The Kmart at Colfax & Chambers is closing

The Kmart at 15200 E Colfax Ave is closing along with many others across the nation.  Liquidation of store inventory will begin on Aug. 31, and the store will be vacated by the end of November.

I thought that Sears corporate would keep it open at least through Christmas.  I previously predicted that it would close in early 2018.  But no such luck.  The Kmart at 200 W Belleview in Englewood is also closing.  This leaves only one Kmart open in the Denver area, at 9881 W 58th Ave in Arvada.

Update: The Kmart in Arvada closed in September 2018.

Denver wants to buy closed strip club

http://www.9news.com/news/local/city-of-denver-looks-to-buy-property-with-a-closed-strip-club/464986608

DENVER - The City of Denver wants to take a notorious section of Colfax Avenue and turn it around. How exactly is still up for debate.
But the city hopes buying the property with a former strip club will be a good first step.The City of Denver is in the process of buying the property, hoping it will the first of many investments in an area where police carry out gang, narcotics and prostitution operations.
"If you think about the Colfax corridor, we have downtown Denver, Anschutz campus and VA hospital. And Colfax is our main street. It's a great opportunity to do something spectacular," he said.
There are no concrete plans yet but there are guidelines since there are federal dollars involved.
"Has to be neighborhood serving. It could be could do job creation. When I say neighborhood serving, a non-profit, a small business and/or an affordable housing component ," said Herndon.
"We’d like to keep that sense of diversity and community here," said Fesing.

The property they are talking about is the old Saturday's, located at 8315 E Colfax Ave.

DIA redesign animation

This is just part of the proposed changes.  The renovation will take 4 years and cost $1.8 billion.  For that amount of money, you could build another VA hospital.

The animation doesn't show any of the hideous apocalyptic pictures.  Maybe they will be painted over with just a white wall.

Colorado Heights University closing

Colorado Heights is scheduled to close this fall after the last group of students complete their course work in late October. The closure is sparking anxiety among neighbors and others connected to the historical campus, which was opened in 1891 by the Sisters of Loretto as Loretto Heights Academy, a Catholic elementary and secondary school for girls.  They worry a new owner of the campus will invite more development and increase local traffic. They also want any new owner to preserve the college’s main building, which was designed by architect Frank Edbrooke,who also worked on the Brown Palace, state capitol and numerous other historic buildings.  http://www.denverpost.com/2017/06/28/colorado-highs-university-campus-future/

The historic campus has a twin building, called Westminster Castle, located at 83rd & Federal. 

Construction Fire

This was right next to a light rail station at 2nd & Abilene on June 19.

Buckingham Square Mall

Buckingham Square was first announced in 1965 when The Denver Business Journal announced that the Joslins Department store chain planned to build a two million dollar store in a fifteen-acre site at Mississippi and Havana streets in Aurora Colorado. The developer Robert Hayutin proposed that the development would include major department stores as well as other retail, offices and restaurants. In late 1970 plans were also announced for The Aurora Mall on East Alameda and Exposition Avenue, which would soon become Buckingham Square's lifetime competitor. The Rocky Mountain News warned that Buckingham may eventually displace Aurora East Colfax and become Aurora's new downtown. Buckingham Square was sold as a 24-hour a day community where Aurora would live, work and shop. In November 1970 the first of two office buildings was started. Called Camelot I it was eight stories tall and was Aurora's first high rise. The buildings twin was finished in 1973 called Camelot II during this time the Sherwood Apartments were built on the north west side of the mall site. The mall itself opened on August 5, 1971 The building, designed by architects Kenneth Boyle and William Wilson of Overland Park, Kansas was expected to provide over 1,500 jobs for the community. The mall had the latest technology and elegances available at its opening including 4,000 parking places, living and artificial plants, fountains and acoustical plaster ceilings accented by walnut inlay. Additionally, the mall was climate controlled, allowing shoppers to browse the stores in seventy-two degree comfort. 
 The Lancelot Restaurant was in operation a full four months before the mall opened because Hayutin felt a fine restaurant to serve the residents of Village East should be a priority. The building itself, which stood in the parking lot west of the mall, featured a main dining room with seating for 200 people and a large fireplace as well as a separate lounge with leather furnishings and a second fireplace. This building went through several changes through the years including becoming a part of the Broker chain of fine restaurants in the 1980s and a Beau Jo's pizza in the 1990s. Eventually, the building was razed to make way for a McDonald's.
http://deadmalls.com/malls/buckingham_square_mall.html

The area southeast of Havana & Mississippi once had ambitions of being Aurora's downtown.  It was elegant and futuristic and climate-controlled. It was British-themed and you could listen to Scottish bagpipes and pretend you were in an English village shopping for a kilt before you stop off in The Lancelot for a spot of tea.

Today?  You could shop at Toys'R'Us or Petco, or pay your bill at Comcast before eating at McDonald's  The high-rise buildings are mostly empty, but just scored by getting the Guatemalan consulate to locate there.  The most exciting thing going on there today may be yogurt shop.  I'm sure people living 50 years ago thought the future would be more exciting than it is today.

Out with the old

This old folks home at , called the Lowry Park Independent Assisted Living Center, is being demolished to build upscale apartments.  Here is an article from March 2016:

DENVER -- Elderly residents living at Lowry Park Independent Assisted Living Center have until the end of June to find a new place to live. They were notified a few days ago that their building had been sold to a developer who plans to demolish it and create new, upscale apartments. A New Jersey-based company owns Lowry Park. According to the group that manages the building, Vivage Senior Living Solutions, the owners received an offer they couldn’t refuse.
http://kdvr.com/2016/03/30/106-elderly-residents-in-denver-forced-to-find-new-homes/