New Phil Goodstein Book

Phil Goodstein has been wandering the streets for 30 years, walking backwards as he tours the city.
Among the first strolls he ever conducted was of the Civic Center. Now he has put down his stories
about it. They range from how Denver created the majestic central park at Colfax and Broadway to the artwork within it to the scandals behind it. His new The Denver Civic Center: The Heart of the Mile High City (Denver: New Social Publications, 2016. vi + 478 pp. ISBN 0–9860748–2–9), additionally looks at such surrounding structures as the City and County Building, the Capitol, the Mint, the Denver Art Museum, and the main Denver Public Library. In the process, he probes them from both the inside out and describes their problems and potentials. For those desiring spirits, there are occasional ghost tales such as the presence of a couple of heads floating in tunnels beneath the statehouse.

As is the case with all of Goodstein’s books, 484-page The Denver Civic Center is well illustrated. It touches on the surrounding areas of the Golden Triangle (the section bordered by Colfax, Broadway, and
Cherry Creek) and the Silver Triangle (West Colfax to Speer Boulevard to about Champa Street to 15th Street).

The study revives gems of Denver’s past such as the glory that was 14th Street and peers at some of the cynical grasping and grabbing of the corporate elite. In a word, it is an excellent contribution to the city’s past and present.

The Denver City Center lists for $24.95. That is your price, postage and tax paid, from New Social Publications; Box 18026; Denver 80218. Copies can be ordered from Capitol Hill Books, 303/837–0700; capitolhillbooks.com. Or you can come and hear Goodstein rant and rave about the book at:

William Smedley House, 1020 Ninth Street
Sunday, October 16, 12:00 –1:30 PM (303/477–9220)

The house is on Ninth Street Park. To get there, take West Colfax Avenue westbound from Broadway. Turn right into Ninth Street, two traffic lights west of Speer Boulevard, just past the light rail stop at Lipan Street. Go one block down to where the road dead ends at Champa Street. All the parking spaces, including at meters, are free on Sundays. The Smedley House is the frame structure across from Champa Street on the left as you look down Ninth Street. If you take Colfax eastbound, Osage Street is the light at the end of the viaduct. Go two blocks east to Lipan Street, making a right turn to West 14th Avenue and another right on Mariposa Street. Mariposa Street turns into Ninth Street at West Colfax—it is illegal to make a left turn off of Colfax onto Ninth Street. Copies of The Denver Civic Center will be available then for $20.00 cash, tax paid.

Colfax Tattered Cover (at Elizabeth Street)
Monday, November 7, 7:00 PM (303/322–7727)

Broadway Book Mall (southeast corner of Cedar Avenue and South Broadway)
Sunday, November 20, 3:00–4:30 PM (303/744–2665)

For more information call 303/333-1095.