How Skylark Lounge Evolved From a World War II Workers' Bar to a South Broadway Staple

The Skylark Lounge has "always been more of a neighborhood, intellectual bar," says former owner Scott Heron.

"It is very politically active in progressive politics and serves as a gathering place for neighbors. It is a hub for the music scene and artists, but it was also a destination place for people from Englewood and Colorado Springs," he adds. "My favorite memories from the Skylark are meeting the diverse group of people who came through the doors."

The venue has been a South Broadway mainstay since 1943. When it opened at 58 South Broadway during World War II, the Skylark was a small neighborhood bar, serving local workers looking for a place to unwind after long shifts. While it was a go-to watering hole for decades, by the late ’90s the Skylark had fallen on hard times, exacerbated by internal conflicts and low sales. Former owner Dennis Vandyke had wanted to turn it into a gay bar, clashing with one of the building's trustees, who wanted to keep it as it was. The Skylark was struggling to stay afloat, and its fate appeared uncertain.

That’s when Heron entered the picture. Heron, whose prior work included being a pilot, renting sailboats at a marina and installing security systems at military bases, was always interested in music and recognized the Skylark's potential. In 1998, he purchased the bar for $82,000, taking over a business that was on the verge of collapse.

"It was doing a quarter of the sales it had done before," Heron says. "That's what I bought — a bar that wasn't doing so great. Anything I did really shined it up compared to the history of what it was. I immediately started putting pictures in it, decorating it how I liked it, and started having live music. It didn't have a cabaret license when I bought it, so I got one and officially turned it into a bar that had live music. I didn't turn it into a venue; it was always a bar first that had live music as entertainment. The Skylark just gradually built up a good reputation."
After five years of ownership, Heron faced a new challenge: The Skylark’s lease was up, and he had to find a new location. Heron had had lunch with the building's landlord and his broker before purchasing the Skylark, and the landlord had promised him that once his business was up and running, he would give him a long-term lease.

"About six months later, when I went to see him about a long-term lease, the landlord wouldn't even look me in the eye," Heron says. "He just kept walking away from me. The landlord said, ‘There's nothing in the lease for a landlord; it's all for the tenant.’ I knew at that moment that we had to move."

And not far: The Skylark moved just over a block south to its current location at 140 South Broadway. The larger venue allowed Heron to expand operations but also had some complications. "The original Skylark was within someone else's building, so all I had to do was take care of the inside and shovel the sidewalk out front," Heron recalls. "When I moved here, I had to maintain both the outside and the inside of the building. We went from two to sixteen toilets. The expansion was a big responsibility, but it was worth it."
But after more than two decades of running the Skylark, Heron decided it was time to move on. In early 2020, he listed the bar for $2.5 million.

"That’s probably one of the worst times you could try to sell a business, but the Skylark was never in a dire situation," Heron says. "I would have reopened it myself if it had not sold. The Skylark was in a strong position and wasn't going to die because of COVID. After buying it in 1998, I was just burned out. Every year working at the Skylark was like four human years. A lot is going on in there, and you have to wear 28 different hats to run a bar. I had a lot of help from a good staff, but as the sole owner, the real responsibilities and difficult decisions fell on my shoulders."

But he wasn't looking to sell to just anyone. He wanted to ensure that the Skylark remained true to its roots and didn’t lose its identity in the hands of new owners. "There were offers on the table from out-of-state restaurant groups and developers," Heron explains. "One group wanted to turn it into a realty office space, and another wanted to transform it into something more upscale. I wasn’t interested in any of that."

Heron's dedication to preserving the Skylark's legacy made him picky about whom he sold to. Enter Bob Ashby and Nathaniel Rateliff. Rateliff, a Denver-based musician with a national following through his band Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats, and Ashby, a seasoned bartender at venues such as the Bluebird, Gothic and Odgen, had strong ties to the Baker neighborhood.
"Nathaniel and I have been friends for years," Ashby says. "We grew up together in Missouri, and after I moved to Denver in 2002, we spent a lot of time at the Skylark while living in the neighborhood. When this place came up for sale during the pandemic, it was the chance to prevent a classic piece of South Broadway from going away. It was kind of a weird time to buy a business, but we decided to give it a shot and see what happens."

Although Heron admits they did not make the highest offer for the building, Rateliff, Ashby and a group of investors, including Chris Tetzeli and the rest of the Night Sweats, officially purchased the Skylark in June 2021. Heron was attracted to their offer because he liked them personally. They had a bit of a background with the Skylark, and "I thought they would keep it more like how it was," he says.

While the transition to new ownership required some renovations, Ashby and Rateliff were careful not to change what made the Skylark unique. "Outside the $2.5 million, we sunk a good chunk of money into just cleaning this place up," Ashby says. "This place was well loved. We didn't want to change anything major, but we redid the floors on both levels, built the stage upstairs and a new back bar downstairs. It was just cleaning, painting and getting things situated, but nothing structural."
One of the most significant changes they made was upstairs, where they transformed the old pool room into the Bobcat Club, a 75-person-capacity music venue. "It's a small room, so the large majority of this stuff we're going to be booking here are local bands, younger bands and younger touring bands," Ashby says. "I never had any intention of pigeonholing ourselves into being a one-genre venue like a metal or punk club. I wanted someplace where we could have a little bit of everything going on all the time. It's been working out. We're still growing, but I feel like we're coming along nicely."

Ashby’s experience running bars has been essential in managing the Skylark’s day-to-day operations, but owning the venue has come with its fair share of challenges. "Running a 100-year-old building is no small task," Ashby admits. "Being a bar owner means you’re also part handyman and counselor for your employees; you must wear many hats. One Friday night, the bar was packed, and someone told me the urinal was leaking. I couldn't figure out how to turn it off, so I'm standing there with a wrench in one hand and YouTube on my phone in the other, trying to figure out how to fix it on the fly."

But Ashby remains excited about the future of the Skylark, and he’s open to the idea of expanding in the future. "I’d love to turn part of the back parking lot into a covered patio and add an elevator," he says, "but all that depends on how much money we're bringing in."

While the new owners have yet to recoup their initial investment, Ashby reports that they are "on schedule" to break even on the Skylark purchase. In the meantime, Ashby and Rateliff's goal is straightforward: Keep the Skylark as a community hub while allowing it to grow.

"This place has so much history, and we’re just trying to keep that going," Ashby concludes. "It's cool to be a part of something that has existed in the same neighborhood since [the ’40s]. We just want people to know that the door is always open and that everyone is welcome."

The Skylark Lounge is open daily from 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. Learn more at skylarklounge.com.