Since it first opened as a movie house eight decades ago, the Roxy Theater (2549 Welton Street) has gone through many incarnations, most recently as a dance club. The building is one of many properties in Five Points acquired by Charles Cousins, who passed away in May 2009. Some of those properties have been inherited by his daughter, Dr. Renee Cousins-King, who owns Cousins Investments.
The dance club closed a few months ago, and the 4,800-square-foot Roxy is now up for lease. Quite a few ventures have looked at the space, says a Cousins Investments rep — everyone from non-profit agencies to the city, as well as people who would like to open a bar or restaurant. But that could be tricky, because the club's previous owners let the liquor license expire — and new ones aren't easy to come by in this neighborhood.
A year ago, the American Legion's Wallace Simpson Post 29 had hoped to take over the former BJ's Port, another Cousins building at 2801 Welton Street, and turn it into a post complete with bar. But the deal went south when the liquor-license application was denied by the Denver Department of Excise and Licenses because the building was too close to a school — a school that didn't exist when the original bar opened decades ago.
Club scout: After being seized for non-payment of taxes last February, The Oasis Cabaret and Grand Paladium (both at 1400 West 62nd Avenue) might be under new ownership by January. In the meantime, Robert Cox, a federal receiver who oversees the facilities, says he's been allowing various promoters to use the space on a per-event basis.
New owners have taken over Pogue Mahone's Irish Pub (17904 Cottonwood Drive in Parker), and though it's still open under that name, it will soon become McMullen's Pub. And "Denver's premier dart bar," as The Naughty Prince (7950 East Mississippi Avenue) billed itself, has closed its doors after a few years' run.
For over three years, DJ Low Key and Sounds Supreme have offered weekly underground hip-hop parties dubbed the Solution in various spots around town, currently 3014 (3014 East Colfax Avenue) on Fridays. Though the Solution is sticking with that date and place, Sounds Supreme is stepping down and DJ Lazy Eyez, who did a six-year stint at Basementalism and is the vice president of Hip-Hop Congress Denver, has stepped up.
