We were pleased to welcome CEO Brad Buchanan from the National Western Center as our primary speaker for our briefing on the center Tuesday, February 18. We also heard a brief interview with Councilperson Darrell Watson, who represents Globeville and Elyria-Swansea, the neighborhoods surrounding the center. The event was recorded, and I strongly encourage you to watch if you were unable to attend. The extent of the center is not known to enough people in Denver, and it is an extremely important asset for the present and the future.
The event was recorded, and I strongly encourage you to watch if you were unable to attend. The extent of the center is not known to enough people in Denver, and it is an extremely important asset for the present and the future.
Surrounded by western symbols, CEO Buchanan spoke to us from his cattle ranch in Strasburg, Colorado, a town 45 miles east of Denver on I70. He spoke strongly of the importance of connecting the rural/urban divide and keeping alive the western history of our city and state. He personally straddles that divide and wishes more of us would understand and appreciate how our food is grown and meat produced. On the other hand, he wishes rural Colorado would learn and appreciate more about the advantages available in a city. The National Western Center hopes to meet those needs through the National Western Stock Show and the CSU Spur on the NWC campus: three buildings, which are extensions of Colorado State University, entitled VIDA for pet and animal health, TERRA for food, and HYDRA for the precious water we so desperately need in the west. These striking buildings are open to the public on the second Saturday of each month.
Although the campus was originally supported by a tourism tax in 2015, a bond issue in 2021 to further expand the campus was defeated, although supported by the League. CEO Buchanan was understanding about that defeat. They hadn’t done enough to prove they would meet their mission. Too many plans had not been completed on what will be a 250-acre campus.
Of major importance in this project are the surrounding neighborhoods, claiming zip code 80216 the most polluted zip code in North America. These neighborhoods of Globeville and Elyria-Swansea have historically been neglected, which is why we wanted to interview Councilperson Watson to see if the center has been a positive or negative force in those neighborhoods. Although he is hopeful that the center will be a positive force and he is working to help make that so, he said we have failed those neighborhoods so many times, and they don’t trust anymore, if they ever did. Buchanan acknowledged that many households who had known this as their neighborhood for generations had to relocate due to the development. The center has been a triangle which separated these neighborhoods from the center and from each other. That is changing as the center, with federal assistance, has been building bridges across the old train tracks and the Platte River, giving them access to the center and each other. These bridges are a huge step. Buchanan spoke strongly about what they hope will be positive impacts from the center for those neighborhoods.
Buchanan’s presentation and slides show all that has been accomplished and what is yet to be built, including a 200-room hotel. There is a new facility used for concerts and smaller conventions, as well as neighborhood meetings by groups all over the city, such as the UCHealth Fair for Women. 950 jobs have been created with emphasis on the adjacent neighborhoods. They are using sewer lines which contain primarily hot water to supply carbon-free energy, the largest such system in North America.
A major entity is the Community Investment Fund, providing major funding for the neighborhoods, run by the neighborhoods, also presented positively by Councilperson Watson. In 2024, the payback to the community was $90,000, and it is expected that this will be $150,000 in 2025.
Although I encouraged this topic for a briefing and set up the speakers, I want to thank Sue Stark for handling the briefing, including the interview, and thanks to Pearlanne Zelarney for handling the questions in Chat and getting the briefing recordings up on the web so quickly (see the recording on our YouTube Channel here). Although the number of people who attended this briefing was small, the response was positive. I encourage you to check it out. Lots of good things are happening up there.
Marty Sloven
Program Committee