El Diablo and Sketch are closed...for now

El Diablo does not look like this tonight. There are no crowds. In fact, the restaurant is closed, as is Sketch, its sibling next door. Very early yesterday morning, the city slapped the entire First Avenue Hotel building with notices to vacate the premise -- immediately...

By Patricia Calhoun

July 11, 2012

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El Diablo does not look like this tonight. There are no crowds. In fact, the restaurant is closed, as is Sketch, its sibling next door. Very early yesterday morning, the city slapped the entire First Avenue Hotel building with notices to vacate the premise -- immediately.

The reason? According to the city, the building is unsafe -- although it signed off on both Sketch and El Diablo opening, and the Denver Office of Economic Development even gave loans to developer Jesse Morreale to bring back the 106-year-old building.

Despite the warning signs plastered on the building, both restaurants were operating yesterday -- Sketch was hosting a fundraiser for 9News reporter Kirk Montgomery, who has a showing of photographs in the restaurant. But Sketch and El Diablo closed early, soon after ten last night, and they did not reopen today.

Morreale had a meeting with the city at 8 a.m. today, and it did not go well. If it had, those restaurants would be open. Asked about that meeting and a timeline for the reopening,, a spokeswoman for Community Planning, the agency responsible for issuing the notices to vacate, said she would get back to us tomorrow. In the meantime, both Sketch and El Diablo remain dark.

The devil's in the details.

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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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