The Gates Rubber Plant is the decrepit eye sore you see off I-25 and Broadway. In the last years of its use, it never looked great. Now abandoned, it looks even worse.
There are redevelopment plans for this piece of premium real estate. Now that the market believes we don’t need more apartments right now, however, it’s been put on hold.
Don’t worry; I have plans for this site, all of them surely useful and probably profitable. For a balanced and reasoned discussion, I’ve included both pros and cons.
A closer airport
DIA is gorgeous, but try to get someone to give you a ride there. No one can drop you off on their daily drive to Bennett.
What we need is a small, regional airport. I would be willing to a pay a couple extra bucks to land closer to home. It can be simple airport, no shopping, no newsstands, no giant blue horse. All it would need is a runway, a big bus shelter and an airport stair truck. Coming down those steps always seems a little glamorous.
Pro: If you need a meal, a short jaunt to a local McDonald’s would be quicker than waiting in line at the one in Concourse C.
Con: Sounds of 777’s on approach and take-off would annoy some people. Denver would probably need to annex homes from some University Hills’ residents for a full runway.
A cemetery
Great cities have great cemeteries. Think of the Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a beautiful, ornate, centrally located cemetery?
If you want to be buried in Denver right now, you have few choices in the way of serene final resting places. Fairmont is nice, but that’s one serving a metro area of millions, and we’re all going to die one of these days.
Pro: Cemeteries have good landscaping and low traffic volumes. New residents would be quiet and keep to themselves.
Con: When the zombie attack comes, and you know it will, you’re going to want to steer clear of this area.
A skate park
I could never stay up on a skateboard, and never really understood a hobby that looks mostly like the unsuccessful execution of tricks off the steps of building plazas.
But I do understand the appeal of the skate park, an outdoor activity that fills the void between the playgrounds of our youth and the car backseats of our adolescence.
Denver has skate parks at Stapleton and off Little Raven, but the number should compete with the number of playgrounds. Kids will either hang out there or behind Chipotle. It’s up to us.
Pro: The sounds of youth playing and enjoying themselves would echo throughout the neighborhood.
Con: The sounds of youth playing and enjoying themselves would echo throughout the neighborhood.
A flea market
All new urban retail projects try to get boutique shopping and food. If we need more commerce, why don’t we give the flea market a shot? There are few good bargain outlets in that part of town, and the tenants would not need much in the way of services.
There is the Mile High Flea Market (excuse me, the Mile High Marketplace) but doesn’t Commerce City always seem far away? No matter where you live, anything in that area is “all the way over in Commerce City.”
Pro: Great for bargain hunters who don’t like staring at Craigslist and Freecyle postings.
Con: It always smells like hot dogs at flea markets.
Another Water World
This may be the best part of living in Denver. We don’t have a shore and you can walk across the confluence in Confluence Park in the summer so the builders of Water World wisely built a water park that makes natural bodies of water seem boring.
The site is smaller than the 88th and Pecos location so the new branch would have to be an abbreviated form of Water World. If we can put the Top 5 rides here, I think it will do just fine.
Pro: Centrally located wave pool.
Con: Broadway exit line would extend miles in both directions during the summer.
A new Celebrity Sports Center
Forget everything I just said. What we really need to do is rebuild Celebrity Sports Center.
Celebrity was a magnificent activity palace on Colorado Boulevard that had an indoor pool, three water slides, a bowling alley, an arcade and countless fond memories. Some developer with a truly calloused soul leveled this wonderland in the 1990s. This hallowed ground is now home to a Barnes & Noble, or a Whole Foods, or a Home Depot, or something.
Pro: Everything. It would improve our economy, balance our state budget and make Denver the most livable city in the U.S. Call Forbes.
Con: Nothing. Why are we even discussing this?
Ben Cape (ben.cape@gmail.com) is a technical writer living in Denver. EDITOR’S NOTE: This is an online-only column and has not been edited.
