Saturday-Oct. 31. Most visitors to Westminster’s Butterfly Pavilion know of the lovable (er, mostly) mascot Rosie the Tarantula. But if she’s not enough for you, check out the Sept. 21-Oct. 31 return of “Spiders Around the World.” The limited-time programming leads up to Halloween with a stunning diversity of spiders sprinkled throughout the facility.
No, they’re not all in captivity. The exhibition features not just 20-plus tarantula species, but an 80-foot Spider Zone of free-roaming Orb Weaving spiders — some the size of a human hand — baby tarantulas, and more. Like any zoo, it dovetails nicely with Butterfly Pavilion’s ecological research and conservation efforts. (And for anyone who loves creepy-crawlies.)
Included with general admission, $11-$16. Kids 2 and under are free. 6252 W. 104th Ave. in Westminster. 303-469-5441 or butterflies.org.
Far East Center’s free Mid-Autumn Fest
Saturday. Westwood’s historic, multicultural mini-mall known as the Far East Center is this weekend hosting its 4th Mid-Autumn Festival. The sleepy name belies a variety of delights at the event, which takes place 2-8 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 21, at 333 S. Federal Blvd. in the Little Saigon Business District in Denver.
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Visitors to the Far East Center join in a Lantern Festival and Dragon Dance closing ceremony performed by the Shaolin Hung Mei Kung Fu Association, to mark the closing of the Lunar New Year on Feb. 25, 2024, in Denver. (Photo By Kathryn Scott/Special to The Denver Post)
Expect live music and dance from diverse Southeast Asian cultures, contests (pho eating, K-Pop Dance Battles, karaoke), a kid’s fashion show focused on traditional cultural wear, lantern-making for kids, international street food, a night market, and more. It’s free and family-friendly, but reserve your tickets now at bit.ly/fecmidautumnfestival24.
Cécile McLorin Salvant will kick off the latest season of the Newman Center Presents series on Sunday, Sept. 22, at Gates Concert Hall. (Provided by Newman Center)
Newman Center Presents’ new season
Sunday. The latest season of the Newman Center Presents series kicks off this week with the dazzling Cécile McLorin Salvant, a triple Grammy winner who brings a narrative flair to her vast musical interpretations. The Miami, Fla., native is known best for her vocal and jazz recordings, but tackles 12th-century music with the same skill and subtlety as one of her original compositions.
Her 7:30 p.m. show on Sunday, Sept. 22, show takes place at Gates Concert Hall, 2344 E. Iliff Ave. Tickets are $42-$86, fees included. Call 303-871-7720 or visit newmancenterpresents.com.
Dayton, Ohio, alt-rock quartet The Breeders will play the “Last Splash” and “Pod” albums in their entirety at Mission Ballroom on Thursday, Sept. 26. (Provided by AXS)
A really big “Last Splash”
Thursday. Alt-rock band The Breeders, which hit fame in the ’90s with its album “Last Splash” and sugar-shocked single “Cannonball,” has lately been championed by massive pop stars like Olivia Rodrigo, helping set the quartet’s legacy for younger generations.
The Dayton, Ohio, act, led by sisters Kim and Kelley Deal, will make good on that on Thursday, Sept. 26, as it plays the “Last Splash” and “Pod” albums in their entirety for Mission Ballroom. 8 p.m. at 4242 Wynkoop St. in Denver. Tickets for the 16-and-up concert, with opener Man on Man, are $67-$112 at axs.com.
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If you have an event taking place in the Denver area, email information to carlotta.olson@gazette.com at least two weeks in advance. All events are listed in the calendar on space availability.
Monday
RiNo Food Tour — 1-4 p.m., Denver, $60 and up. Registration required: deliciousdenverfoodtours.com.
Kerry King — With Municipal Waste, Alien Weaponry, 7 p.m., Ogden Theatre, 935 E. Colfax Ave., Denver, $56.65. Tickets: axs.com.
Faculty Artist Series: Brass Quest — 7:30 p.m., MSU Denver Music, King Center Recital Hall, 855 Lawrence Way, Denver, $15-$20. Tickets: ahec.universitytickets.com/w.
Guest Recital: Govorov & De Groot Duo — 7:30 p.m., Chamber Hall, Imig Music Building, 1020 18th St., Boulder, pay what you can; cupresents.org.
Christian McBride & Ursa Major — 9 p.m., Dazzle at Baur’s, 1080 14th St., Denver, go online for prices. Tickets: dazzledenver.com/#/events.
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Dawoud Bey: Street Portraits” — Through May 11, Denver Art Museum, 100 W. 14th Ave. Parkway, Denver, go online for prices: denverartmuseum.org.
“Seeds of Inspiration” — Through May 20, Denver Botanic Gardens, 1007 York St., Denver, go online for prices; botanicgardens.org.
“Vanity & Vice: American Art Deco” — Through June 1, Kirkland Museum of Fine & Decorative Art, 1201 Bannock St., Denver. Go online for prices. Tickets: kirklandmuseum.org.
“The Life and Art of Tokio Ueyama” — Through June 1, Denver Art Museum, 100 W. 14th Ave. Parkway, Denver, go online for prices: denverartmuseum.org.
“Where is Denver’s Chinatown? Stories Remembered, Reclaimed, Reimagined” — Through Aug. 9, History Colorado Center, 1200 Broadway, Denver, go online for prices: historycolorado.org/exhibit/denvers-chinatown.
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“The 90s: Last Decade Before the Future” — Through Oct. 25, History Colorado Center, 1200 Broadway, Denver, go online for prices: historycolorado.org/exhibit/the-90s.
Five months after Seattle completed its three-year construction project for a new bus rapid transit line along a main thoroughfare, neighbors are beginning to take stock.
Nearly 1.5 miles of dedicated bus-only travel lanes. At least 5,000 daily riders. About $144 million spent.
More than a dozen local businesses gone for good.
“We had more businesses close because of the BRT construction than close during the pandemic,” said Nat Stratton-Clarke, the president of the Madison Valley Merchants Association in Seattle, using the common shorthand for bus rapid transit.
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Across the country, Cleveland is celebrating its BRT line’s impact on businesses. The nearly 7-mile HealthLine, completed in 2008, has been deemed one of the most successful transit projects in the country. It brought in billions of dollars in investment along the corridor and transformed a part of the city that was once withering away into a bustling business district.
“For us, it was a massive catalyst,” said Baiju Shah, the CEO of the city’s chamber of commerce.
In October, Denver began construction on its own BRT project. The bus lines, which are quickly becoming one of the most popular transit pursuits in the country, create train-like systems that promise fast, frequent and reliable transportation but aren’t nearly as expensive to build as rail.
Denver city officials hope the nearly 10-mile project, which will unfold mostly along East Colfax Avenue, will improve the city’s transit options for residents, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and alleviate a congested corridor. But neighboring businesses — some of which are already feeling the pain from smashed-up pavement, intensified traffic and fewer parking spots — are worried about enduring the construction long enough to see the promised benefits.
“It’s scary for sure,” said Mike John, part-owner of Satellite Bar on Colfax. “I’m concerned about the viability of the business in the long run. But I believe in the community and the project.”
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Owner of the Satellite Bar, Mike John, center, talks with customers Eugenio Torrens, left, and Jerri Muller at the bar on East Colfax Avenue in Denver, on Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025. (Photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post)
As foot traffic diminishes and drivers struggle to navigate Colfax, tens of thousands of dollars in revenue have already evaporated for some businesses. Grants from the city will soon be available, but local owners fear the limited allowances won’t do much to save small shops with shoestring budgets.
“If you get those funds, that’s great,” said Frank Locantore, the executive director of the Colfax Ave Business Improvement District. “But you can only apply once. So if the construction goes on for more than a year, which is totally planned … you could not apply the following year, even if you are experiencing similar impacts.”
“The kind of Colfax that we all want”
The Colfax BRT, a project that will cost an estimated $280 million and take nearly three more years to build, won’t be exactly like the rapid bus lines in Cleveland or Seattle.
One thing contributing to Cleveland’s success is where the line begins and ends. The BRT there connects two massive job centers in the city: downtown and the University Circle neighborhood, where Case Western Reserve University and the Cleveland Clinic are located along with parks, multiple museums and performing arts centers.
“I think the question really is, what is it connecting?” said Shah with the Greater Cleveland Partnership. “For us, it was really important because it connected two very active nodes of activity that didn’t have great connectivity.”
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Denver’s project will connect downtown to I-225 in Aurora, near Children’s Hospital Colorado, the University of Colorado School of Medicine and other facilities on the Anschutz Medical Campus — a job center that’s comparatively compact.
The project will eliminate one lane of traffic in each direction between Broadway and Yosemite Street and replace them with two dedicated bus lanes in the center of the street. To keep the buses moving through intersections, drivers will be able to turn left off Colfax only at intersections with traffic signals. In that same stretch, about 300 of the 970 on-street parking spaces will be removed.
A rendering shows how a sample block of East Colfax Avenue will be transformed as a bus rapid transit project unfolds, adding dedicated center-running bus lanes from Broadway to Yosemite Street, along with station platforms. (Provided by Denver Department of Transportation and Infrastructure)
While the main portion of the project will run along East Colfax, the setup will be a little different downtown. From Civic Center Station to Denver Union Station, the buses will operate in the side-running transit lanes along 15th and 17th streets. And in Aurora, from Yosemite east to I-225, the buses will be side-running in mixed-flow traffic.
The BRT project is funded through several state and federal agencies, including $150 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation, $88 million from Denver and $14 million from the City of Aurora.
While Denver is managing the construction of the project in the city, the Regional Transportation District, metro Denver’s major transit agency, will run the buses. The line will be branded as the “Colfax Lynx.”
Improved bus stations — which will be similar to light rail stops, with up-to-date displays about arriving buses, security cameras, sheltered platforms and seating — will be installed about three to four blocks apart. Riders will be able to purchase tickets before boarding from the stations, which will be on lifted medians in the middle of Colfax.
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With about 25,000 riders every weekday, the bus routes already serving East Colfax — the 15 and the limited-stop 15L — have the highest ridership of any RTD route, according to the city. The hope it that the new BRT line will reduce transit travel time along the corridor by up to 30 minutes and attract 33,000 daily riders by 2040.
Traffic builds up around the cone zone for the bus rapid transit project along East Colfax Avenue in Denver, on Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025. (Photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post)
Neighbors and advocates for the project see it as a chance to make Colfax feel more inviting for pedestrians — both residents and visitors.
“There’s this general idea of Colfax being gritty and unsafe and unwelcoming,” said Raych Durgin, a resident and volunteer with the advocacy group Greater Denver Transit who’s focused on the Colfax project. “The BRT project is part of constructing the kind of Colfax that we all want and that Colfax deserves. The BRT is going to make it feel like it’s more catered to people, to community, to the businesses — to everyone on Colfax.”
Durgin, a full-time transit rider, has sympathy for the businesses struggling because of the construction but hopes that, in the end, the finished project will benefit them.
That’s what happened in Cleveland, where business advocates didn’t see much negative impact to local shops simply because there weren’t many there to begin with, Shah recalls. Now, the corridor along the Healthline is booming with new businesses, he said.
Seattle, which lost at least 15 businesses along the BRT construction corridor by 2023, was up against a major roadblock in its efforts to support them. Under the Washington state constitution, the city couldn’t offer direct taxpayer-funded grants to businesses struggling because of the construction.
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Click to enlarge
Denver already has a plan in place to do just that.
“Retaining the businesses along the corridor during construction is the key,” Stratton-Clarke said. “That wasn’t able to happen in Seattle.”
With Seattle’s BRT project still being new, Stratton-Clarke can’t yet tell if his own business, a still-operating vegetarian restaurant that opened 34 years ago, will ultimately benefit from the project. But even if it does, the city will be forever changed from the loss in businesses, he said.
“Small businesses are what make Seattle so unique and special,” he said. “Losing that large of a number of businesses really does have an effect.”
Stratton-Clarke suggests Denver learn from his city’s struggles by ensuring there’s a direct line of project communication between the city and businesses. In line with that advice, Denver business owners can call 720-336-0025 to be connected to the city’s “construction hotline.”
City provides a chance for grants
The city’s approach to helping businesses survive the construction has several prongs: grants, online resources like FAQs and suggestions to prepare, and staffers dedicated to answering their questions.
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Denver has set aside more than $2 million in grant money for businesses impacted by the construction. Owners who can prove they lost revenue due to the project will be able to apply for the help, but only once.
If approved, businesses that typically bring in less than $100,000 in annual revenue will receive $7,500. Those who make more than $100,000 can receive $15,000. Among other requirements, businesses will have to demonstrate a 20% or greater revenue decline to be approved for a grant.
Businesses within 350 feet of the “roadway centerline” of the project will be able to apply beginning Tuesday, said Shelby Morse with the city’s Economic Development and Opportunity agency.
Traffic, and a coned-off construction area, are seen from inside the Satellite Bar, which used to be named Congress Lounge, on East Colfax Avenue in Denver, on Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025. (Photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post)
During the budget process last year, members of the City Council pressed the mayor’s office to add more funding, ultimately resulting in another $1.1 million for business grants.
“Is it enough? Ultimately, we’ll see whether or not it’s enough. But I think many of us are quite concerned that it is not,” said Locantore with the Colfax business district.
So far, the city is focusing construction on the west side of the Colfax corridor, along 18 blocks from Broadway to Williams Street. It will progress eastward to segments of that same size, with work happening on overlapping schedules for roughly a year and a half in each.
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The other segments will be from Williams to Monroe Street, from Monroe to Niagara Street and from Niagara to Yosemite. The city estimates that construction along that final segment — along with some updates in the Yosemite-to-I-225 segment in Aurora — will be completed by the end of 2027.
Last week, construction took over Colfax between Broadway and Garfield Street, blocking off the center and south side of the street in some areas.
While city officials think there will be enough grant dollars to provide some relief for businesses through the first round of construction, they’re likely to need more next year as the project moves into new areas, Morse said.
So far, 14 businesses on Colfax have asked for help from “resource navigators” on the project, Morse said.
Satellite Bar will rely heavily on the grant it receives, John said — especially if construction forces the bar to shut its doors temporarily. Compared to the last three months of 2023, John saw a $40,000 decrease in revenue after construction began late last year, he said.
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“There has been a significant drop in business,” he said.
A payoff for “everybody that makes it”
Chris Donato and his husband opened another business in the project’s path, Champagne Tiger, in August.
Donato knew construction was beginning soon, and he hoped the project would ultimately be a boon for the French-American diner’s business. But preparing also meant taking out a larger loan than they would have otherwise.
“If it doesn’t work out, we won’t have our house,” Donato said.
Chris Donato, the owner of Champagne Tiger on East Colfax Avenue, second from left, talks to his customers on Pasta and Piano Night in Denver, on Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025.(Photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post)
While Donato feels confident they have prepared for the decline in business, he’s also concerned the currently allocated grant dollars won’t be enough for many.
“So many independent restaurants don’t have money in the bank,” he said. “They have a couple weeks and if that runs out, who knows?”
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Business owners along downtown’s 16th Street Mall, who were offered the same grant options, have had similar concerns during construction on that street overhaul, even as some see the vision for the project in the long term.
Derek Friedman, who owns two sports fans stores and a novelty sock store on the mall, said he never balked at the grant dollars offered. But they weren’t exactly meaningful, in his view.
“It wasn’t material to whether or not we lived or died,” he said.
Businesses in other parts of the city will be watching Colfax, which is the first of several street-level BRT corridors planned. Others, which also could adopt the Lynx branding, include projects along Federal and Colorado boulevards and another from Boulder to Longmont on Colorado 119. The state is also involved in those, since the roads are state highways.
The Colfax project has been in the works for roughly a decade. For Hilarie Portell, the executive director of the Colfax Mayfair Business Improvement District, it took some convincing for her to see the vision for it.
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But now, she’s an ardent supporter.
“Nothing will change along Colfax without this level of improvement,” she said.
Even though businesses like Satellite Bar and Champagne Tiger are nervous about the construction, they still believe in the ultimate goal: an improved Colfax that is safer and easier to navigate.
While the BRT line is built, the city is also planning multiple other pedestrian improvements along the road, including more trees and better lighting.
“I’m happy the city is choosing to invest in it,” Champagne Tiger’s Donato said. “I hope there’s a big payoff at the end for everybody that makes it.”
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Unionized workers at Alamo Drafthouse’s Sloan’s Lake location went on strike Friday, blaming a round of surprise layoffs impacting movie theaters in the Denver area and across the country.
Josh Reitze — a theater employee and steward for Communication Workers of America Local 7777, which represents workers — said the company’s decision to cut 11 jobs at the Denver theater earlier this month violated labor law and turned persistent understaffing into a crisis.
“Everyone’s feeling the pressure,” Reitze said. “This came out of nowhere, and it really hurt the bargaining process. It deeply disappointed the staff, as well. We’re friends, and roommates, and we’re all affected by this.”
Phone calls to the theater went unanswered and its website indicated no available showtimes Saturday. The company did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment on the strike.
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Reitze said the chain hasn’t explained why the layoffs were financially necessary, and the suddenness of the decision undermined trust between Local 7777 and the company. A statement sponsored by CWA also said Alamo Drafthouse refused to consider reducing employees’ hours as an alternative to layoffs.
Employees of two Alamo Drafthouse theaters in New York voted to join Sloan’s Lake workers in their walkout Friday, according to The Hollywood Reporter, meaning all three unionized theaters out of the company’s 42 U.S. locations are currently on strike.
Alamo Drafthouse also operates theaters in Littleton and Westminster, which Reitze said have experienced layoffs and whose workers are also in the process of unionizing but are not currently participating in the strike.
Editor’s note: Union members in The Denver Post newsroom belong to a separate unit of the Communication Workers of America.
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