And then the Friends of the Mayan stepped in. See also: Photos of the Landmark Mayan Theatre's eightieth birthday party
In the summer of 1984, the newly constituted Friends of the Mayan launched the campaign to save the theater, getting it designated a Denver landmark and raising funds to cover the cost of a major renovation. The curtain went up on the new Mayan in 1986, with the restored theater (and giant Mayan figures) downstairs and two smaller screens in the former balcony. Landmark Theaters has been running the place as an arthouse -- complete with one of the town's first cinema cafes -- ever since.At 9:30 a.m. on Friday, July 25, the Friends of the Mayan will be back at the theater at 110 Broadway to celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of the building's save and acknowledge the key roles played in the campaign by people like former mayor Federico Peña and former congresswoman Pat Schroeder. The celebration won't end there: Michele Koons, anthropologist at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science and lead curator for Maya: Hidden Worlds Revealed, will present a free lecture on Maya culture and the remarkable artifacts in the current exhibition, the largest display ever devoted to the ancient Maya in the United States.
But the Mayan itself is a pretty remarkable artifact. When it opened on November 20, 1930, Denver boosters bragged about what an authentic example of Mayan design it was, and how it "enshrined within its walls the enchanting mysteries of an ancient cultured age," says Friends president Chris Citron. "This presentation will be a unique occasion to again celebrate our own permanent monument to Mayan heritage here in Denver while learning about the fascinating Mayan culture and the latest scientific discoveries about it."
Admission is free -- and anyone who attends will also receive a ticket to Maya: Hidden Worlds Revealed. But you need to RSVP to Citron at [email protected].
