As the venerable Denver Athletic Club readies to celebrate its 125th birthday with a private party Friday, it is also dealing with a significant drop in membership numbers.
During the 2008-09 fiscal year, 250 folks dropped out.
“It is a little bit more of a setback than we would like it to be,” club chief executive Andre van Hall said. “The reality is that this has set us back to where we were two years ago.”
The normal attrition rate is 60 to 70 members, van Hall said. To help make up some of the shortfall, club management recently sent members notices saying monthly dues will increase 2 percent for fiscal year 2009-10. Under the new rate, individuals pay a monthly use fee of $180; families pay $266, plus there’s a $250 initiation fee for newbies.
Despite the retention challenge, club management spent $1 million last fiscal year and is spending an additional $1 million this year in improvements.
“We just renovated the whole lobby and have totally renovated four out of the nine locker rooms,” van Hall said. “We’re spending a significant number on workout equipment, and we just went into a partnership with Comcast to increase the number of channels on treadmills and other workout machines from 16 to 100.”
Trading spaces.
They look like three separate spaces and smell like three spaces and, to the consumer, they are three spaces.
But to be clear, Paul Piciocchi, owner of the old Alto restaurant venue at 1320 15th St., emphasizes it is one business with one liquor license.
Instead of trying to make a 6,000-square-foot space work (hence the exit of Sambuca and Alto), he’s created three sections aimed to appeal to different audiences.
In November — construction willing — Piciocchi and his team will open Downtown Gastropub (a term that’s quickly wearing out its welcome), Mix Music Lounge, where the existing stage is located, and Drink, a sports bar.
Piciocchi, 39, is also the owner of Tryst Lounge, 1512 Larimer St.; Theorie Restaurant and Lounge, 1920 Market St.; the Regal Watering Hole in Aspen; a New Jersey hedge fund; and a Florida real-estate firm.
Really?
It’s not hard to notice a street closure around Civic Center from the bird’s-eye view of the sixth floor of the Denver Post building.
So the blocked-off entrance Wednesday to Bannock Street from Colfax lined with city trucks drew attention.
Apparently, it was the city’s annual employee-appreciation picnic, traditionally held outside at Civic Center, but the wet weather rained on the picnic parade, moving it inside the Webb building.
“We temporarily (closed) Bannock for buses bringing employees from other locations so they don’t all drive in, and for the event sponsors to load in and out,” said Ann Williams, Public Works spokeswoman.
The street would have been closed anyway because a private company had taken out a permit.
The city piggybacked onto that permit.
According to Mayor John Hickenlooper‘s spokesman Eric Brown, no taxpayer money was spent on the event. Sponsors, including Kaiser Permanente, Delta Dental and UnitedHealthcare, picked up the tab.
Eavesdropping.
A woman talking clothes with elastic waists:
“If there’s elastic, I’m there. That’s the greatest invention since penicillin.”
Penny Parker’s column appears Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday. Listen to her on the Caplis and Silverman radio show between 4 and 5 p.m. Fridays on KHOW-630 AM. Call her at 303-954-5224 or e-mail pparker@denverpost.com.
