Actors’ Equity Association, and last month, it filed an unfair labor practices charge after performers’ hours were cut to accommodate a Halloween pop-up event.
Now, the union says management failed to deliver responses to key proposals that would move toward a contract. A representative of Casa Bonita could not immediately be reached for comment.
“Casa management came to the table today offering an additional 11 cents over their last unfair wage offer, and very little for future layoff protections,” said lead negotiator Andrea Hoeschen, assistant executive director and general counsel for Actors’ Equity Association, in a statement. “Despite that insult, the negotiating team responded with major compromises to try to get a deal. And then Casa Bonita walked away from the table without responding.”
DENVER — Along what is arguably the most famous street in Denver lies a pervasive crime with a long history in the city. Now, law enforcement is trying out a new kind of operation meant to combat a crime that requires a nuanced approach.
On Aug. 27, the Denver Police Department (DPD) launched its three-part operation meant to curb sex work and sex trafficking on East Colfax. The distinct phases build upon decades of understanding how coercion and exploitation often accompany sex work.
“There’s a lot of sex workers that come into Denver that are not doing this because they want to, but because they’re either under pimp control or they’re being trafficked by a pimp,” explained Lieutenant Ryan Harris, who works with the Vice Narcotics Section in DPD. “We really come at it from a victim-centered approach. We work with a lot of non-government organizations, and our own victim services in-house, really trying to find services and options for those that are involved in sex work.”
Denver7 got an exclusive look at DPD’s three-pronged operation, something the department had never tried before this summer.
“While it is a brand new approach to do all three of those things at the same time on the same night, we’ve been doing a little bit of those things for a long time,” Harris said. “I’ve been involved in this type of work for the last 13 years, and really, even back 13 years ago, we started taking small baby steps towards that.”
First, police conducted an undercover investigation, looking to see who was trying to buy sex in the area of East Colfax. Then, sex workers were offered support and resources from the organizations and victim advocates on scene. Finally, law enforcement conducted strategic enforcement in the area.
That night, Harris said eight people were arrested in connection with accusations of soliciting sex. Their cars were also impounded as a result.
“It’s very important that people understand that if you’re buying sex in Denver, we’re going to find you, you’re going to get arrested, and we’re going to impound your vehicle,” said Harris.
Denver Police Department
As part of DPD’s first three-tiered operation on Aug. 27, eight people who allegedly tried to purchase sex along East Colfax were arrested.
Meanwhile, Harris said in an operation like that, the sex workers are not penalized. Still, sex work is not decriminalized in Denver, and he acknowledged there are times when sex workers are cited.
“But we do that from an empathetic perspective, and we first triage to see if there’s any trafficking,” Harris said.
Chris Richardson, the director of the Crisis Service Bureau at DPD, was on scene alongside officers that night. As a social worker, Richardson has a deep understanding of mental health struggles.
“We’ve grown a lot, just in general, in our knowledge of what this population needs, what they look like, how they present,” Richardson said. “[In the past] a lot of it was blaming the individual for putting themselves out there. And I think what we’ve really come to realize is that a lot of these individuals are forced. They’re coerced. They are manipulated into doing this kind of work.”
Richardson said the focus is on the perpetrators — people purchasing sex — and not on the sex workers attached to it, who are often victimized.
“From my standpoint, it was a double-edged approach. It was getting the bad guys off the street and being able to actually support the individuals that may not want to be in this lifestyle, or maybe are tired of it and just want a way out, and they just don’t know who to reach out to,” said Richardson. “That’s what I love the most about it, is trying to make an impact on someone, and not really having an agenda other than kindness and caring and showing support.”
Denver Police Department
When Denver police arrest someone accused of soliciting sex, their car is impounded.
Also on the ground on the first night of this three-part operation was Jenelle Goodrich, the founder and executive director of the non-governmental organization From Silenced to Saved (FSTS). The group supports survivors of human trafficking.
As Goodrich looked around the area of East Colfax where the enforcement was conducted, she called it “The Blade.”
“The Blade is a stretch of street or real estate in certain cities that are on the circuit — major cities in the nation, where commercial sex workers are put out by their pimps and traffickers to work The Blade and engage in sexual acts,” Goodrich explained. “When we’re only seeing one side of the problem, which is what historically it has been, then we tend to go after girls and penalize them for being victimized.”
Goodrich described the shift in DPD’s approach to sex work and trafficking victims as “drastic,” saying the department understands the nuances of the crime.
“I trust DPD implicitly, especially their human trafficking unit, when it comes time to speak to a potential victim, survivor, that they will be trauma-informed, that they will be non-judgmental, and that they will really give them the care and focus that’s needed for their case,” Goodrich said.
While Goodrich was out on East Colfax with DPD, she informed sex workers about their rights to report the crime.
“We were able to get a lot of amazing feedback that night from girls being shocked that that was their right,” said Goodrich. “From girls taking resource cards, from one individual giving us a hug, that she thought it was so great that we were out here, to a minor that came forward days later to get off of the street — and to be able for the victim services to assist and help with that, to get her home.”
Still, the psychological cycle behind sex work and trafficking can be incredibly difficult to break.
“When there’s a trauma bond with these individuals and these victims, survivors, then it’s really hard to get them out,” Goodrich said. “We have to consistently be going back, be doing this, showing up and telling them that we’re here, and hopefully at some point they will take it and be able to live a better life outside of the control of another individual.”
Crime
Understanding human trafficking and its prevalence in Colorado
According to Goodrich, the issue stretches beyond just the immediate surroundings of East Colfax.
“The spider web that it has affects every single person in the state of Colorado,” Goodrich said. “Statistically, especially with this type of operation — which is going after the demand in one of the pieces of that operation — statistically, buyers are middle-aged Caucasian men, married with two children, with pretty high income, or at least decent income. And so most of that type of man does not necessarily live in this block. He lives all over the Denver metro area.”
Goodrich sent a handful of people who were formerly sex trafficked a few questions from Denver7 related to this story.
One of the women said, “I can not personally call it sex work. It was not consensual, and I had no choice in what was happening to me. I was 17 and still in high school, and a man in his 40s began grooming and coercing me, eventually taking me across the country away from my family and trafficked me. It seemed to be in a blink of an eye. Things were okay, and then suddenly I was trapped in this world, being taken advantage of, and I could not escape it.”
Another woman explained what ultimately broke the cycle for her.
“Well-trained officers, investigators and my advocates rescued me,” she said. “They took me at my lowest moment and supported and guided me through the initial rescue, reuniting with my family through the whole legal process and beyond. I’m grateful to From Silenced to Saved and everyone and their knowledge and training for saving my life.”
When asked how important support and resources were while being sex trafficked, one woman emphasized how difficult the situation is to escape.
“Having the knowledge that there are people out there who can and will help others stuck in the same situation is comforting,” she said. “Education and training for law enforcement on the subject is so crucial for getting people out of these situations. It is a much more common issue than people realize. Everyone who helped me knew exactly what to do, and I am now thriving and have a better life than I ever thought possible. From Silenced to Saved and everyone involved in my case saved my life and continues to help me thrive.”
Denver PD said there are plans for more three-part operations to combat sex work and trafficking in the future, alongside other enforcement practices.
If you or someone you know needs help, you are not alone. You can call Colorado’s Human Trafficking Hotline at 866-455-5075 or text 720-999-9724.
Denver7 | Your Voice: Get in touch with Colette Bordelon
Denver7’s Colette Bordelon covers stories that have an impact in all of Colorado’s communities, but specializes in reporting on crime, justice and issues impacting our climate and environment. If you’d like to get in touch with Colette, fill out the form below to send her an email.
ENGLEWOOD — Metro Denver budtender Quentin Ferguson needs Regional Transportation District bus and trains to reach work at an Arvada dispensary from his house, a trip that takes 90 minutes each way “on a good day.”
“It is pretty inconvenient,” Ferguson, 22, said on a recent rainy evening, waiting for a nearly empty train that was eight minutes late.
He’s not complaining, however, because his relatively low income and Medicaid status qualify him for a discounted RTD monthly pass. That lets him save money for a car or an electric bicycle, he said, either of them offering a faster commute.
Then he would no longer have to ride RTD.
His plight reflects a core problem of lagging ridership that RTD directors increasingly run up against as they try to position the transit agency as the smartest way to navigate Denver. Most other U.S. public transit agencies, too, are grappling with a version of this problem.
In Colorado, state-government-driven efforts to concentrate the growing population in high-density, transit-oriented development around bus and train stations — a priority for legislators and Gov. Jared Polis — hinge on having a swift public system that residents ride.
But transit ridership has failed to rebound a year after RTD’s havoc in 2024, when operators disrupted service downtown for a $152 million rail reconstruction followed by a systemwide emergency maintenance blitz to smooth deteriorating tracks that led to trains crawling through 10-mph “slow zones.”
The latest ridership numbers show an overall decline this year, by at least 3.9%, with 40 million fewer riders per year compared with six years ago. And RTD executives’ newly proposed, record $1.3 billion budget for 2026 doesn’t include funds for boosting bus and train frequency to win back riders.
Frustrations intensified last week.
“What is the point of transit-oriented development if it is just development?” said state Rep. Meg Froelich, a Democrat representing Englewood who chairs the House Transportation, Housing and Local Government Committee. “We need reliable transit to have transit-oriented development. We have cities that have invested significant resources into their transit-oriented communities. RTD is not holding up its end of the bargain.”
At a retreat this past summer, a majority of the RTD’s 15 elected board members agreed that boosting ridership is their top priority. Some who reviewed the proposed budget last week questioned the lack of spending on service improvements for riders.
“We’re not moving the needle. Ridership is not going up. It should be going up,” director Karen Benker said in an interview.
“Over the past few years, there’s been a tremendous amount of population growth. There are so many apartment complexes, so much new housing put up all over,” Benker said. “Transit has to be relied on. You just cannot keep building more roads. We’re going to have to find ways to get people to ride public transit.”
Commuting trends blamed
RTD Chief Executive and General Manager Debra Johnson, in emailed responses to questions from The Denver Post, emphasized that “RTD is not unique” among U.S. transit agencies struggling to regain ridership lost during the COVID-19 pandemic. Johnson blamed societal shifts.
“Commuting trends have significantly changed over the last five years,” she said. “Return-to-work numbers in the Denver metro area, which accounted for a significant percentage of RTD’s ridership prior to March 2020, remain low as companies and businesses continue to provide flexible in-office schedules for their employees.”
In the future, RTD will be “changing its focus from primarily providing commuter services,” she said, toward “enhancing its bus and services and connections to high-volume events, activity centers, concerts and festivals.”
But agency directors are looking for a more aggressive approach to reversing the decline in ridership. And some are mulling a radical restructuring of routes.
Funded mostly by taxpayers across a 2,345 square-mile area spanning eight counties and 40 municipalities — one of the biggest in the nation — RTD operates 10 rail lines covering 114 miles with 84 stations and 102 bus routes with 9,720 stops.
“We should start from scratch,” said RTD director Chris Nicholson, advocating an overhaul of the “geometry” of all bus routes to align transit better with metro Denver residents’ current mobility patterns.
The key will be increasing frequency.
“We should design the routes how we think would best serve people today, and then we could take that and modify it where absolutely necessary to avoid disruptive differences with our current route map,” he said.
Then, in 2030, directors should appeal to voters for increased funding to improve service — funds that would be substantially controlled by municipalties “to pick where they want the service to go,” he said.
Reversing the RTD ridership decline may take a couple of years, Nicholson said, comparing the decreases this year to customers shunning a restaurant. “If you’re a restaurant and you poison some guests accidentally, you’re gonna lose customers even after you fix the problem.”
The RTD ridership numbers show an overall public transit ridership decrease by 5% when measured over the 12-month period from August 2024 through July 2025, the last month for which staffers have made numbers available, compared with the same period a year ago.
Bus ridership decreased by 2% and light rail by 18% over that period. In a typical month, RTD officials record around 5 million boardings — around 247,000 on weekdays.
The precautionary rail “slow zones” persisted for months as contractors worked on tracks, delaying and diverting trains, leaving transit-dependent workers in a lurch. RTD driver workforce shortages limited deployment of emergency bus shuttles.
This year, RTD ridership systemwide decreased by 3.9% when measured from January through July, compared with that period in 2024. The bus ridership this year has decreased by 2.4%.
On rail lines, the ridership on the relatively popular A Line that runs from Union Station downtown to Denver International Airport was down by 9.7%. The E Line light rail that runs from downtown to the southeastern edge of metro Denver was down by 24%. Rail ridership on the W Line decreased by 18% and on R Line by 15%, agency records show.
The annual RTD ridership has decreased by 38% since 2019, from 105.8 million to 65.2 million in 2024.
A Regional Transportation District light rail train moves through downtown Denver on Friday, June 27, 2025. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Light rail ‘sickness’ spreading
“The sickness on RTD light rail is spreading to other parts of the RTD system,” said James Flattum, a co-founder of the Greater Denver Transit grassroots rider advocacy group, who also serves on the state’s RTD Accountability Committee. “We’re seeing permanent demand destruction as a consequence of having an unreliable system. This comes from a loss of trust in RTD to get you where you need to go.”
RTD officials have countered critics by pointing out that the light rail’s on-time performance recovered this year to 91% or better. Bus on-time performance still lagged at 83% in July, agency records show.
The officials also pointed to decreased security reports made using an RTD smartphone app after deploying more police officers on buses and trains. The number of reported assaults has decreased — to four in September, compared with 16 in September 2024, records show.
Greater Denver Transit members acknowledged that safety has improved, but question the agency’s assertions based on app usage. “It may be true that the number of security calls went down,” Flattum said, “but maybe the people who otherwise would have made more safety calls are no longer riding RTD.”
RTD staffers developing the 2026 budget have focused on managing debt and maintaining operations spending at current levels. They’ve received forecasts that revenues from taxpayers will increase slightly. It’s unclear whether state and federal funds will be available.
RTD directors and leaders of the Southwest Energy Efficiency Project, an environmental group, are opposing the rollback of RTD’s planned shift to the cleaner, quieter electric hybrid buses and taking on new debt for that purpose.
Colorado lawmakers will “push on a bunch of different fronts” to prioritize better service to boost ridership, Froelich said.
The legislature in recent years directed funds to help RTD provide free transit for riders under age 20. Buses and trains running at least every 15 minutes would improve both ridership and safety, she said, because more riders would discourage bad behavior and riders wouldn’t have to wait alone at night on often-empty platforms for up to an hour.
“We’re trying to do what we can to get people back onto the transit system,” Froelich said. “They do it in other places, and people here do ride the Bustang (intercity bus system). RTD just seems to lack the nimbleness required to meet the moment.”
Denver Center for the Performing Arts stage hand Chris Grossman walks home after work in downtown Denver on Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025. (Photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post)
Riders switch modes
Meanwhile, riders continue to abandon public transit when it doesn’t meet their needs.
For Denver Center for the Performing Arts theater technician Chris Grossman, 35, ditching RTD led to a better quality of life. He had to move from the Virginia Village neighborhood he loved.
Back in 2016, Grossman sold his ailing blue 2003 VW Golf when he moved there in the belief that “RTD light rail was more or less reliable.” He rode nearly every day between the Colorado Station and downtown.
But trains became erratic as maintenance of walls along tracks caused delays. “It just got so bad. I was burning so much money on rideshares that I probably could have bought a car.” Shortly before RTD announced the “slow zones” last summer, he moved to an apartment closer to downtown on Capitol Hill.
He walks or rides scooters to work, faster than taking the bus, he said.
Similarly, Honor Morgan, 25, who came to Denver from the rural Midwest, “grateful for any public transit,” said she had to move from her place east of downtown to be closer to her workplace due to RTD transit trouble.
Buses were late, and one blew by her as she waited. She had to adjust her attire when riding her Colfax Avenue route to Union Station to manage harassment. She faced regular dramas of riders with substance-use problems erupting.
Morgan moved to an apartment near Union Station in March, allowing her to walk to work.
She still hoped to rely on RTD for concerts and nightlife, and to reach DIA for work-related flights at least once a month. But RTD social media posts have alerted her to enough delays on the A Line that she no longer trusts it, she said. To reduce her “anxiety” and minimize the risk of missing her flights, she shells out for rides — even though these often get stuck in traffic.
She and her boyfriend recently tried RTD again, riding a train to the 38th and Blake Station near the Mission Ballroom. They attended “an amazing concert” there, she said, and felt happy as they walked to the station to catch the train home.
A man on the platform collapsed backward, hitting his head. He was bleeding. She called 911. Her boyfriend and other riders gathered. She ran across the street to an apartment building and grabbed paper towels. RTD isn’t really to blame, but “I just wish they had a station platform attendant, or someone. I do not know head-injury first aid,” Morgan said.
The train they’d been waiting for came and went. An ambulance arrived. They got home late, the evening ruined, she said.
“His head cracked open. He had skin flaps hanging off his head. This was stuck in my head, at least for the rest of the night.”
Denver police are investigating a fat hit-and-run crash on the east side of town that killed a pedestrian early Monday morning.
The department announced the incident on X shortly before 1 a.m., saying a pedestrian had been struck and killed in the area of East Colfax Avenue and Trenton Street in Denver.
The victim was pronounced dead at the scene, and delays in the area were expected as an investigation was launched.
A 29-year-old man was arrested Monday on suspicion of attempted murder after an early morning shooting on Denver’s Auraria Campus, police said.
Aaron Verner was arrested on suspicion of two counts of attempted murder and assault after shooting an Auraria Campus police officer in the arm, according to the Denver Police Department.
The shooting happened about 1:18 a.m. Monday after two Auraria Campus police officers approached someone who was breaking into a car, according to a news release from the campus police department.
A snowy day over Colfax Avenue near City Park. Nov. 17, 2022.
Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite
Construction on Denver’s first bus rapid transit line will begin on Colfax Avenue next month, after Denver City Council approved an approximately $197 million construction contract Monday with Kraemer North America LLC to build the project.
The first construction phase will stretch from the intersection of Broadway and Colfax, near Civic Center Park, for just more than a mile eastward to Williams Street.
A rendering of a portion of Colfax Avenue after the BRT project is complete from contractor Kraemer, N.A., Inc.Source: Denver City Council
Once finished, around 2027, Colfax Avenue between downtown Denver and Aurora will be transformed from a car-centric commercial corridor to a street betting big on public transit, with the hope that increased ridership will follow.
The project will drop a lane of car traffic to build bus rapid transit—a bus only lane running in the center of the street, with dedicated bus stations throughout the route. The project will also bring widened sidewalks, new trees and improved pedestrian crossings and lighting.
Funding comes from a mix of federal and local money.
The proposed construction timeline from Colfax BRT contractor Kraemer, N.A., Inc.Source: Denver City Council
The plan has been in the works for over a decade.
Now that the groundbreaking is nearing, some city council members worry about the potential effects of the construction on businesses.
The city has $2.8 million set aside in the 2025 budget for businesses struggling due to construction projects, mostly along the 16th Street Mall and Colfax Avenue.
But council member Amanda Sawyer said it’s not enough—she wants an additional $1.1 million.
Sawyer emphasized that the money isn’t just important for supporting local business owners. Thriving local businesses bring in sales tax, which Denver relies on to help run the city more broadly—and which has been softening in the past year.
“This is the one request I am making,” she said Monday. “We are in a tight budget next year, we have to fund these businesses appropriately.”
Sawyer said she has asked the mayor’s office to increase funding for Colfax businesses in the 2025 budget. If that doesn’t happen, she said she plans to bring a budget amendment through city council.
“This is a hill I’m going to die on,” she said. “Stay tuned for more.”
In a statement, Mayor Mike Johnston’s office reiterated that the budget already included millions for business support, and said conversations could continue as the council considers the budget in coming months.
“Mayor Johnston is committed to supporting the local businesses that make Denver so vibrant,” wrote spokesperson Jordan Fuja. “As we continue the budget process, we will work closely with Council and city agencies to ensure these businesses have the support they need to thrive in our city.”
A rendering of a bus station along Colfax Avenue from contractor Kraemer, N.A., Inc.Source: Denver City Council
Construction will wrap up in late 2027.
Here’s the timeline for the project:
Broadway to Williams Street from late 2024 to late 2025
Williams Street to Monroe Street from early 2025 to early 2026
Monroe Street to Niagara Street from late 2025 to late 2026
Yosemite Street to I-225 from late 2025 to late 2026
Niagara Street to Yosemite St. from early 2026 to mid-2027
West Colfax Avenue at Irving Street, July 12, 2023.
Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite
Denver Police Department’s new network of license plate readers scanned vehicles more than 2 million times in the last month, according to new data from the department.
DPD launched the system of 95 surveillance cameras throughout the city in May 2024. Today, the department published a dashboard with basic data on the system for the public.
Among the 2,072,000 vehicles detected in the last 30 days, the system reported about 86,000 hits to a “hotlist,” often because the plate was for a stolen car. The system looks for vehicles tagged in national and state-level crime databases, as well as the Amber Alert system for missing and exploited children.
Law enforcement officers ran about 1,400 searches on the Denver system in the last month.
The system used by DPD is made by Flock Safety, a technology company that has become one of the most popular in the niche for both police departments and private homeowners associations. The company describes its technology as a “holistic solution to crime.” It has drawn criticism from civil rights and anti-surveillance advocates.
DPD says that the system has been effective. Officers have used the system in the arrests of 142 crime suspects and the recovery of about 100 stolen vehicles, as well as some weapons.
This year has seen a significant decrease of motor vehicle thefts, which police attributed in part to the system — but that trend also began before the system was installed in May.
Eventually, the number of cameras could grow to 111 around Denver. The system photographs license plates but doesn’t produce any information about drivers, passengers, or other people, according to Flock. The data is “never sold to 3rd parties” and is “used for law enforcement purposes only,” according to Flock.
The cameras were planned for some of the city’s busiest roads, like Federal Boulevard, Alameda Avenue and Speer Boulevard — and especially Colfax Avenue, 9News reported.
DPD didn’t immediately respond to questions about the cost of the system.
Cities including Arvada, Aurora, Brighton, Castle Rock, Commerce City, Edgewater, Erie, Glendale, Lakewood, Northglenn, Thornton and Wheat Ridge have installed (or plan to install) similar systems, according to Denver7.
The American Civil Liberties Union has raised concerns about the scanners, saying that they were contributing to a “giant surveillance network” that centralizes data and could enable “abuse by government,” including tracking political dissidents.
“We have long had concerns about the dangers posed by hybrid public-private surveillance practices — but Flock threatens to take that to a new level,” the ACLU wrote in 2022.
Numerous other law-enforcement agencies around Colorado have access to the Denver system’s data. But the system is prohibited for use in immigrant enforcement, traffic enforcement, personal use, and more, according to Flock.
The truth is that little remains architecturally on the 130-year-old buildings worth salvaging, and that was the case even before the Wyman Historic District was designated in 1993 to save a neighborhood full of stately mansions of historic value. Like bulky monsters constructed in an ad-hoc manner from bits and pieces, storefronts had been added to the homes in 1938 to capitalize on the bustling commercial area on Colfax. The boxy additions are poorly executed.
And even before the current owners – Pando Holdings — purchased the buildings at Franklin and Colfax in 2017, they were in decline.
Sadly saving the old buildings by blocking their demolition until someone comes along with the desire, financial means and ability to structurally restore them is not the best way to protect the Wyman Historic District.
Signs of fire damage are apparent from the back of the vacant building at 1600 East Colfax Avenue in Denver on July 17, 2024. (Photo by Zachary Spindler-Krage/The Denver Post)
In March a fire rendered the homes unsound and the owner wants to abandon his already approved plans to preserve both houses as part of a mixed-use development with a seven-story residential building on the large parking lots behind the homes.
Denver’s Landmark Preservation Commission rejected the demolition permit requested by Pando Holdings and developer Kiely Wilson.
But allowing the buildings to sit structurally damaged, vacant and badly burned for an indeterminate amount of time is doing more damage to Wyman than their demolition.
The fire was possibly started by people using the empty buildings for shelter – although the Denver Fire Department has not been able to determine a cause yet. The remaining structures are unsound and a safety hazard to anyone else who might try to enter the fenced-off area, whether that’s homeless individuals or Denver teens looking for a fun graffiti pallet.
Demolition seems to be the best path forward.
That is not to say that we don’t sympathize with the Preservation Commission’s consternation over the turn of events.
A plan was in place to save the buildings, and if they are demolished there is less ability to ensure that the developer will build something compatible with the historic district. The commission has more teeth when it comes to preserving a historic building and can even order repairs on buildings so homeowners don’t intentionally allow a historic structure to decay beyond the point of salvage so they can demolish it. Do we suspect that Pando Holdings is guilty of such a nefarious practice? If there was evidence of wrongdoing, no one has named it.
Even with demolition, the commission still has review power over plans for new development in historic districts, even on non-conforming structures and on vacant lots. The goal is to make sure that a new build does not “adversely affect the character-defining features of the overall historic district.”
That’s still a pretty high bar for any new plans at the five-point intersection of East Colfax, Park Avenue, and Franklin Street.
Barring revelations of a plot to avoid preserving the buildings via neglect, we think the commission must recognize that the fire dramatically altered the feasibility of plans to save the homes and storefronts on East Colfax.
Pando Holdings and Wilson surely must recognize that their reputation is on the line if they replace the buildings with anything that isn’t a net gain for the community in terms of aesthetically pleasing, historic façades on East Colfax.
Groundbreaking on new pedestrian safety improvements at West Colfax Avenue and Winona Court. June 6, 2024.
Rebecca Tauber/Denverite
West Colfax is getting a slew of transportation safety improvements as part of a $15.5 million infrastructure project after years of community organizing.
The city broke ground on the project Thursday and is expected to finish in the summer of 2025.
The project will add medians and signal crosswalks for pedestrians at intersections along Colfax Avenue between Irving Street and Sheridan Boulevard. The medians will prevent left-hand turns at non-signal intersections, adding another level of pedestrian safety.
The corridor will also get sidewalk build-outs for RTD buses, making it easier for buses to pick up passengers more quickly.
West Colfax Avenue at Irving Street, July 12, 2023.Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite
The plan also includes greenery across the new medians along Colfax Avenue to combat heat islands and improve West Colfax’s tree canopy.
The greenery almost didn’t happen after inflation raised the cost of the project. At first, the landscaping was cut, but a mix of city and bond funding brought it back.
“It’s on Colfax where people from all different backgrounds come together to go to school or the library, to drink a toast at a dive bar, to eat tacos or barbecue, or to hop on the bus to get wherever they need to go that day,” said Jill Locantore, executive director of Denver Streets Partnership, a group that advocates for pedestrian mobility in the city. “Colfax carries the lifeblood of our community, and too often, Colfax has broken our hearts, because it is not designed to be safe for the people whose lives depend on it.”
The pedestrian improvements are a long time coming for West Colfax residents.
Nearly a decade ago, residents came together to imagine what a more pedestrian-friendly throughway might look like.
“I’ve lived here for more than 30 years, this is the part of town that I’ve grown up in, that my parents and my grandparents raised their families in, and we can testify to the incredible impacts of traffic deaths along Colfax, along Federal,” said City Council President Jamie Torres, who represents the area. “That can only be improved because we build a different street, because we build a different environment, and that’s exactly what’s happening here.”
Torres specifically mentioned the benefit to kids who have to cross West Colfax Avenue to get to school, members of West Colfax’s Jewish community who cross to get to synagogue and pedestrians trying to reach the many local businesses that line Colfax Avenue.
West Colfax Avenue at Irving Street, July 12, 2023.Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite
Initial upgrades began a few years ago, when the city altered traffic light timing and reduced speeds in an effort to make the corridor safer in 2020. Amy Ford, executive director of the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure, said that those changes decreased fatalities by 71 percent and serious injuries by 50 percent along the corridor.
“What you’ve seen us do is change and evolve and continue to grow about how we think about a complete street, how we create safety and elements for everyone as they enjoy the street, as they enjoy the community that it binds together and the businesses that long run alongside it,” Ford said.
Now, more improvements are coming to fruition thanks to funding from the voter-approved Elevate Denver Bond, which funds infrastructure projects across the city. Another portion of the funding is coming from the Colorado Department of Transportation.
“This all together is going to be a major win for the west side of the city, major improvement of safety, major improvement on accessibility and major permanent bus access and transit,” Mayor Mike Johnston said.
Making the notorious car corridor more pedestrian-friendly
City Council rezoned a number of properties on the east side of Colfax Avenue to promote pedestrian-facing businesses. That’s in anticipation of the Bus Rapid Transit project, which will bring big upgrades to RTD’s bus service on that side of Colfax Avenue.
But Locantore said there is still much more to be done to make Denver a safe city for pedestrians.
West Colfax Avenue at Irving Street, July 12, 2023.Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite
She hopes similar infrastructure upgrades will come to Denver’s other fast, busy and dangerous streets, including Federal Boulevard, Colorado Boulevard, Alameda Avenue and University Boulevard.
She said those streets in particular would benefit from upgrades, because they are streets that “feel like a highway,” with few crosswalks but a lot of local businesses frequented by pedestrians.
“This project is proof that if a community can imagine a street that prioritizes people over cars, the city can make that happen,” Locantore said. “I hope this project becomes inspiration for transformations of other streets throughout the city, and that we learn from this process so that we can streamline it and we don’t have to wait 10 years for the next transformation to happen.”
His wish finally came true a few weeks ago. The motel’s new owners let him park a truck nearby and haul the gaudy crown and King Arthur-styled lettering off their property at Colfax Avenue and Colorado Boulevard.
Barber, the founder of the Colfax Museum, known once as the “Velvet Elvis,” was thrilled.
“Apparently, at one time, the motel sign used to revolve, which would have been super cool. And then you add the disco ball,” he said, beaming. “At one time, that whole corner of Colfax would have had disco stars revolving around the whole motel.”
The shuttered Royal Palace Motel at 1565 Colorado Boulevard. May 15, 2021.Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite
Denver Community Planning and Development spokesperson Amanda Weston told us the city’s Landmark Preservation board approved a plan to demolish the structure on May 9. She added that the Laramar development group, the motel’s new owner, still needs to complete some paperwork to move forward.
Nobody from Laramar agreed to speak with us about their timeline or vision for the site. Formal plans filed with the city describe a six-story, mixed-use building with 153 residential units.
The signs are now in Barber’s collection of misfit neon.
The Royal Palace’s artifacts joined others from the Denver Diner, Aristocrat Motor Motel and Famous Chef restaurant — all Colfax landmarks that no longer exist — in a safe place that he’s keeping secret.
Someday, Barber hopes these relics of Colfax’s past will be available for all to see. Preserving and presenting that history has been his calling for decades after he fell in love with the wicked drag as a kid.
“The first time I set foot on Colfax was in the ’80s. I was just visiting here. I grew up in Salt Lake. I’m a young Mormon kid, and I’m driving down Colfax with my mom, and I’m just like, ‘What is going on?’ It was a war zone down there. It was literally in front of the Bluebird Theater. It wasn’t like, gee, I wonder if there’s hookers. It was like, take your pick,” Barber remembered fondly. “I just love Colfax and I want to see it saved.”
Jonny Barber gazes upon the Royal Palace Motel’s disco ball, which once revolved over Colfax Avenue. May 22, 2024.Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite
Barber set up colfaxavenue.org in 2004, a celebration of his favorite street that became the seed of a project he called the Colfax Museum.
It was more of a ragtag collection than an actual museum for a long while. In 2017, Barber was finally able to set up his historical ephemera in a physical space in the Ed Moore flower shop at Colfax and Kearney Street.
He later moved the display west into Lakewood before a 2019 flood ruined his setup and a lot of his archive. Barber said that loss, plus the pandemic, helped him find his place in this preservation work. Running a nonprofit, with boards, governance and money, wasn’t it.
“I’m more the Indiana Jones figure in this. I had to know myself,” he told us. “I like finding stuff, recovering, the adventure of it. And then, ‘It belongs in a museum.’ And then you hand it off to Grady or whatever, and then he’s like, ‘Hey, we’ll make sure this gets housed and cataloged.’”
The old Denver Diner sign is now in Jonny Barber’s collection of Colfax Avenue neon. May 22, 2024.Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite
Barber’s now searching for that special someone who will help him find forever homes for all the stuff he’s saved.
He said he gets DMs and texts all the time from people who’ve spotted signs and arrows in parking lots and hope he might rescue them from a dumpster. He’s still dedicated to the saving part of all this.
Barber said he’s been on the lookout for someone who might help display the collection in perpetuity.
“I want to do something more where the signs are put in some kind of public trust, or there’s some kind of entity that’s established that will be the benefactor and look out for them and have some kind of ownership, but more as a steward,” he told us. “Let’s find the ultimate home that’s really going to work.”
It could be something like Las Vegas’ Neon Museum, he said, though he knows Vegas has way more signage to salvage.
He said he’d ultimately prefer that the signs stay where they are, though he knows that’s not a possibility.
“Unfortunately, that’s not the world we live in, and development is driving so much of all these changes,” he said.
Colfax Avenue signs that Jonny Barber has saved for posterity. May 22, 2024.Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite
Development aside, most of these signs are in rough shape, even if they look OK from the street.
“A lot of the signs look like they’re in really good shape, when they’re up on a pole from a distance. Then you get close and you tear that thing apart,” he said. “Literally, some of the signs I’ve recovered have had four feet of petrified pigeon crap in them and body parts. I even found, one sign we recovered, there was a guy living in the sign. He had turned the sign into his own little small apartment.”
Barber said he knows it’ll cost a lot to rehab the collection, and more to fix them in some public place. But he’s holding out hope that someone comes around to help. For him, there’s no worthier cause.
“If we’re talking about that era of Colfax, it’s over. It’s dead, it’s done. It’s never to return,” he told us. “I’m trying to save what’s left of it.”
For now, you can see part of the Royal Palace sign at the CounterPath community space in Denver’s East Colfax neighborhood, whenever they’re open or just through the fence.
The old Royal Palace Motel sign is now in storage at the CounterPath community center in East Colfax. May 22, 2024.Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite
Correction: This article initially stated that the Driftwood Motel, whose old sign is in Barber’s collection, no longer exists. It still does.
Interstate 70 will be closed in both directions between Tower Road and East Colfax Avenue in Aurora on Thursday and Friday nights so construction crews can set a pedestrian bridge.
The highway will be closed in both directions from 10 p.m. Thursday to 5 a.m. Friday and 10 p.m. Friday to 5 a.m. Saturday, according to Aurora city officials.
A detour route will be marked on East Colfax Avenue between Tower and Gun Club roads.
Denver police are investigating after a man was shot and killed in the city’s East Colfax neighborhood Wednesday night.
Denver officers were on the scene of the shooting — near the intersection of East Colfax Avenue and Spruce Street — at 8:21 p.m. Wednesday, according to a statement from the city’s police department.
Paramedics transported one person — only identified as an adult male by police — to a local hospital, where he later died from his injuries, according to a 9 p.m. update. The Denver Office of the Medical Examiner will release the victim’s identity and official cause of death at a later time.
The investigation is ongoing and no arrests have been made, according to police.
Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to contact Metro Denver Crime Stoppers at 720-913-7867.
Crews are fighting the fire from the outside and working their way in due to the complicated nature of the structure and current wind conditions, the agency said in a 2:20 p.m. update.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KTXL) – The Natomas Nighthawks are moving into the second round of the Sac-Joaquin Section Boys Division IV playoffs thanks to a strong second half, where they outscored the Colfax Falcons 45-24 in the half, en route to a 61-39 victory on Tuesday night in Sacramento.
With the win, Natomas (21-8) will advance to the next round where they will host the Sutter Huskies (19-10) on Thursday night.
