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. Now it’s trendy bars that still serve drunks - just after a Rockies game. Larimer Street - In the 60s, it was an amusing tour of drunks and dives. 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. 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.
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.Įlitch’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.įitzsimons 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.
Now it’s an empty lot and next door, Kitty’s, a $2.6 million prime real estate purchase.īonfils 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.Ĭelebrity Lanes and Cooper Theater, Colorado Blvd. Ballpark Bathhouse, Broadway and Bayaud was Denver’s 1976 icon (the two-story waterfall!) in the Baker neighborhood.