by Valley Gadfly | Aug 23, 2024 | Main Articles
Glendale’s Sammy Sullivan Stars In Paris Games; Women’s Elite Rugby Picks Denver As First Pro Site
by Glen Richardson
We Won: Sammy Sullivan, who lives in Glendale, reacts as she joins her Olympic teammates after winning bronze at the Paris Olympics.
Boundless Playground: Infinity Park is one of the only rugby-specific stadiums in the U.S., and the country’s first municipality- owned stadium.
Glendale, America’s rugby haven and its moniker as RugbyTown USA, is in the spotlight’s beam again as the U.S. earned its first-ever medal in women’s rugby at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
After never finishing an Olympic rugby competition better than fifth, the U.S. women took home the bronze medal after a thrilling 14-12 comeback victory against Australia, the gold medalists in 2016. In Tokyo, the U.S. was knocked out before the medal round by Great Britain. The Americans got payback in Paris, eliminating Great Britain in the quarterfinals.
The U.S. team included Sammy Sullivan. a star Colorado rugby player for Glendale’s Gray Wolves. Now Denver — and possibly Glendale — is getting a new team in the Women’s Elite Rugby (WER) league. The league is targeting next year (2025) for its inaugural season. The revelation coincides with the U.S. winning its first-ever Olympic medal. If WER does launch here, it would be the first fully professional women’s sports team in metro Denver.
Glendale Rugby Boom
Biding Time: First lady Jill Biden, left, speaks with Glendale’s Olympic women’s rugby player Sammy Sullivan, in Eaubonne, France.
American rugby got its start in 2007 with the building of the Infinity Park Stadium in Glendale. It is one of the only rugby-specific stadiums in the country, and the first municipality-owned stadium of its kind in the country. Infinity Park hosts oodles of different rugby events, matches, and activities. Glendale also offers a variety of youth rugby, including spring after school rugby, and summer flag rugby. There’s also a high-altitude training center, considered one of the finest rugby training facilities in the country.
Glendale’s Mayor Mike Dunafon — who played a stint with the Denver Broncos —launched Infinity Park and rugby for what he describes as “its camaraderie and sportsmanship.” The decision was his commitment to the community.
The strong performance in Paris will be impactful for Glendale, the Mile High City, and the sport as a whole. After this summer’s bronze-medal win, USA Rugby announced that Michelle Kang — owner of the Washington Spirit, Olympique Lyonnais Féminin, and London City Lionesses women’s soccer clubs — will gift $4 million over the course of four years to the U.S. women’s rugby sevens team. Enrollment in the sport has climbed in the U.S. ever since rugby sevens became an Olympic sport in 2016. Look for the game to soar in 2025.
Sullivan Stars
Tournament Town: Rugby tournament play has long been a staple at Infinity Park. The RugbyTown 7s tournament features the U.S. Armed Forces. AP Photo by George Walker IV
A shining star on the world stage, Sammy Sullivan — who lived in Glendale — was a key player in the Olympic games, leading the U.S. women’s rugby team to several victories to begin the Paris Olympics.
She plays for the Colorado Gray Wolves, as well as the U.S. women’s rugby team. The team was originally established in 1981 as the Harlequin Olde Girls before aligning with the City of Glendale in 2007 and becoming the Glendale Raptors Merlins. In 2020 the team became an independent club, run and operated by the players. The team still plays at Glendale’s Infinity Park. Sullivan started playing rugby at West Point and holds the rank of Army Captain. She’s originally from Fayetteville, North Carolina.
Sullivan did not attend the opening ceremony ride down the River Seine because women’s rugby played shortly afterward. Instead, she built Legos. Her Olympic Lego project features iconic Paris sites including the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe.
While in France for the Summer Games, Sullivan met first lady Jill Biden and former Philadelphia Eagles center Jayson Kelce and his wife Kylie.
Pro Women’s Rugby
Sammy Shines: Glendale’s Sammy Sullivan was a key player in the Olympic games. She led the U.S. women’s rugby team to several victories to begin the Paris Olympics. (Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)
Women’s Elite Rugby (WER) has announced that Denver, along with Boston and Chicago, will be the first cities to host a professional women’s rugby team. Goal is to have 30 players on each team when the inaugural season gets underway in the spring of 2025. The announcement coincides with the U.S. winning its first-ever Olympic medal in Paris. The league hopes to have six to eight teams for its inaugural season. Matthew Payne, director of the Denver Sports Commission — an affiliate of the Convention & Visitors Bureau’s Visit Denver — responded that the Mile High City is thrilled to be a founding city
“Denver has a lot of history in women’s rugby, and recently they’ve had some success with the Women’s Premier League and have won quite a few of the national championships,” said Jessica Hammond-Graf, president of the WER. “And so, we felt like bringing that energy and the continued history of women’s rugby to the area would just really make sense.” WER has the intention to start with 6-8 teams, and then looks to build toward a strategic expansion plan during the next 10 years. The league’s founding players will be announced following a selection in January.
WER is supported financially by private investors, including members of the rugby community, sports-focused venture capital, and former Procter & Gamble executive Deb Henretta. WER is adding to its roster of investors in its current capital round, which is on track to close by years end. WER prides itself in putting founding teams in markets that have a strong foundation and grassroots efforts in both the rugby and women’s sports. Team names and stadium details for all markets will be announced later.
Childs Play: Children from in and around the Denver metro area participate in rugby sports training programs at Infinity Park.
Colorado History
The nation’s first recorded competitive women’s rugby team hails from Colorado. In 1971, both the University of Colorado and Colorado State University were formed and they played their first match in 1972. The first women’s college championships were also held in Colorado.
During 1973 another Colorado team — the Scarlet Harlots — was organized, followed in 1974 by the Denver Blues. By 1974, there were approximately 29 women’s teams in the U.S. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, women’s rugby continued to grow with a majority of those teams adopting the names of colleges and universities.
Until 1990, very few rosters of women’s collegiate rugby teams were entirely undergraduate students of the university; most college teams were made up of graduate students, alumni, and local residents. Then in 2007, following the opening of Infinity Park in Glendale, tournament rugby has been a staple, with the venue hosting some of the largest and most prestigious competitions in the country.
by Valley Gadfly | Aug 23, 2024 | Valley Gadfly
September is a time of change: It’s still summer, but days are getting shorter. Fall is on the horizon. It still gets pretty warm, but the sweltering afternoons of July and August are past.
This is a month of transformation, as leaves begin to fall. A time to reflect on the past and look forward to the future. It’s also a time to reminisce, as we anticipate the upcoming holidays.
To get you set for the serene fall season, here are our choices for shopping, dining, and entertainment, to let the dog days of summer melt into the smooth, groovier, funk, and soul of fall:
Experience the art of autumn in the daytime, then let your mind glow at night during Bright Nights at Four Mile Park. Event ending Sept. 29th is Wed., Thurs., and Sun. 7-11 p.m.; Fri.-Sat. 7 p.m.-12 a.m. Information: 720-865-0800.
For a cool twilight, catch the Colorado Symphony Brass playing pops & classical favorites at McGregor Square Sept. 4, 7 p.m. Information: 303-623-7876.
Don’t miss the Colorado Restaurant Foundation’s Denver Food + Wine Festival at Auraria’s Tivoli Quad Sept. 4-7, various times. Information: 303-830-2972.
Swing dance festival Lindy On the Rocks has music, classes, competitions, and social dancing at the Ellie Sept. 13-15, 7 p.m. Information: reese@cmdance.org.
For a September to remember, see the stunning gold rush of Colorado Aspens on Georgetown Loop Railroad’s “Fall Colors Trains” running Sept. 20-22 and Sept. 27-29. Located off I-70, 45 miles west of Denver. Information: 888-456-6777.
Comrade Brewing’s taproom is now serving Rocky Mountain Pizzas to go with their award-winning IPAs. Big, spacious, relaxed, and open to the outdoors, it’s the friendliness here that makes visits memorable. Information: 720-748-0700.
Pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet and the Symphony play Dvorak’s Ninth Symphony at Boettcher Hall Sept. 13-15, 7:30 p.m., Sun. 1 p.m. Information: 303-523-7876.
Join the Full Moon Party atop Denver’s highest open-air rooftop bar in the Le Meridian Hotel Sept. 17, from 8 p.m. to midnight. Information: 720-996-1558.
Lowry Speaker Series to hear Dr. Claire Garcia explain the democracy-historical link in the Eisenhower Chapel Sept. 18, 7 p.m. Information: 303-344-0481.
Take tours of Mile High City’s unique historical structures and contemporary builds during Doors Open Denver, Sept. 26-29. Information: 303-390-1653.
For a classy night and a great time, attend the Black & White Gala at the Tivoli Turnhalle Sept. 14, 5 to 9 p.m. Dress in your best black-and-white attire with a pop of color, for an evening of mingling and fundraising to support Rocky Mountain Family Therapy. Attendees at first gala will enjoy a silent auction, dinner, comedy, and music. An opportunity to meet new people, have a memorable time, while supporting a great cause. Information: 303-520-5798.
Oh, it’s a long, long while from May to December, but the days grow short when you reach September. “Hey, hey, hey, ba-dee-ya: Do you remember, never was a cloudy day?”
A return to “normality” from summer’s craziness. September once meant harvest time to the English. Yet it’s easy for modern urbanites to lose touch with the changes of the seasons.
My Morning Jacket’s Old September Blues tunes us to the pleasures of hunkering down as weather cools. If money really did grow on trees, fall would be everyone’s favorite season.
— Glen Richardson
The Valley Gadfly can be reached at newspaper@glendalecherrycreek.com
by Valley Gadfly | Jul 18, 2024 | General Featured
by Glen Richardson
Bassist Baier: Frank Baier and his wife Christine host the neighborhood music series on their front lawn, where his band Groove Machine entertains.
Singing With Soul: New singer-soloist at this year’s summer lawn singalongs is Biff Gore, dubbed “The Ambassador of Soul” by LA pop rock band Maroon 5.
As sure as the sun rises and sets, summer graces us with its warm embraces, bringing with it delightful lawn singalongs. None is more charming, nor more quintessentially local, than the sunset serenades of Cory- Merrill neighborhood bassist Frank Baier and his band Groove Machine.
Gems on the lawn providing spirited musical entertainment with a good beat, lots of feeling, plus easy listening singalong lyrics. Like George Gershwin’s Summertime composition for Porgy and Bess, the music has a rhythmical hook and instrumental beat that embodies “Good Vibrations.” Tunes as rhythmic as the Beach Boys’ pop and rock songs, with an edge and a synthesized beat with electric guitar riffs. Neighbors, friends, walkers, bicyclists, music fans, and their dogs flock to the neighborhood to listen-dance to the jam sessions that in recent years have progressively become a ball and blast. They stand, sit on chairs, or stretch out on lawns at homes adjacent, across the street, or nearby to enjoy the sunset concerts.
A top musician, Baier has worked on Broadway shows including Grease, and Jesus Christ Superstar. He has performed with such musical talent as Brook Benton, Hall & Oates, and the Bee Gee’s. He’s also played with the Minneapolis and St Louis Philharmonics, and New York’s finest society orchestras. Each summer Baier and his wife Christine treat the neighborhood to the summer music series on their front lawn.
Top Talent
Lawn Keynoter: Groove Machine’s keyboardist Tim Greenhouse adds depth and color to lawn singalong sunset serenade in the Cory-Merrill neighborhood.
Keyboards add depth and texture to a band’s sound, and Tim Greenhouse is one of Colorado’s best. Sometimes flashy, his work allows the band to add extra layers while often adding some edge. Moreover, he gives the band the opportunity to vary the sound and atmosphere of a song.
Artistic Greenhouse is a Denverite who has played with such stars as Bob Hope. Furthermore, he has participated in Switzerland’s prestigious annual Montreux Jazz Festival that annual draws nearly 250,000 spectators. He has also played with celebrated Colorado-based entertainers Hazel Miller and Lannie Garrett.
Adding captivating sounds and emotional expression to every concert is longtime Groove Machine percussionist Doug Bainbridge. A top musician, he helps maintain the rhythm and adds vibrancy to the music. Bainbridge spent several years playing around the Pacific Rim. He worked for a half-dozen years as a drummer-percussionist on South Korea television before returning to the U.S.
New as singer-soloist at this year’s summer lawn singalongs is Biff Gore, a powerful soul-singer with down home guitar styling. Dubbed “The Ambassador of Soul” by LA pop rock band Maroon 5, the soloist-guitarist adds a feeling of connection that engages the lawn crowd. While providing entertainment and joy to listeners, his performances create bonding, lower stress, improve the mood, while also adding emotion.
Lawn Lineup: Neighbors, friends, walkers, and music fans line up along the sidewalk to enjoy a diverse genre of music at a lawn event that has become a ball and blast.
His rich vocals landed him a spot on the sixth season of NBC’s talent show The Voice, in the spring of 2014. His grueling blues sound moved him to the top eight. During his time on The Voice, Gore realized his desire to share his musical gifts with people, so he returned to Denver. Worship Pastor at the Highline Community Church, he has “The Biff Gore Radio Show” on KLTT-670 AM, where soul meets sound in a symphony of inspirational stories, music, and wisdom.
Harmony & Bonding
The music is rhythmic, warm, lyrical, and melodious. But it’s about more than the music. It’s about moments between people. Families and friends getting together who haven’t seen each other in a year, and picking up a conversation like they’d just seen each other yesterday. It’s about kids enjoying the music with mom and pop. There’s a family feel that you rarely experience.
Concerts are not just an evening of pleasure, but a true immersion into the heart of our communities. From the toe-tapping rhythms of the band, the lawn singalongs are a true sensory feast that beckons both young and old to revel in the joys of summer.
Family-friendly, offering diverse genres of music, they are a great way to enjoy being outside in the evening when temperatures cool off. Sometimes soft, smooth, and gentle, other times rich, loud, and wild, they signal everyone to chill out, and take it day by day. Giving people a sense of freedom, an escape to “let loose” through the means of music. It boosts everyone’s moods and dispositions.
by Valley Gadfly | Jul 18, 2024 | Main Articles
Denver’s Business District Becoming Neighborhoods; Another 1,837 Apartments Planned In The Coming Year
by Glen Richardson
Best Of Broadway: This nine-story medical building was renovated into studio and one-bedroom apartments. Fourteen units are for unhoused patients released from Denver Health.
If you’ve noticed some old buildings getting a new lease on life in Denver, you’re right. The Mile High City ranks among the nation’s top spots for apartment conversions, with about 300 apartments entering the market through adaptive reuse in 2023 — and there are six times more such apartments on the horizon.
In addition to generating more apartments, the trend is likely to bring more people and energy to downtown Denver, hard hit by the pandemic’s work-from-home deluge. Residential conversions are anticipated to bring people and new energy to downtown apart from the workday. If so, stores, restaurants, entertainment, and other amenities of a vibrant lifestyle will optimistically return.
RentCafe’s annual adaptive reuse report shows that apartment conversions are on the rise again in the U.S., having increased by 18% in 2023 compared to the previous year. Plot twist: While office conversions are usually the go-to for future projects, hotel conversions rocked the charts in 2023, hitting a record high. Yet, with 58,000 office projects in various development stages nationwide, office conversions are expected to take the lead again.
Mile High Style
Clarion Converted: Renamed Renewal Village, the 215-room Clarion Hotel is the largest Mile High hotel converted to apartments to date.
Denver is part of the trend, with around 1,000 new units projected to be created through repurposing former office spaces.
Denver ranks 8th among cities with the most conversions in 2023. Developers successfully transformed a school building into 190 apartments, and a 1956 office building located at 655 Broadway is now home to 110 new apartments.
Looking ahead, The Mile High City is a major player in future apartment conversions, with plans to bring 1,837 new apartments to life in the coming year. Office conversions prevail (1,002 units), while repurposed schools (420 units) and hotel conversions (261 units) are also set to expand Denver’s rental market. The remaining units will come from residential conversions.
Metro Area Trend
Street Art: The 10-story Art Institute building was converted into 192 apartments named Art Studios. Nichols Partnership was the hammer that shaped the new art piece.
In the Denver-Aurora-Lakewood metro area, office conversions are expected to be the most popular, mainly due to the 1,000 projected units in the capital city. Following closely are hotel conversions (937 units), including 576 apartments expected to be retrofitted in Aurora.
Adaptive reuse refers to the process of converting an existing building for purposes other than those it was originally designed for. In this article, adaptive reuse is expressed as the conversion of an existing building into rental apartments. The RentCafe study is based on apartment data related to buildings containing at least 50 units.
Data, of course, is subject to change. New properties and markets may emerge, while some properties might not be completed or maintain the same status (other than completed) for several years. Additionally, various factors such as delays, sales, or project abandonment can prevent completion of some properties. Future projects encompass those currently undergoing conversion, as well as those in the planning and prospective redevelopment stages.
Long Local History
Creek Condos: This office building on Cook St. in Cherry Creek was converted into 44 condos named Catalonian at Cherry Creek in the late 1990s.
Conversion of old buildings has a long history in Denver. Marcel Arsenault, founder and CEO of Real Capital Solutions, did his first office-to-residential conversion in Cherry Creek in the late 1990s. The building’s offices were converted to 44 condos, now named Catalonian at Cherry Creek at 180 Cook Street. It was an old office building, and so the price was low. At the same time Cherry Creek residential values were high. Everybody wants to live in Cherry Creek; thus, it made sense for Arsenault to do residential
In 2006, 1600 Glenarm Place, a 31-story tower at 16th Street Mall, was turned into more than 300 units. In 2015 Nichols Partnership converted the former Hotel VQ next to Bronco’s stadium into Turntable Studios, a 13-story complex with 179 studio apartments. In 2022, the owner of Denver’s Petroleum Building filed plans to turn the office building into around 130 apartment units.
Nichols Partnership completed the 10-story, 192 apartment Art Studios — the former Art Institute of Colorado building — in the first quarter of 2023. Located in Denver’s Golden Triangle neighborhood, conversion of the building acquired in 2019 was delayed by the pandemic. Using leftover materials for the school, the rebuild honors the building’s history. Nichols Partnership also converted the five-story One Platte office building, at 1701 Platte St. Completed in the spring 2022, it’s now 90% leased, a testament to both the building and the Platte St. location.
Hotel Renovations
Turntable Trend: In 2015 the former Hotel VQ next to Bronco’s stadium was converted into Turntable Studios, a 13-story complex with 179 apartments.
Denver’s hotel conversions have virtually all been for the city’s homeless plus the migrant invasion. The earliest was in February, 2020 when a former Quality Inn & Suites on Quebec Street in Park Hill was converted into apartments known as Fusion Studios. The changeover provided transitional and long-term housing. At that time, the city required residents to pay up to 30% of their monthly income as rent.
With a new mayor and city council, Denver has been purchasing hotel housing — albeit mostly older properties and most often motels — at a record-setting pace. The tempo has been so fast neither the media nor citizens can keep pace. Here’s a sampling: New Directions, a former Best Western in the 4500 block of N. Quebec St. The city paid $25.95 million for the 194-unit property; Tamarac Family Shelter, previously an Embassy Suites on East Hampden Ave., Denver paid a combined $30.9 million for lease-purchase; Clarion Hotel is Denver’s largest to be converted to housing for the homeless. Renamed Renewal Village, the 215-room hotel was purchased in Jan. 2023 for $24 million — $10 million each from Denver and the Colorado Division of Housing, plus $3.6 million from Adams County.
by Valley Gadfly | Jul 18, 2024 | Valley Gadfly
Valley Gadfly
Welcome to August: It’s “Summertime and the livin’s easy!” Sure, it can be hot, but it is always filled with adventures that ignite excitement and energy to generate summer happiness!
This month brings up a lot of different feelings. It signifies the lazy days of summer and the excitement of the seasons changing. Gentle and dreamy days, just don’t give up the shade.
To help you enjoy the last breath of summer, here are our choices for shopping, dining, and entertainment, to soak up time outdoors, in the pool, and under August’s Full Moon:
Soak up sunshine and the blissfulness of Denver at DCPA’s outdoor Sculpture Park Aug. 3, starting at 2 p.m. British DJ Lee Burridge brings melodic shades of technicolor emotionalism to All Day I Dream. Information: 303-893-4100.
Grammy winner Angelique Kidjo and singer Meshell Ndegeocello play at the Botanic Gardens Summer Series Aug. 7, 6:30 p.m. Information: 720-865-3500.
View work by national artists with live acoustic music at Cherry Creek’s Smash Fine Arts Festival Aug. 10-11, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Information: 720-300-4924.
Enjoy smoked bliss by pitmasters from across the country at the Denver BBQ Festival on McGregor Square Aug. 16-18. Information: denverbbqfest.com.
Here’s a hot August suggestion: Keep the summer heat out with Solar Shades — either manual or motorized — from Cherry Creek Shades & Drapery on E. 6th Ave. Family owned, locally operated since 1968. Information: 303-355-4223.
Make this August sweet by visiting Cherry Creek North often. Stroll 16 blocks of chic boutiques, cool galleries, fun fitness studios, sun-soaked happy hours, and buzz worthy eateries. Days to enjoy as you please. Information: 303-394-2904.
See juried fine arts & crafts at the new Park Hill Summer Art Festival on the Masonic Lodge grounds Aug. 17-18, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Information: 303-324-5956.
Snag the chance to hear the Hot Tomatoes Dance Orchestra do Glenn Miller and Duke Ellington numbers at Dazzle Aug. 19, 6 p.m. Information: 303-839-5100.
Let your taste buds try the bottomless Denver Brunch Fest at the Tivoli Quad on the Auraria campus Aug. 24, noon to 4 p.m. Information: brunch-so-hard.com
Hear the Doobie Brothers’ picking and harmony that’s tallied five Top 10 singles and 16 Top 40 hits at the Ball Arena Aug. 29, 7 p.m. Information: 303-405-1100.
Plan to participate in this year’s Special Olympics Plane Pull Challenge at DIA Aug. 24. Event is at Signature Aviation, 7850 North Harry B Coombs Pkwy., 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Pull funds Special Olympics to provide sports & healthy living for children & adults with intellectual disabilities (ID). Teams of up to 25 compete to pull airplane 12 ft. in the fastest time. Create or join a team or register as an individual to support Denver, state athletes. Information: 720-359-3100.
Infrequent, uncommon, as rare as hen’s teeth! It’s an event that happens every two to three years, and the saying, “once in a blue moon,” is what describes this August’s Supermoon.
Mark the date, time: August 19, 7:36 p.m., Mountain Daylight Time. It’s unique because it’s a special seasonal blue moon and it will be the last blue moon until May 20, 2027.
Need a hot date? Pick any August day, they don’t get much hotter than that! This month will sip-away like a bottle of wine. So, do what sheep do on sunny days, have a baa-baa-cue.
— Glen Richardson
The Valley Gadfly can be reached at newspaper@glendalecherrycreek.com.
