30 Years of Colfax Banners
In 2019, the Colfax Ave BID celebrated 30 years since its inception in 1989. Our latest set of street banners, brilliantly designed by local artist Karl Christian Krumpholz, showcase eight iconic Colfax institutions, past and present (yes, even the 15). Check out the designs below and learn more about the project and artist here.
The Ogden Theatre
(From ogdentheatre.com) - The Ogden Theatre was built in 1919 by the same designer of the Bluebird Theater. The Ogden Theatre originally hosted live performances such as weekly organ recitals, dances, lectures and vaudeville acts - most notably, the legendary Harry Houdini. By 1937 it had been converted to a movie theater that featured everything from the classics to the avant garde. In the '80's it also featured the cult movie classic, The Rocky Horror Picture Show. The Ogden Theatre was re-opened in 1993 featuring a wide variety of live performances. The theatre found its niche and has become Denver's premier concert venue featuring approximately 150 concerts per year. The Ogden Theatre is an official Denver landmark and a national historic landmark.
Tom's Diner
(From Historic Denver) - An excellent example of the Googie style was added to East Colfax Avenue in 1967 in the form of a White Spot Restaurant. The building’s unusual architecture is an expression of the style that originated with a California coffee shop of that name after World War II and became popular along highways and major thoroughfares throughout the country. The style was viewed as futuristic, displaying features such as cantilevered and tilting roofs, walls, and windows, as well as geometric shapes and acute angles.
The White Spot coffee shop chain started in Colorado in 1947. The coffee shops were known for their casual atmosphere, convenient parking, attractive prices, fast and friendly service, comfortable seating, and menus with a wide selection of meals. The avenue’s White Spot operated until the mid-1980s, and the last representative of the chain closed in 2001. A series of restaurants followed in this building, but none achieved long-term success until Tom’s Diner, owned by Thomas S. Messina, began serving food in 1999.
2022 update: Tom's Diner closed its doors in June 2020. The diner now has a new life as Tom's Starlight, an indoor/outdoor dining and entertainment venue, with the original structure in tact.
Newhouse Hotel
(From Characters of Colfax) - Imagine you are in 1911 Denver at a 5-star hotel, in an immaculately clean foyer that leads into a dining room. Ornate chandeliers provide the lighting for yet another fantastic 7-course dinner, in which Denver’s elite are the guests. Champagne flutes clink and elegant music plays from the piano just feet away.
Now fast forward to 50 years later. That same hotel is now host to Denver’s downtrodden. Drug addicts and dealers are common residents of the hotel along with prostitutes and recently released felons. Yes, the Newhouse Hotel has a very interesting history, and Rustin Waller is the kind-hearted man in charge of cleaning up its past, in hopes of making the Newhouse Hotel sparkle like it once did. [Read more]
Lion's Lair
(From lionslairco.com) - The Lion’s Lair is Denver’s oldest consistently operating independent music venue, beginning as the Playboy Club in the 1930s, then the Aladdin Lounge from 1936 until 1967 when it was bought and rechristened after then-owner Jim Lyons. In its current iteration the Lair has been providing live music to the city of Denver since the early ‘90s, hosting past and future legends like Mike Watt (Minutemen, Secondmen, fireHose), John Doe (X), Jonathan Richman (Modern Lovers), Jello Biafra (Dead Kennedys), Flipper, The Blasters, The Black Keys, Andrew Bird, Slim Cessna’s Auto Club, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, Apples In Stereo, 16 Horse Power, and many more.
Pete's Kitchen & Pete's Satire Lounge
(From Westword) - Lighting up the night sky over East Colfax Avenue with bright neon, filling the bellies of night owls, blurring the distinction between Greek cuisine and the broader canon of diner grub, restaurateur Pete Contos ruled over Greek Town for more than sixty years with a string of bars and eateries that have become as synonymous with Denver as Colfax itself. Contos passed away on Sunday, May 12, 2019 at the age of 85. The Satire Lounge and Pete's Kitchen remain favorites with Denver's young and hip crowd, as well as with longtime Colfax denizens, all of whom plow through stacks of pancakes, piles of fries and pots of cheap coffee from dawn until well past last call.
Contos gave the city these timeless gathering places that we hope will continue to thrive for years to come.
The Aladdin Theatre
(From cinematreasures.org) - One of the city’s most celebrated neighborhood theatres opened in October, 1926 to great fanfare. The premier was covered by a throng of reporters and was attended by some of Denver’s most notable names. Flowers piled high and telegrams arrived from Hollywood studio heads and movie stars. The Aladdin Theatre enjoyed a long, successful run as a first-run movie house. It survived after many of the big screen theatres downtown had closed their doors. By 1984, the Aladdin Theatre was up for sale. City council gave the okay to level the theatre for a planned retail and condo complex. Nothing ever came of it. Capitol Hill United Neighbors (CHUN) wanted the theatre designated an historic landmark, a prospect that was fought by the current owner. After a few meek attempts to find a use for the aging building, including a proposed restaurant and nightclub, the Aladdin Theatre was wrecked in August, 1984 to make way for a Walgreen drugstore.
Sid King's Crazy Horse Bar
(From Westword) - The diminutive Sid King was the giant personality behind Sid King’s Crazy Horse Bar, a famous strip club that graced East Colfax Avenue for more than 35 years.
Although he was known for his role as a strip-club owner and operator — a business that many felt contributed to the seedier side of Colfax Avenue's reputation — Sid King also had a generous spirit. Born and raised in Colorado, King donated money to help support Indian reservations and aided other charities dealing with mental-health issues, poverty and people with disabilities.
When the club closed in 1983, the building underwent a major facelift. The sign was lost, then found in the Queen City Architectural Salvage yard and later put up for sale on Craigslist. Neon-sign preservationist and photojournalist Corky Scholl — who runs the Denver nonprofit Save the Signs — launched a crowdfunding campaign in 2013 to purchase and refurbish the wild piece of Colfax history. Decades later, the building that once housed the exotic-dancing hangout at 1201 East Colfax is now virtually unrecognizable as The Irish Snug.
The 15
(From therooster.com) - Anyone who has spent even five minutes in Denver, Colorado, knows East Colfax is simultaneously the most colorful and shadiest thoroughfares in the city. The street slices through the city with determined focus to spotlight everything that’s right and everything that’s wrong with Denver.
Perhaps the people who see this diverse spectrum most intimately are the RTD drivers who drive the #15 bus — the storied route that takes riders down its massive stretch from Denver’s Union Station to Tower Road in neighboring Aurora. [Read more]