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WEEK OF MARCH 21, 2024
VOLUME 97 | ISSUE 16
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Historic Denver Stormwater pipes, water service lines seeing upgrades and improvements seeks landmark
designation for El Chapultepec site
BY ALAN GIONET, CBS NEWS COLORADO
ing surrounding businesses and residents. Denver’s Department of Transportation and Infrastructure is currently in phase two of a three-part plan to upgrade existing stormwater pipes on 14th Avenue and Colorado Boulevard with larger, higher capacity pipes to reduce flooding in City Park. DOTI expects the project to cost a total of $16 million and is funding it with Denver residents’ regular stormwater bills, said Nancy Kuhn, DOTI’s director of communications.
Ninety one years after it opened and four after it closed, Historic Denver is seeking a landmark designation for the site of the old El Chapultepec jazz and blues nightclub at 20th and Market in Lower Downtown. “The cultural significance of this building is extremely well documented and has been so for many, many years,” said John Deffenbaugh, president and CEO of Historic Denver. “We also know that a lot people are incredibly passionate about it.” It comes amid word that developer Monfort Companies is seeking to tear the building down after saying it has structural issues that make the idea of keeping the existing building unaffordable. El Chapultepec’s rich history includes decades as a club catering to the Mexican population of the LoDo area, with people lined up down the block, seeking to get in. “When I took it over it was beautiful. The mariachis and stuff would come in and stroll along to every booth,” said former owner Jerry Krantz in a 2008 interview with CBS Colorado. Krantz died in 2012 and his family continued to run the bar until it closed. In the 1960s it converted from mariachi to jazz one night after an immigration raid. “The immigration came and they said you couldn’t bring any more Mexican music,” said Krantz. The first jazz act was Big Daddy Ron Ford and there was still a crowd. The bar transitioned to jazz and Krantz became known as the owner of the best jazz bar in the West, even appearing on the Johnny Carson Show twice. The list of jazz and blues greats is long.
SEE STORMWATER, P6
SEE LANDMARK, P5
Construction to upgrade City stormwater pipes progresses on 14th Avenue between Jackson Street and Harrison on Feb. 20. PHOTO BY NATALIE KERR
But causing traffic detours, business losses during the process BY NATALIE KERR SPECIAL TO COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA
Infrastructure in the United States was recently rated a C- by the American Society of Civil Engineers, which conducts an infrastructure assessment every four years. The middling grade reflects that infrastructure like drinking water and
stormwater pipes are in fair condition, but showing signs of deterioration and vulnerability to disaster. Areas of Denver with particularly old water transportation systems or that are flood-prone can be even more susceptible to emergencies, which is why Denver Water and the City of Denver are making consistent investments into upgrading and replacing water management systems. But these projects come at the cost of disruptive construction projects that impact foot and car traffic on major roads like Colfax Avenue, Colorado Boulevard and 14th Avenue, temporarily disrupt-
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