National Western complex goes to pot: Welcome to the Mile (really) High City

If the National Western Stock Show moves to Aurora -- and don't hold your breath for a big financial farewell from Denver voters -- it will leave one big gap in a part of Denver that's already been a dump site for polluting industries and a neighborhood-dividing Interstate. So why...

By Patricia Calhoun

June 30, 2011

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If the National Western Stock Show moves to Aurora -- and don't hold your breath for a big financial farewell from Denver voters -- it will leave one big gap in a part of Denver that's already been a dump site for polluting industries and a neighborhood-dividing Interstate. So why not an empty, hundred-plus-year-old Arena, a sixty-year-old coliseum and other abandoned facilities?

There are only so many monster truck shows that this metro area can sustain -- and no matter where it's built, a new National Western complex will need to fill the joint during the 345 days a year when it isn't occupied by the Stock Show.

But that's Aurora's problem. Denver will have to deal with uses for the land where the current complex is located, which doesn't seem a likely candidate for a big Lowry or Stapleton urban infill project.

Our solution? The world's largest grow facility for medical marijuana. After all, there are already growhouses along the Platte and up Brighton Boulevard, in all those old industrial spaces.

And while we hear that the National Western hasn't been very friendly to featuring any MMJ activities in the upcoming Denver County Fair, there's no denying that pot is one of this state's biggest cash crops. In fact, if Denver hurries, it could submit a regional tourism subsidy application to the state -- the deadline is today, which explains the wild ride to find a new location for the Natonal Western -- asking for financial help to turn the spot into a working farm/pharmacy pot amusement park.

Welcome to the Mile (really) High City, where there's some pot in every chicken!

Take that, Aurora.

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Patricia Calhoun is editor-in-chief of Westword, the alt-weekly she co-founded in September 1977. She’s been inducted into the Colorado Press Association Hall of Fame, the Association of Alternative Newsmedia Hall of Fame and the Colorado Restaurant Association Hall of Fame. She’s also received dozens of local, state and national awards for writing, including first place for feature writing and first place for column writing with the Society of Professional Journalists. Patricia is a weekly commentator on Colorado Inside Out, PBS 12's public affairs roundtable, which has won two Emmys.

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