The funky and fabulous city-owned mansion known as Cableland soon may be up for salea prospect that is prompting a good deal of debate around town.
The idea is that the home, a mod bachelor pad circa 1986, just doesn’t give off the right vibe for a mayoral residence.
As much as we admire the late cable magnate Bill Daniels for having donated the home, we agree that it really isn’t the right fit.
But we have a lot of concerns about selling the house now, in this soft real estate market, and how to best serve the legacy of Daniels, a generous and devoted city resident who died a decade ago.
Mayor John Hickenlooper has proposed selling the mansion with the proceeds going to the Denver Scholarship Foundation, which gives college scholarships to Denver high school students.
An infusion of cash would be used to free up matching funds, and the match is an important factor to take into account. It means that any money from the sale of Cableland, and the liquidation of the trust established to maintain it, would have double the impact if it went to the scholarship fund.
We understand the significance of that in these times of soaring tuition costs and scarce public money for higher education. We’re talking as much as a $16 million donation for scholarships for young people, which we’re told would translate into as much as $800,000 annually for scholarships for needy kids.
Not too shabby.
However, the consideration of making such a gift has to take into account the city’s obligation to ensure they are honoring the wishes of Daniels.
The Daniels Foundation, which Daniels established, is on board with Hickenlooper’s proposal, and we trust that they speak for him on such matters.
But we’re also persuaded that Daniels was taken with the idea of the city having an official residence, a house for the people. And it would be fitting, we think, for there to remain an official residence that marks his philanthropy.
There has been some talk of finding an alternative official residence. But Jack Finlaw, city director of theaters and arenas, said the city doesn’t have even a handshake deal on another house.
We think the city ought to explore such an option as part of a package that would then go before City Council members for consideration. The council currently has tabled discussions of a sale.
It would ease a lot of concerns, we think, if the mayor were pitching a deal in which Cableland would be sold when the market rebounds, another mayoral residence acquired — donated in the best case scenario — and a substantial amount of cash would still go to the scholarship fund.
We think that would best serve the interests of the city, young students and the legacy of one of its very generous residents.
