Heading from Broadway down 16th Street, construction finally stops at the Denver Pavilions. That last line of fencing gives way, and jazz swells from a spot between the benches and flowers in front of the Pavilions, or maybe from inside. But the transformation only goes so far. The Pavilions escalators work going up, but they don't work going down. Many of the stores are empty. Walking through the space, a lot of it looks the same as it did ten or even twenty years ago.
Some of the Pavilions is boarded up, but people passing on 16th Street don't seem to mind as they pass inside.
Bennito L. Kelty
Based on the Pavilions' online directory, the mall has fifty retail spaces, but only twenty are filled with operating businesses. The rest are marked with a "coming soon" label that really means they're vacant. Nothing has replaced the Hard Rock Cafe on the second floor. Across from the Hard Rock Cafe, a women's clothing store, Francesca's, is surrounded by a handful of stores that look empty.
Denver Pavilions' resident businesses like Maggiano's, 5280 Burger Bar and Henry's Tavern can now offer alcoholic beverages to-go so people can drink in certain parts of the Pavilions, a new permission that took effect in August in hopes of boosting the downtown economy.
Cars can't go through the section of Glenarm Place that runs through the Pavilions anymore. It's now a patio with potted plants, uneven shade and short, oddly shaped chairs. The reddish-orange signs announce it's "Glenarm Plaza," which is the "heart of downtown Denver," according to the Downtown Denver Partnership, a business improvement district. (Although, maybe it should be the liver of downtown, given the recent open alcohol consumption permit)
A mother and her teenage daughter come out of H&M with stuffed bags and circle back into the Pavilions, talking in Spanish about what kind of fashion they like. Another mother and her four daughters walk over the yellow-and-red trapezoids in Glenarm Plaza; the littlest girl jumps and scares a pigeon strolling like a shopper in the other direction.
A father and his teenage daughter are sitting at 5280 Burger Bar. They're the only ones in the restaurant on a hot summer afternoon, except for a guy at the bar looking at his phone.
The three floors and catwalks of the Pavilions are a nice place to be, especially when looking for a shady escape from the sun.
Bennito L. Kelty
I was never here late at night two decades ago, but I return this day. Around midnight, the Pavilions draws a young crowd...with no little kids. Smokers are outside Coyote Ugly, laughing with the bouncer. A double date lingers as the foursome leaves Lucky Strike. After the last movie ends, the Pavilions pretty much closes up for the night.
A Spirit Halloween costume store, a dark sign for a struggling retail complex, opened in the ground floor next to Lucky Strike earlier this summer. As someone hoping for the best for the Pavilions, it's hard to see. Just a couple of stores over from Spirit Halloween is a Hot Topic, which is still a staple at many malls.
The Pavilions has a way of impressing me one minute with the kind of places it holds onto, and then making me feel sorry the next as I see a Spirit Halloween and clusters of empty stores. But even as I walk back towards Broadway through the latest construction, I can turn and see that "United Artists" sign still glowing, and that's still enough to bring me back.
For other looks at 16th Street today, check out Westword's series, "The Summer It Turned Pretty."
