Off Limits

What set Barnes-Gelt off was developer Jim Sullivan's recent construction of two Beverly Hills-style, red-tile-roofed structures on either side of the former Archdiocese of Denver high-rise at Second Avenue and Josephine Street. While Sullivan and others think the blocky, geometric Archdiocese building is an eyesore, local fans of modern architecture, including Barnes-Gelt, love it. So they were horrified when Sullivan put up the adjacent office and retail complexes. (Although they're still unfinished and unoccupied, one already sports several fake metal palm trees on an outdoor patio.) And Barnes-Gelt, who's not exactly known for being shy and reticent, had no problem telling him so.

"I said, 'Jim, how could you take one of the great buildings in Cherry Creek North and build that butt-ugly piece of crap?'" she told the board. But Sullivan had an answer ready: He said he was proud of the structures, Barnes-Gelt reported.

An amateur architecture critic for years, Barnes-Gelt told the board that Cherry Creek is in danger of being overrun by second-rate "Happy Tuscan" architecture, as she refers to it, fronted with fake stucco, or "Spam stone." And while others refer to this style as "Beverly Hills modern," even many of the review-board members agree that it doesn't have much to do with Denver.

But they also agree that their board has only so much power and can't make a bad design into a good one. That's why Barnes-Gelt plans to review design guidelines for this part of town, to see if city council should beef them up. And in the meantime, she has a new tax proposal certain to grab developers' attention.

"I'm going to sponsor an 'ugly tax' that would raise property taxes by 50 percent on ugly buildings," she told the board. "It will keep the city going for years."

Sweet notes: After being closed to the public for three months, a couple of major government buildings/tourist attractions opened again last weekend -- tours of the U.S. Capitol resumed in Washington, D.C., and access to parts of the Air Force Academy was restored in Colorado Springs. But what's really music to the ears of Meredith Gabow is the news that musicians will once again roam the concourses of Denver International Airport in late December, entertaining travelers and, with any luck, easing the minds of anxious, angry or delayed passengers.

The International Performance Series, as it's called, usually rolls out during hectic times of the year, but it never got off the ground at DIA this Thanksgiving because of increased security measures that have been in place since September 11 (Off Limits, November 22). "There is great support for the series," Gabow, who manages the program, said at the time, "but it's critical for us to focus on the airport's goal of passenger safety."

But now Gabow, who operates a Web site about the airport music at calmthebeast.com, has gotten word that the series will be allowed to run from December 21 through December 23 and again from December 28 through December 30, soothing travelers with the sounds of musicians and singers from a variety of musical backgrounds.

Now, bring us some figgy pudding.