Now It’s Time For: “What Was There?”

With your host, Native Rick Kitzman

I’ve been lucky to live 54 of 62 years in Colorado, always within easy access of dynamic Denver. Driving through its congested, ever-changing environs, I play a memory game: “What was there?”

The Apartment, near 20th and Lincoln was once a 70s 3.2 gay bar, my baptismal visit accompanied by prophetic O’Jays.

Backstabbers and the Three Degrees’ Dirty Old Men? Now a cement triangle.

Ballpark Bathhouse, Broadway and Bayaud was Denver’s 1976 icon (the two-story waterfall!) in the Baker neighborhood. Now it’s an empty lot and next door, Kitty’s, a $2.6 million prime real estate purchase.

Bonfils Theatre on Colfax — Built in 1953 by philanthropist Helen Bonfils and an ancestor of the Denver Center for Performing Arts, it’s now the Tattered Cover, a great example of revitalizing city treasures.

Celebrity Lanes and Cooper Theater, Colorado Blvd. near Kentucky Ave. — Epitomes of mid-century architecture, an 80-lane bowling sports center and Cinerama movie house, they’re now Homo Depot and Whole-Paycheck Foods, not nearly as much fun.

Elitch’s Theatre, 38th and Tennyson — Last remaining structure of the 1890’s entertainment park, based on Shakespeare’s Globe and where Sarah Bernhardt performed, it’s now surrounded by redevelopment, the park relocated to Speer Boulevard, an over-priced transmutation.

Fitzsimons Army Medical Center — A 1918 facility to treat war casualties, it’s now the Anschutz Medical Center, a 577 acre mini-city and future home of the billion dollar boondoggle Veteran’s Hospital.

The Fox Hole, 29th Avenue and Fox Street — An outdoor summer party scene across from the 1980’s Tracks, this space is now LoDo condos and high-rises, its sister occupying another neighborhood acronym, RiNo.

Gates Rubber Company, South Broadway — A 1910 manufacturing plant where my dad worked during World War II is now a modern, global headquarters, an RTD transportation hub, residences, and businesses.

Larimer Street — In the 60s, it was an amusing tour of drunks and dives. Now it’s trendy bars that still serve drunks — just after a Rockies game.

Lowry Air Force Base — An 1880’s military installation that was still functioning in the 50s when my brother flew to Alaska after joining the Army, this place is now redeveloped with two hangars preserved for the Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum.

Public art — A century of ugly, boring space now has an imaginative Little Horse Big Chair galloping onto the Denver Public Library; a curious, giant blue bear peeking into the Convention Center; Darth Vader’s blue mustang spooking state visitors; and the Alien Q-Tip Couple (my title) on Speer Boulevard taking top spot for ridiculous waste of taxpayer money.

Stapleton Airport — A fifteen minute drive from downtown, this space is now “Gaypleton” and stands on former tarmacs where high-school crush Gary and I parked to drink beer and watch jets land near enough to scratch their bellies.

The Triangle, 20th and Broadway — This was a 70s watering hole for butch boys where I sought solace when Ft. Collins’ Ordinance 22 — adding sexual orientation to the non-discrimination laws — failed miserably, and 22 days after Matthew Shepard died from injuries that made him look like a scarecrow. It’s now unoccupied, but assimilated into the money-crazed real estate boom.

Three Sisters, Highlands — Affectionately nicknamed “Six Tits,” this 70s lesbian bar was where my high-school drama teacher/mentor snuck me in, and forced to hide me under a table. It’s now a home seller’s dream and buyer’s nightmare.

Top of the Rockies, 17th and Glenarm — A 60s skyscraping restaurant with stunning views from the Security Life building (where I wined and dined my prom date with Coke) is now repurposed condos where residents dine “al fresco” in what was the shaft of its outside glass elevator.

University of Colorado Medical Center, 9th and Colorado Blvd. — Eleven blocks of medical services, the last chunk of land to develop within city limits, is now transitioning to urban use, abuzz with bulldozers across the street from my home. Ugh!

Uptown Village, 17th and Logan — Mid-80s investment to revitalize a dicey neighborhood, my one-bedroom apartment renting for $450. Now rent pushes $1,800 but with a vivid pedestrian life.

Zeckendorf Plaza, 16th and Court Place — Before 16th Street was a mall and a bus driver’s nightmare, this was a 60s ice-skating rink with an adjoining hyperbolic paraboloid designed by architect I. M. Pei, symbols of Denver’s emerging modern architecture. Now, the Sheraton Hotel’s boring entrance with praying mantises (bronze ballerinas) serves as symbols of this native’s anger over unconscionable destruction and greedy out-of-towners.

Oh, look! New construction. I wonder what was there …