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Week of March 2, 2023
JEFFERSON COUNTY, COLORADO
A publication of
INSIDE: VOICES: PAGE 10 | LIFE: PAGE 12 | CALENDAR: PAGE 9 | SPORTS: PAGE 16
VOLUME 18 | ISSUE 37
Hundreds flock to Olde Town Arvada for Fat Tuesday
Housing complex for youth opens in Arvada BY RYLEE DUNN RDUNN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Brass band Guerilla Fanfare gets down with the crowd.
Fourth Annual Arvada Mardi Gras kickoff met with Fanfare — Guerilla and otherwise BY RYLEE DUNN RDUNN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
The streets of Olde Town Arvada were awash in gold, green and purple on Feb. 21 to celebrate the Fourth Annual Mardi Gras in the historic district — just in time for Fat Tuesday. About 300 merrymakers joined in on the celebratory kickoff march — sponsored by CenturyLink — which featured brass band performances from Guerilla Fanfare (who’ve become regulars at the event) as folks marched from Carly’s Boutique on Grandview to Denver Beer Co. on Olde Wadsworth. With all 12 band members in attendance — a self-proclaimed rarity — Guerilla Fanfare broke into spirited renditions of Dua Lipa’s “Levitating,” “The Next Episode” by SEE FAT TUESDAY, P4
Guerilla Fanfare had all 12 members for an awesome performance.
PHOTOS BY RYLEE DUNN
Amid a growing housing crisis in Jefferson County and Arvada’s contentious relationship toward homelessness, a new affordable housing apartment complex, AVi at Olde Town, opened its doors to residents in February. The complex — the result of a collaboration between Foothills Regional Housing and CASA of Jefferson and Gilpin — features 100 one and two-bedroom apartment units; 30 for youth emancipating from foster care, 10 for unhoused veterans in Jeffco and the remaining 60 for people making between 30% to 70% of the area median income — or under $65,660 a year for a two-person household. AVi at Olde Town replaces the Allison Village, an existing Foothills Regional Housing-owned property that had 37 units. Construction began on Aug. 21, 2022 and wrapped in December following major delays caused by issues with an Excel natural gas line. The completed complex features outdoor areas, patios, a playground, a dog and bike wash station, free covered parking and common spaces CASA says it will use to provide support and selfsufficiency resources to the youth residents of AVi. Lori Rosendahl, the chief operating officer at Foothills Regional Housing, said her team completed a pilot program over the last few years that included 22 youths exiting the foster program. Their team found that more than just needing a place to stay, youth need direction and support in order to become self-sufficient. “It was hard to provide any real group support and wrap around,” Rosendahl said of the pilot program. “We’re trying to develop this program; at the same time, we’re trying to house these 22 youth all over the place. We learned a lot in two years that we might not have SEE HOUSING, P2