mayan theatre, mayan theater, denver colorado

Monday, February 1, 2010

Denver Camping


Urban camping on Broadway, Denver, CO 1990

Urban camping at 788 South Broadway     1990

 

The Rocky Mountains, a high country lake and even a waterfall seemed like a great spot to make a camp. A tent preferably needs a flat spot to be pitched.  I looked down and viewed
a perfectly flat asphalt parking lot; we were in luck.

This mural is on the south side of a building located at 788 South Broadway. This view is directly between Broadway and Lincoln streets at Ohio Street.  Driving North on Broadway, going under I-25, the road curves hard to the right and turns into Lincoln Street.

We gathered our camping equipment, lantern, backpack, chair, stove and even some rocks.  I had pitched my tent in the Alps, Monterrey Beach, the Kentucky Derby infield and now it was urban camping in Denver.

My future wife, a friend of hers, with her young baby girl (in the tent), had now staked out our campsite — a little noisy, but close to restrooms and restaurants.  Honking cars zoomed by as they witnessed this silly scene, we roasted hot dogs and warmed our hands on the imaginary fire. 

After 30 minutes of roughing it, we decided our desire of a wonderful outdoor camping experience had been full-filled and even exceeded our expectations.  We packed up, climbed into the car and our 10 minute drive home was filled with conversation of what a wild camping trip was all about.

 

Mayan Theatre

Mayan Theatre Restoration Project 1986, Denver, CO

Mayan Theatre restoration project 
110 Broadway     1986

The Mayan Theatre was built in 1930 and designed by the architect Montana Hollis. 

By 1986, the grand theatre was still in reasonable condition but needed some tender loving care.

Landmark Theatres would purchase the Mayan, restore it and begin to feature art films. 

The balcony would be converted into 3 small theatres; economic times simply dictated the value of having a total of 4 screens instead of 1 screen.  Sometimes there are trade-offs in life; the theatre possibly would have been torn down if not for this conversion.

The image above shows the process of the disassembling demo of the original marquee advertising the featured movies. 

Torch in hand, a worker is  removing parts of the marquee, piece by piece, under the supervision of the Friddell Construction and Renovation Company.

Later, the Mayan sign would be completely removed for the replacement of neon lighting and re-painting.

 

The image to the right was taken from the building across the street and is looking, at eye level, at the Aztec figure between the removal of the sign and the re-installation.

 

This view shows an unobstructed view that is now partially covered by the sign after re-installation.

Between removal and restoration of Mayan sign, Denver, CO 1986

Between removal and restoration of Mayan sign - from eye level across the street.      1986

A true story — my parents were viewing a movie at the Mayan, when my Mother, pregnant with me, started having labor pains. They went to the old Presbyterian Hospital and I was born the following morning (1955).

- Kim Allen

 My Thoughts On Denver

The intention of the Denver Photo Archives blog is to share my photos and experiences, and write about my thoughts on Denver.

These images and articles will hopefully create some thoughts and some healthy dialogue on the content.

I welcome correspondence and encourage your communication.  I will respectfully reply to all comments.

Most images on this blog are for sale.  Please refer to the Pricing Page.

Kim Allen

If you want to comment, please use the entry form below.

Form Object

 

Auraria Rail Yards   'Bottoms' Area   Coors Field Area   Denver   Lower Downtown   MCA   North Downtown   Riverfront Area   Union Station  Viaducts 

Blog   About The Photos   Artist Statement   Exhibitions  Press   Pricing   Articles  Links   Contact   Home

 

 

 

 

 

©Copyright 1983 Kim Allen Denver Photo Archives
Website by SmallBusinessWebDesignSolutions.com