As Broncos Stadium Rumors Swirl, Residents Near Burnham Yard Make Their Own Plans

Denver’s Burnham Yard has sat unused in the La Alma-Lincoln Park neighborhood since the railyard operation shuttered in 2016, and nearby residents are still brainstorming the future of the 58-acre site.

The Colorado Department of Transportation bought the property with the intention to expand Interstate 25 or rail lines, but CDOT is looking to sell after studying the area and determining those projects aren’t the right fit.

The Denver Broncos may be interested, as ownership is looking for a location to build a new stadium, and recent land purchases surrounding the property have been linked to the team. Along with Burnham Yard, Lone Tree and Aurora have emerged as options in recent months.

If Broncos ownership chooses Burnham Yard, its neighbors want a voice in the development process.

“We would demand the ownership group work with us and understand our needs, respect our history and really participate in the community,” says David Griggs, a board member of the La Alma Lincoln Park Neighborhood Association and a La Alma resident for 29 years. “This is a really significant urban infill site — probably the last, great infill site that Denver has — so it needs to be looked at strategically and in a way that benefits all of Denver.”

Though neighborhood locals didn't initially envision a giant sports stadium coming to their area, they believe a Broncos stadium could work if the team listens to those who will be directly impacted by construction, and comes to a community benefits agreement (CBA) with residents.

“I love the diversity and camaraderie of the neighborhood,” says Troy Halouska, who has lived there for a decade. “I’ve lived in a number of neighborhoods in Denver, and this one just is a really nice, close-knit neighborhood.”

According to Griggs, neighbors knew for around fifteen years that the railyard was going to leave Denver, which would make Burnham Yard available for redevelopment after an environmental remediation of the effects of over a century of heavy industrial activity.

A recent survey of community members by the neighborhood association found top concerns in the area are job opportunities and housing affordability, with hopes that social services, housing and job sites are part of any development at Burnham Yard. Additionally, Halouska says some people are interested in connecting the east and west sides of the neighborhood through better roads and bikeways.

“Around Burnham Yard in the existing neighborhood, it's important that the community feels like a community,” Christiano Sosa, a La Alma resident since 2009, says. “The fear is that there could be displacement of current neighbors, businesses and artists, which will erode our sense of community.”

The Arts District on Santa Fe, also located in the neighborhood, has become a point of presevration, as well.

“I have real concerns about the process and the power imbalance,” Sosa says. “It's kind of like a David and Goliath. ...We're community members who are looking to improve and connect the neighborhood, and they have a team of lawyers and PR people and lobbyists. It seems very daunting to our registered neighborhood association.”

The association hopes a CBA will help ease that power imbalance and create a working relationship between the team and the neighborhood community.

“There's concern in the community that, typically, stadium projects do not benefit the areas that they're plopped down in,” Griggs says. “It's not uncommon for stadium projects to go into lower-income neighborhoods, but the beneficiaries are the owners as well as the people who come in for the games, and for the events, from other neighborhoods.”

But stadium projects can benefit neighborhoods, with Griggs pointing to Coors Field's effect on lower downtown. A CBA could help this project become another success story, he suggests.

Residents and neighborhood board members worry that the stadium could attract developers that will scrape longtime homes in favor of new projects that are too expensive for La Alma locals too afford.

“We're excited about the potential of a lot more people getting to come to our neighborhood, and we just want to make sure that that support is reciprocated,” says neighborhood association president Nolan Hahn.

“We've always been a neighborhood of immigrants,” Sosa adds. “It's largely been an affordable community. I'm concerned if property values go up, what does that do to what has historically been affordable?”

Denver Neighborhood Equity & Stabilization, which works to mitigate displacement and preserve neighborhood character as the city grows, identified Lincoln Park as one of the neighborhoods most vulnerable to economic or cultural pressures in coming years. However, housing being included in the plan for the development around the stadium could help with concerns about displacement, Hahn says.

“We have generations that have lived here. My family is a great example,” says Halouska, whose great-grandfather worked as a carpenter at Burnham Yard from the 1920s to the '50s. “There's so many families just within a couple blocks of me that have been here for three, four or five generations. That really builds the character of the neighborhood if you get people knowing each other, looking out for each other. …Denver has changed so much since growing up here. It's nice to be in a place where that sense of community is still intact.” Ideas for an agreement at Burnham Yard include commitments to affordable housing for any potential housing built on the site as well as priority for a certain number of jobs set aside for to those who live nearby.

Empower Field at Mile High Stadium, the Broncos' current home, has acres of parking lots around the stadium itself. New stadium developments are eliminating much of that parking, as is the case around Ball Arena in downtown Denver, where parking lots are slated to become residential areas over the next few decades. La Alma neighbors hope the Burnham Yard development will follow suit instead of dedicating acres to largely unused parking lots. They also hope the stadium will work to integrate public transit options to cut down on emissions in the neighborhood.

“We have, essentially, highways in our neighborhood in the form of 6th and Kalamath and Speer, and those already cause enough issues for the for kids in our neighborhood with growing up with asthma,” Hahn says. “We don't need to add more cars driving through.”

Light and noise pollution are also concerns for La Alma residents, but Hahn says that could be ameliorated through a CBA in a way that works for everyone.

Finally, the neighborhood wants to be sure the team recognizes the history of Burnham Yard.

“There’s lots of heritage here, starting with Native American heritage,” Griggs says. “Then, going to immigrants, there were lots of German and Irish people who worked for the railroad when Burnham Yard was active. Then, the huge Chicano influence and heritage and Latino communities that are still a prominent part of our neighborhood.”

Halouska, whose family history is intertwined with the neighborhood, says he grew up hearing stories about the Chicano movement and the Catholic immigrants who helped build the neighborhood, like his German ancestors.

“I definitely want the history to be honored,” Halouska says. “It also makes it harder to accept something like a football stadium being built in the neighborhood. …There are some positives to a football stadium economically, but I do think those positives will come at a cost to the current character of the neighborhood.”

When CDOT was looking to develop the property, residents say the department offered many opportunities for community engagement. Once that concept ended, the community stopped hearing from the department and has not been asked to weigh in on a sale.

The neighborhood association hasn’t heard from the Broncos yet, and the team has not publicly indicated whether Burnham Yard is definitely going to be the site of a new stadium.

“As we conduct due diligence on several options for the future of our stadium, we have thoroughly researched the potential sites to understand their unique histories and future opportunities,” a statement from the Broncos reads. “While no determinations have been made, we understand that engaging with — and listening to — key community constituents is an essential part of this process.”

Hahn points to the successful CBA achieved last fall for Ball Arena as an example. Broncos ownership is primarily descendants of the family that founded Walmart in Carrie Walton Penner and husband Greg Penner. That is also the case for Ball Arena in Ann Walton Kroenke and her husband Stan Kroenke.

“We're hopeful that Kroenke will speak to his brother-in-law and say, ‘Hey, it's not that bad to work with the neighborhoods. They're reasonable,’” Hahn says. “I'm hopeful that the success of that CBA process will help the Broncos be more open when it comes time to negotiate their own.”

The neighborhood association will meet with the area’s Denver City Council member Jamie Torres later this week, and e Ensuring a neighborhood CBA becomes a sticking point for a Burnham Yard purchase is on the agenda.

“There could be potential good things that come out of this,” Sosa says. “We just need to be part of the conversation. We need to be at the table. It's respectful to one of Denver's oldest neighborhoods, most diverse neighborhoods, and we deserve that. …They're going to have a desire to protect their long-term interests, and I just don't want ours to be lost.”