Glendale Plans Path, Park To Patch-Up Pickleball Paddle Battle

by Valley Gadfly | Sep 26, 2023 | Main Articles

RugbyTown Pursues Peaceful ­Pickleball-Tennis Court Plan; ­Renovated, Renamed Mir Park Will Have Four ­Pickleball Courts

 by Glen Richardson

Glendale Gathering Place: Glendale Sports Center has three indoor pickleball courts, plus four outdoor courts. Players have access to food, restrooms, water, and lights.

Pickleball is Denver’s and America’s ­fastest grow­­ing sport, but as the pastime has ex­­­plod­­­ed in popularity, so have sports squab­bles. The pock-pock and pop of the wooden paddle against the plastic wiffle ball is jarring people in neighborhoods nationwide.

With a broad new fan base in Denver, and across the state, a limited number of pickleball courts are causing constant battles. Sleep-loving neighbors, tennis players, and schoolchildren say their courts and playgrounds are being seized by pickleball players. Shouting matches, turf wars, and worse are the result. “Pickleball Is The Wild, Wild, West,” a Sports Illustrated cover story characterized the constant bad behavior and fighting.

In March of last year, the City of Den­ver created a fury by arresting 71-year-old Arslan Guney — known as “the Mayor of Pickleball” — for drawing squares on the basketball court at the Central Park Rec ­Center. A short time later, Denver closed Con­gress Park courts because of noise complaints. The city also put plans for a new court in Sloan’s Lake on hold because of noise worries. Further south, Centennial imposed a moratorium on court construction within 500-ft. of homes, also due to noise unease.

Complaints, Claims

Pickleball Poaching: Like so many courts across the metro area, Glendale’s two outdoor tennis courts were dominated by pickleball players, preventing residents from playing tennis.

Accusations of “Mafia tactics” and drones sent on intelligence-gathering missions, are among the accusations made in San Diego’s pickleball-tennis war. In San Francisco, legions of pickleball players crave more space to play, claiming to be “brushed off” by San Francisco’s Parks & Recreation Department.

In New York City, community boards have taken up complaints from parents of school children who say their youngsters have to compete for public park space with pickleball players. In Florida and dozens of other states, residents who live near courts constantly complain about noise, according to press reports.

From 100-ft. away, experts say pic­kle­ball whacks can reach 70-dBA — a measure of decibels used to gauge sound level. Everyday outside background noise typically tops off at a “somewhat annoying 55,” according to accounts.

Peaceful Paddle Play

Rebirth, Revival: Rejuvenation of Mir Park will feature pickleball courts, plus a new basketball court, picnic shelter, updated rest­room facilities, and landscaping.

The city that brought the pitch (play­ing field) and rugby to America, is now pitching-in with a plan to pro­mote and build the sport. While municipalities in Colorado and across the nation admit that they aren’t ready to embrace the pickleball paddle battle, Glendale — the tiny 0.6-sq.-mile town surrounded by Denver — is preparing to cuddle and court both tennis and the paddle sport of Pickleball.

Glendale certainly has experience shepherding in a new, growing sport, having built the first U.S. rugby-specific stadium and earning the name RugbyTown USA. Chuck Line — Glen­­dale City Manager — says “it’s about creating diverse opportunities” in the middle of the pickleball boom. The way he sees it, “If people want to play tennis, let them play. If it’s pickleball they want to play, they can play pickleball.”

To ensure the two games play ­peacefully together, Glendale is separating tennis and pickleball play by making it illegal to bring pickleball nets onto tennis courts and building new courts. A city council ordinance also bars placing chairs or stools on courts, using snow shovels or scrapers on courts, and marking courts with permanent or temporary lines illegal on both pickleball and tennis courts. High-definition cameras will be used to monitor courts. It may be the first ordinance of its kind in Colorado, or possibly the nation. Violations in Glendale can result in a misdemeanor offense.

Playmaker Park

Super Small Spot: Despite not being big and flashy, sports flourish in Glendale. Sports culture continues to be how this competitive community defines and presents itself to the world.

The “you’re more than welcome” outdoor recreation attitude in Glendale sets it apart from the surrounding larger cities. It’s a can-do spirit that makes things happen, rather than the too often tentative, indecisive approach common in surrounding Parks & Recreation sectors.

Now Glendale is renovating, redesigning, and renaming Mir Park — the hidden gem of a park off South Elm St. and East Central Ave. near a Goodwill Center — as Glendale Park.

The nearly $1.5 million rejuvenation project will feature four new Pickleball Courts, a new Basketball Court, new Picnic Shelter, updated Restroom Facilities, landscaping, and more. ECI Site Construction Management, Inc. is doing the upgrades and repair work. Completion is expected as soon as this month. Since the city’s Public Works and the close-knit Glendale-Cherry Creek community hold outdoor spaces in such high regard, both games will once again begin to be thoroughly enjoyed.

Courting Compromise

Glendale ­Gamechanger: Redesign and renovation of Mir Park is part of city’s ­pickleball-tennis peacemaking plan. Renamed Glendale Park, greenspace will be four new ­Pickleball Courts.

Glendale’s two outdoor tennis courts — like so many others across the metro area — have been dominated by pickleball players, preventing residents from playing tennis.

The city even drew pickleball’s ­smaller court dimensions at the E. Kentucky & S. Birch St. site in an attempt to allow dual-play. Tennis players, however, found the lines distracting during matches. Pickleball poaching was constant, according to Kelly Legler, Glendale Sports Center program manager. “Tennis players were regularly rebuffed,” she notes.

Glendale’s approach of segregating play between designated facilities is a “great compromise” and being applauded by both tennis and pickleball players. Neither the city nor players want tennis excluded. Followers and admirers of each game concur the sports should be splendid together, and have “got to go good together” in the future.

Sports Center Pickleball

Pickleball can also be played at the Glendale Sports Center on E. Kentucky Ave. Man­aged by the YMCA, there are seven acrylic courts, three are indoors and four are outdoors.

The lines on courts at the Glendale Center are permanent, but players need to bring their own net. Courts are free and players have access to food, restaurants, water, and lights.

Outfitted with modern equipment and offering extensive fitness programs for every age and fitness level, the Center has been a community resource since 2008. Information: 303-639-4711.

Denver’s Trash System Is A Mess With Flawed Deals, Questionable Decisions

by Valley Gadfly | Aug 28, 2023 | Main Articles

Waste Management Struggles To Clear Garbage Glut Due To Funding, Staff, ­Policies, Plus An Aging Truck Fleet

by Glen Richardson

Scraping By: City Auditor Timothy O’Brien says Denver’s new trash collection program is not effectively designed to ensure stable funding, thereby worsening service and delivery to residents.

Welcome to the “Denver Dump,” where garbage and debris are over­taking our streets, highways, and neighborhoods. The city’s stunning land­scapes are gasping in garbage.

What’s behind the Mile High waste management mess? Certainly, we’re all indivi­du­ally responsible. Coloradans create 47 tons of waste per person, ninth in the nation. More­­­over, Colorado is creating the nation’s third most new waste per capita.

Cause of Denver’s growing garbage glut is complicated and confusing. It ranges from decisions such as removing dumpsters (to give police clear alleyway sight lines), to cut­ting extra trash collections from every four weeks to eight weeks. Lack of policies, data, funding, and staff are heightened by an aging waste collection truck fleet. Further­more, the first citywide change in trash routes in 15 years is increasing spikes in miss­ed trash pickups.

Mess Along Highways

Thoroughfare Trash: CDOT cleans up trash on highways and interstates around Denver, but their job focuses on debris blocking the road, not the trash. Credit: 9NEWS

In addition to Denver’s Waste Management, the Colorado Dept. of Transportation or CDOT, cleans up debris and trash along the highways and interstates around the city. Reports of trash piling up on the shoulders, medians, and off ramps are constant. The agency says their maintenance section is seeing an increase in littering based on debris calls, costs, and pickups. Workers say the most serious problem is drivers failing to secure loads. Illegal trash dumping also continues to be a top problem complicating their work.

Pickup Problems: A 21% driver ­vacancy rate last year may double this year due to expanded recycling-compost service. First route change in 15 years has added to miss­ed pickups.

Debris cleanup uses 5% or more the department’s budget, amounting to $2 million or more in Metro Denver. Maintenance crews must daily prioritize their work based on road repairs and hazards to drivers. Priority is given to blocked traffic lanes, guard rail repairs, and sign replacements. Snow and ice removal during winter months moves to the top of their list.

CDOT also relies on the Adopt-A-Highway programs, which involve groups cleaning litter from small stretches of roads at least four times a year. Metro Denver residents can call CDOT customer service at 303-759-2368 or report concerns on their customer service website.

Trash Talk

Trashy Town Trek: Metro area streets and alleyways have been overflowing with trash since January. Residents fear block­ed drains, flooding, and the spread of waterborne ­diseases.

Denver has a gargantuan waste problem. Trash cans around the metro area have been left overflowing since January of this year. Waste that goes uncollected can lead to block­ed drains, flooding, and the spread of waterborne diseases. The problem isn’t new; as early as July 2021 Denver was receiving up to 1,000 trash-related complaints daily. A 2020 Solid Waste Master Plan was supposed to aid Waste Management’s staff and city lead­ers move Denver forward.

Beginning in January, Denver launched a new trash collection program known as “Pay As You Throw.” Approved by a split City Council, the policy was intended to motivate residents to recycle and compost more and keep trash out of landfills. The program faltered from the start — not a surprise as City Auditor Timothy O’Brien, CPA, warn­ed the city wasn’t ready to implement the policy in November of 2022.

The city eliminated the $9.75 fee for composting, but sharply raised pickup fees based on the size of bins. Charges range from $9 per month for a small bin, $13 per month for a medium-sized bin, and $21 per month for a large bin.

Pay To Throw Blow

City Auditor O’Brien’s staff audited resi­dential trash, recycling, and compost services late last year, releasing the report on Nov. 17, 2022.

His audit of Solid Waste Management — a Division of the Department of Transportation & Infrastructure — warned the city, the “pay-as-you-throw” program is not effectively designed to ensure stable ­funding or to advance Denver’s environmental goals. Furthermore, O’Brien warned, “it may wors­en existing service and delivery to residents.”

At the January launch, around 30,000 residents traded in their large plastic carts for smaller ones to save on their trash bills. However, an investigation by CBS News found that 3,000 or more of the carts — which the manufacturer says are ­recyclable — were crushed and dumped in an area land­fill by the City of Denver.

Rust Bucket Trucks

Dreamscape Dumpsite: If City gets its act together, Denver’s DADS dump site could look like Copenhagen’s waste-to-energy power plant that doubles as a ski slope and hiking trail.

The report stressed that the city is providing trash recycling and compost services using an aging fleet of trucks with a severely understaffed team.

Nearly half of the division’s fleet — in­clud­ing both waste collection trucks and other vehicles — have an estimated two years of useful life. Expected useful life for waste collection trucks is eight years, however, one truck still being used is 18 years old. The city spent more than $10 million between 2019 and 2021 on repairs for the aging trucks. Meanwhile, a new truck costs approximately $350,000. Drivers told auditors that equipment failures had kept them from completing their routes in the past six months.

Additionally, the city had a 21% ­vacancy rate among drivers as of June 2022. That va­cancy rate could nearly double this year as more positions are needed for expanded recycling and compost service under volume-based pricing. Since 2021, drivers have been required to work overtime to complete routes and work voluntary overtime to clean up illegal dumping sites. Most of the drivers auditors heard from said they are looking to change jobs in the next 12 months.

Trash Route Trouble

Administrators, moreover, couldn’t explain or show documentation describing how they decided to change trash and recycling pick-up routes and schedules in 2022.

The first citywide change to trash routes in 15 years, it was intended to make collection reliable and consistent.

On the contrary, the route changes are blamed for accelerating spikes in reports of missed trash pickups. Managers told auditors the person who designed the new routes retired and the division did not keep the documentation.

Photos: Kevin J. Beaty & Ehrborn Hummreston

Jazz Club Dazzle Opens In Mile High City’s Cultural Hub

by Valley Gadfly | Aug 28, 2023 | Main Articles

Sold-Out Crowds Swing Open Dazzle’s New DCPA Digs; El Chapultepec ­Comeback To Host Fall Piano Bar ‘Late Set’

by Glen Richardson

Dazzling Virtuoso: Plucking and strumming guitarist Steve Kovalcheck dazzled and delighted the sell-out opening crowd at Dazzle’s new DCPA digs.  Photo: CBS

Stellar Star: Entertainment at the sold-out gala opening starred Grammy nominated jazz vocalist-songwriter René Marie. Photo: Daniel Trujillo

They were genuine blood-pumping magical moments at Dazzle Jazz’s opening in the Denver Center for Performing Arts (DCPA) downtown. Owing to history, performers, and atmosphere, the joint swelled with fol­low­ers, fans, and fanatics of all ages who were there to be swooned.

Denver night life has found its rhythm in the serendipitous new space. The club opened to two sold-out shows each night on Aug. 4-5, in Dazzle’s new digs on the corner of Arapahoe and 14th St. Stellar entertainment at the gala opening starred Grammy nominated jazz vocalist-songwriter René Marie.

In the traditions of Ella Fitzgerald, Dinah Washington, and other leading ladies of jazz, Marie dazzled the first-time DCPA crowd with her imaginative way of performing jazz music. Her original material — including songs curated especially for the grand opening of the new location — explored the joy and the depths of human emotion in an elegant, energetic, expressive performance. Her weekend musical group included Dawn Clement, piano; John Gunther, sax; Steve Kov­alcheck, guitar; Seth Lewis, bass; and Dru Heller, drums.

Jazzed By Art

Serendipity Space: What Dazzle’s new space at 1080 14th St. looks like. There are no blocks in ­anyone’s sightline in the venue that seats 143 people, with 23 seats in the bar area. Photo: David Rossa

A Denver jazz venue staple for 19 years — and ranked one of the Top 100 Jazz Clubs in the World — Dazzle’s newest and third lo­ca­tion in the Arts Complex features a space honoring Colorado’s diverse jazz legacy with the highest caliber of talent on the stage plus visual art on the walls.

The stage was a black box in the initial location at 930 Lincoln Street, while the cozy atmosphere at Dazzle in the historic Baur’s site was due to the building’s craftsmanship. Now walls in Dazzle at the Arts Complex are adorned with visual artwork produced by local artists. Together, the artists and artwork create a relationship with the music and community. Furthermore, each artist shares a connection with the musician represented in their artwork.

The space showcases murals of famous mu­si­cians including opening night en­ter­­tain­er Rene Marie by Jasmine “Jazz” Holmes, resident artists at Denver’s RedLine Contemporary Art Center. Everyone who helped bring Dazzle to life in the Arts complex is an artist in their particular field. They included ArtHouse, who provided the overall design plans, to ADCON fabricator Anthony Jimenez, who built the stage; and Dave Mathews, who did the cabinetry.

Theatre-Music Scene

The DCPA complex where Dazzle is now located is owned and operated by the City & County of Denver’s Arts & Venues. Dazzle’s lease agreement makes it a tenant of the City of Denver. The compound is a mix of Broadway tours, Tony-winning theatre, long-running cabaret shows, immersive plays, and theatre for young adults. The three largest theaters are the Ellie Caulkins Opera House, Buell Theatre, and Boettcher Concert Hall.

Last season the DCPA entertained more than one million visitors, generating a $193.4 million economic impact through ticket sales alone.

“Dazzle is a vibrant addition to the Arts Com­plex,” says Denver Arts & Venues’ Ginger White, executive director. “The venue looks fantastic. They have been so thoughtful with the design, highlighting the legacy of Jazz in Denver.” Furthermore, she adds, “Dazzle’s location enlivens the entrance to the Arts Complex, a special part of downtown Denver.”

City Collaboration

“Dazzle’s new space was built by artists from many different fields to create a space of community where Jazz, Blues, and other forms of improvised music can thrive for years to come,” explains owner-president Donald Rossa.

El Chapultepec ­Comeback: Dazzle is partnering with El ­Chapultepec jazz-blues venue that closed in 2020. The Pec Piano Bar will host “The Late Set” on Thursday-Saturday nights. Photo: CBS

Working with the city-owned arts complex affords us a chance to collaborate with Denver Arts & Venues resources, as well as continuing our role in the Mile High City’s music scene. “Jazz is produced by artists with­in the community, reflecting the sounds of the time,” Rossa adds. “This is Colorado’s Jazz at the Denver Arts Complex where everyone is invited.”

Finally, he notes that “As a private business that provides so much to the cultural fabric of Denver, we are really grateful to the city for working with us to help us open the space and make it so beautiful.”

Pec Plans Night Caps

Dazzle is also partnering the historic El Cha­pultepec jazz-blues venue that closed at the end of 2020 after 87 years. When the Pec ­— where legends like Ela Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra performed — closed it was a gut-wrenching blow to Denver’s music scene. Reopening this fall will give it a second wind.

The El Chapultepec Piano Bar will host “The Late Set” from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. Thursday-Saturday nights. “The partnership will elevate the best that both clubs have to offer,” is how Dazzle’s Donald Rossa depicts the partnership.

Pec owners Angela Guerrero and Anna Diaz have launched the “El Chapultepec Leg­acy Project,” an effort to preserve the club’s historic heritage while raising money to fund the Dazzle partnership project. Bands and artists will perform live with no cover charge. “It will be a great space to get a night cap after Dazzle shows, Arts complex performances, or other gigs downtown,” sug­gests Dazzle’s Marketing Director Kelley Dawkins.