Denver, CO
Monfort Cos. wants to demolish El Chapultepec building. Historic preservationists are fighting it.
Historic Denver on Monday filed a landmark designation application to save the El Chapultepec building, at 1962 Market St. in Lower Downtown Denver, from demolition by its owner, the Monfort Companies.
“The buildings that tell the story of our city aren’t necessarily the glamorous gems that stand out,” said John Deffenbaugh, president and CEO of Historic Denver. “Sometimes they’re subtle, discrete and sit in the background. What sets this apart is the incredible music that took place inside over a very long period of time and the national reputation it earned.”
Monfort Companies, which has owned the building since November 2022, has designed a new bar and restaurant at the site that would remove the old building and replace it with a connected structure and a sprawling patio. The iconic El Chapultepec signage, and a possible Hollywood Walk of Fame-style installation of past musical legends, are under discussion to mark the site’s history, according to Monfort Cos.
Monfort picked up the property after the long-running club El Chapultepec closed in 2020. El Chapultepec opened as a restaurant and, later, became a crucial music venue and gathering place over the course of its 87 years. The Monfort Cos. deal in 2022 also included the Giggling Grizzly property on the corner of 20th and Market streets. Monfort purchased both for $5.38 million, according to property records.
The landmark designation application filed by Historic Denver was “extremely surprising” to Monfort Cos., said executive vice president Kenneth Monfort, whose uncle, Dick Monfort, and father, Charles Monfort, own the Colorado Rockies. Coors Field is only a few blocks from El Chapultepec, and the brothers, as well as Monfort Cos, have been developing and building new properties in the area — including the massive McGregor Square.
“It seems premature for that designation to go out without all the facts being presented,” Kenneth Monfort said Tuesday. “The site itself is very small and the condition of building is (unstable). We have a track record of maintaining and shoring up historic buildings on that block and it’s not something we skirt. We worked with engineers and the fire department trying to save this. But in this case it’s physically impossible and cost prohibitive.”
Monfort officials also met with Deffenbaugh late last year to discuss options for saving the building, but the conversation is only picking up again today, they said in separate interviews with The Denver Post.
“We’ve been concerned about this building for quite some time,” Deffenbaugh said. “When I met with the Monfort development team in December 2023, it was clear at that point their objective was to demolish the building.”
Structural reviews and Denver Fire Department inspections have deemed the building uninhabitable due to various engineering and safety concerns, according to documents reviewed by The Denver Post. Part of that is due to unpermitted changes made by former tenant Hussam Kayali, the ex-Beta Nightclub owner also known as Valentes Corleons, said Kenneth Monfort and Matt Runyon, a development partner at Monfort.
Developers at Monfort Cos. have also worked with the daughters of late El Chapultepec owner Jerry Krantz, and previous, short-term tenants, to look for solutions, they said.
The overall redevelopment of that and the adjoining property is already estimated at $15 million, Monfort said, not including the price of the building. It would be “many millions more” to keep the building standing.
In fact, Monfort Companies has not yet filed an official application to demolish the building, officials said. But word of it reached local jazz musicians and news media over the weekend, prompting alarm. The demolition and redevelopment, however, has the support of the Downtown Denver Partnership (DDP), which is seeking to revitalize the area and the urban core in general.
“Projects that promote engaging, active streets have never been more important to our downtown and we appreciate Monfort’s thoughtful, innovative approach to proposed plans for this site.” said Kourtny Garrett, president and CEO of DDP, in a statement to The Denver Post.
The drive to preserve is being led by the Honorable Elbra Wedgeworth, a longtime Denver city council and government veteran, and professional jazz musician Ron Bland, Deffenbaugh said. The building itself is believed to have been constructed around 1890, according to Historic Denver.
“I think all these things can work together with (late owner’s daughters’) Legacy Project, the narratives collected online, and the branding and piano at Dazzle,” he added. “There are other examples of doing this around town, integrating the old with the new. … Without this building we risk all of these memories fading into the background.”
Deffenbaugh said Historic Denver decided to file the preservation application on Monday due to the urgency of the situation. He and the Monforts are scheduled to meet this afternoon to discuss the situation further, he said.
This is a developing story that will be updated.
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Denver, CO
Claimed by Christ, Free in Him: Archbishop Golka Celebrates First Juneteenth Mass in Denver
The annual archdiocesan celebration highlighted human dignity, Black Catholic faith and the healing power of Christ’s love.
“This is my first Juneteenth celebration as a priest or a bishop. I’m honored that this could be my first, right here,” Denver Archbishop James Golka said during the Mass commemorating Juneteenth at Curé d’Ars Parish in Denver on Sunday, June 14.
Celebrating the day the Emancipation Proclamation reached enslaved African Americans in Galveston, Texas, Juneteenth marks the end of slavery in the United States. This year’s annual archdiocesan Mass, organized by the Office of Black Catholic Ministry and bringing together parishes and groups from across Northern Colorado, also served to welcome the recently arrived archbishop, who was warmly greeted with processions by the Knights of Peter Claver and Ladies Auxiliary, liturgical participation by the Curé d’Ars youth group and choir, and additional music by the Queen of Peace African Catholic Society.
“You have a very beautiful church here. The building is okay, also,” Archbishop Golka remarked, noting the beauty of the people of God, the Church, amid laughter and applause.
Carolyne Richardson, member of the Knights of Peter Claver Ladies Auxiliary at St. Ignatius of Loyola, was particularly touched by Golka’s quiet enthusiasm.
“The church was overflowing with diverse ethnicities joining in this celebration. Everyone was elated to meet Archbishop Golka. He seemed to look each parishioner in the eye with genuine care and concern,” she noted. “It was sheer jubilation watching him sing the gospel songs along with the choir.”
Recalling his time with fellow bishops at their annual spring meeting in Florida, the archbishop reflected on Pope Leo’s encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, and its discussion on the reality of slavery.
“Although there was not always consistency in practice — slavery was long tolerated before being unequivocally condemned — there has been a continuous affirmation throughout history of the dignity of every human being created in the image of God, even if it took eighteen centuries for the full incompatibility with slavery to be explicitly recognized,” the Holy Father wrote. “This constitutes a wound in Christian memory, one for which we cannot consider ourselves detached. It is impossible not to feel deep sorrow when contemplating the immense suffering and humiliation endured by so many in stark contrast to their immeasurable dignity as persons infinitely loved by the Lord” (Magnifica Humanitas 176).
“Finally, Pope Leo says this to you, to all of us,” the archbishop noted as he finished quoting the Holy Father’s encyclical. “‘For this, in the name of the Church, I sincerely ask for pardon.”
(Photos by Matt Walker/Denver Catholic)
In his characteristically deeply pastoral way, Archbishop Golka offered the deep, personal love of Christ as a spiritual foundation and antidote to any and all attacks against humanity, be they in the form of slavery or the lurking dangers of artificial intelligence.
“At your Baptism, you were claimed by Jesus Christ. That’s our identity. The evil one tries to make us forget that. We forget that we are beloved children of God. We begin to think that maybe we are worthless, that there’s no reason why we’re here. That is a lie,” the archbishop emphasized. “When God created the universe, he had you in mind, to be here at this time, and this place for his purposes. And he wants to use you in everything. That means, he can use your weakness and your mistakes if you let him.”
The call to surrender more completely to the Lord of love, whose Sacred Heart burns in love for souls, resonated deeply with those in attendance.
“The Mass was more beautiful than I could have imagined,” said Kateri Williams, director of the Office of Black Catholic Ministry. “Archbishop Golka’s homily deeply touched those in attendance, and many were moved to tears as he spoke of the Father’s unconditional love and as he reminded us that each of us has a unique purpose and calling in God’s plan.”
Osahon “Osi” Ogbeide, one of several members of the Youth Ministry at Curé d’Ars who read the Prayers of the Faithful, was also taken by the seeming contradiction in Archbishop Golka’s homily.
“The homily focusing on being a slave and surrendering to the lord was very impactful because it reminded me that God wants the best for us. And that can only be achieved in surrendering to him,” he said.
As we continue to surrender to God and follow his plan, even when it surprises and confounds us, we participate in the Kingdom of God, the archbishop concluded.
“God’s purposes are much more immense than my plan. My plan is pretty puny,” Archbishop Golka said. “God’s purposes began with creation, and they’re going to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ and the Reign of God. We get to participate in the Reign of God coming, if you use God’s gifts for God and God’s purposes.”
Factors such as declining birth rates and families moving out of the city are contributing to declining enrollment at Denver Public Schools. In turn, it’s reshaping the district’s future.
“I think we’re in a good position, but it’s responsible for us to always be looking in the future and knowing we have to make some adjustments,” said Chuck Carpenter, the district’s CFO.
In a two-year span between this past school year and next, DPS expects a decline in enrollment of around 1,700 students.
“We haven’t really seen anything like this,” said Carpenter in response to the consistent decline.
Because of this trend, the district is facing a $28 million structural deficit over the next five years.
“We have a balanced budget now, and we’re not predicting that we’ll have an unbalanced budget in three years,” said Carpenter. “We’re saying we need to make adjustments over the next three, four years, so that our budgets are balanced.”
DPS’s Director of Campus Planning, Andrew Huber, told CBS Colorado in an interview last month that those adjustments will likely include closing down more schools.
“Additional school closures will be necessary in the upcoming years. When exactly that would be is hard to forecast right now,” said Huber.
The district’s CFO says his biggest takeaway from a recent round of closures is to make sure to give families options for what’s next.
“No one wants their school closed, but the second-best option isn’t going to be the same for every family,” said Carpenter.
This issue could be one Denver faces for years to come.
“We sort of say, how many kids are born here? Because in five years, those kids will be kindergartners,” Carpenter added.
The city’s birth rate peaked in 2005, meaning those babies have already graduated high school. And, according to the Colorado Department of Local Affairs, more young families move out of Denver and into surrounding counties than move into the city.
“I think school consolidation is very — I understand why people want to talk about it, but I think it’s more about, like, how do we make sure that the programs that are offered are rich programs,” said Carpenter.
Carpenter also says the district is closely monitoring some potential cuts to federal grants for students of poverty and language learners. He says those decisions will be made by October for the start of the new fiscal year, and cuts would have a “terrible” impact.
The Denver Broncos hosted eight tryout players at mandatory minicamp this week, including quarterback Sawyer Robertson. It sounds like the team has made decisions on those tryout players, and Robertson won’t be signed (at least not right now).
Instead, the Broncos are signing offensive lineman Reid Holskey (according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler) and cornerback Blake Cotton (according to the Denver Post‘s Parker Gabriel). Holskey (6-6, 306 pounds) spent time on the Houston Texans’ practice squad in 2025 before joining the New York Giants in January. He was cut by New York last month. Cotton (6-2, 195 pounds) is a rookie who spent last fall at Utah, totaling 30 tackles and seven pass breakups in 13 games.
The two moves came one day after Denver wrapped up minicamp. The 91-man offseason roster was already full, so the Broncos will need to make corresponding moves to make room for Holskey and Cotton on the roster.
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