West Side Recorder Volume 7 No 11

              WEST SIDE RECORDER
Volume 7 — Number 11
Monthly Newspaper of the West Side, Denver, Colorado
West Side Bus Terminal
Site Strongly Opposed
At a special meeting of the West Side Coalition a
resolution was passed opposing the proposed Greyhound Bus Terminal at 1100 W. Colfax Avenue, former site of the O'Meara Ford Dealership. The West
Side Coalition first learned about Greyhound's intentions approximately three months ago. Since that time
the Coalition has been investigating possible consequences of the terminal being situated on  the West
Side.
Lincoln Park Housing Proj-
In talking with members '  ^ to ^ d termi
ot   the    Downtown   Denver
Improvement Association,
the Coalition discovered
that they also oppose the
proposed site and has recommended an alternate
site which we agree would
be an ideal site from a
neighborhood standpoint.
The alternate site suggested
is the Union Station which
already has the facilities to
service Greyhound Bus
Lines such as taxicab
stands. This alternative site
also is close to downtown
and is easily accessible for
buses arriving and departing directly off the Valley
Highway without passing
through any residential
neighborhood.
Negative Factors
In assessing the impact
the Terminal will have on
the West Side we feel there
are many negative factors
the residents will have to
cope with. The proposed
Greyhound Bus Terminal at
Colfax would bring increased volumes of bus and
auto traffic adding to the
traffic the West Side already has which affects the
lives of the residents and in
many cases endangers the
children of the West Side.
The Coalition feels that
there are far too many institutions serving the city
- wide residents of Denver
such as Denver General
Hospital, the Motor Vehicle
Department, the West High
School    Vocational    evening
nal. As is the case of all
Public Housing for low-income families, there is a
high density of children. We
feel that the type of element that is attracted to
bus terminals is not healthy
to the social environment
for these children. Examples
include newsstands, loiterers, and parking lots which
would tend to develop surrounding the terminal,
therefore isolating the Lincoln Housing Projects from
the rest of the community.
Furthermore, many residents of the West Side are
fully aware of the impact
the Auraria College Complex will have on residents
of the West Side directly
south of Colfax. With that
in mind, the West Side Coalition has been working
with members of the Auraria College Complex to do
everything possible to lessen
what we feel would be the
detrimental effects of the
Auraria Complex. In that
regard we have made recommendations, some of
which have been adopted by
the college proponents such
as location of buildings and
green spaces on the campus.
Such a green space was
designed on the eastern tip
of the college site bordered
by Colfax and 11th Street.
The purpose is to try to
integrate the college campus
with the neighborhood.
With a bus terminal situated between   the  West  Side
classes,   and   the   proposed   Community and the college,
Auraria    College    Complex   that purpose can no longer
and that any additional city
wide service such as a terminal can only add to the
further deterioration of the
neighborhood as a residential community. Added to
this problem is the fact that
many West Side streets are
being used as corridors to
the outlying areas by downtown shoppers, students,
and working people, making
this terminal all the more
undesirable because of the
added air and noise pollution.
Bad for Children
Another  factor  of opposition is  the position  of the
be achieved. With that in
mind we also feel that the
bus terminal can only serve
to further isolate the West
Side from being a viable residential community.
Urban Renewal Area
* It is. the intention of
many West Side residents
and organizations to have
designated the section in
which the proposed Bus
Terminal is to be situated
(the proposed boundries
being Mariposa, 13th Avenue, Colfax, and Speer) an
Urban Renewal area. It was
(Continued on last page;
April, 1971
Wsxktwy.' S^/^$C<
Hi ■ *
Preliminary
Elmwood Plans
Unacceptable
." The Elmwood School
Building Design Advisory
Committee and the staff have
unanimously rejected the
architect's first drawing for
the proposed new school
which was submitted to
them on March 15.
"We were very disappointed the school administration
would lead us to believe
that we would have a • say
in the design of our school
and then ignore our plans,"
stated Adolph Gomez Jr.,
committee member.
The administration has
sent the plans back to the
architect to be redrawn,
according to Ramiro Cruz-
Aedo, also a member of the
Advisory Committee, who
seemed hopeful that their
ideas would be considered.
The Advisory Committee
spent many months on a
detailed proposal for the
new school incorporating
the latest concepts in education, which they presented
to the administration and
the architects on January
20, 1971.
The emphasis was on a
community school — one
which would be open evenings, weekends, and summers to the whole community to be used for recreation,
art, music, drama, and
reading.
Instead of the long corridors with rooms on each
side, the committee recommended four learning centers for grades 1-6. These
could be divided into smaller units as demanded and
would surround an open
courtyard to be used as an
outdoor classroom.
Separate from the academic classrooms were the
gymnasium, ' auditorium,
and art room which could
be kept open for after-school
SUPERMARKET
NEARS REALITY
In the early part of 1970
a study was made which
pointed out that the West
Side community is without
the service of any of the
major supermarkets and
that the prices being paid
by West Side residents are
the highest anywhere in
Metropolitan Denver. There
is also a concern about
some of the apparent unfair
practices used by some of
the grocery outlets in West
Denver. Other studies have
shown that the income per
capita of families in West
Denver is the lowest.
As a result of many residents bringing these matters to the attention of the
West Side Action Council,
the Council, in the latter
part of 1970, granted $15,-
000 in a cooperative effort
with Denver Community
Development Corporation
(DCDC) for the purpose of
locating a supermarket in
the   immediate   West   Side
use by the community.
The recommendations of
the Advisory Committee
were based on the specific
learning needs of the children in the community, including early-childhood education   program*
QUESTIONS???
Why are West Side
children going to be
bussed almost exclusively to southwest
Denver and none to
southeast Denver?
Do any of the plans
presented really
achieve true integration?
Why is no attempt
made to integrate
Hispanos and Negroes?
Why is the emphasis
on the predominately
minority schools?
What about the predominately Anglo
schools?
Why must Elmwood
be torn down?
Has serious consideration been given to
achieving integration
by any other method
than massive bussing?
IS THE SCHOOL
BOARD AND THE
ADMINISTRATION
PLAYING GAMES
WITH THE WEST
SIDE COMMUNITY?
DON T MISS PAGE 7.
Important coverage on' school integration plans
area. The prime objective of
the supermarket will be to
bring lower prices, quality
foods and other services,
such as food delivery and
transportation through the
development and utilization
of other programs that are
in the planning.
Another objective is
providing some employment
and some training to West
Side residents through the
available training programs
of SER and CEP. Hopefully,
after receiving proper training these trainees would be
placed in some of the major
supermarkets throughout
the city.
Mr. Louis Rameriz, Director of DCDC, Mr. Al Herrera, representative for
DCDC, together with the
Chairman of the West Side
Action Council, Mr. Tom
Martinez and a member of
staff, met with representative of the West Side Coalition, Mr. Waldo Benavidez,
8 for the purpose of coordinating this effort with the
physical planning that has
been undertaken by the
Coalition. Mr. Benavidez
has been cooperating in
making the plains available
in regard to sites for a proposed future shopping center where a supermarket
would be included. This, of
course, is long range planning. Mr. Benavidez is also
cooperating in trying to find
suitable locations for a supermarket in the interim
period. A number of sites
have been located and are
presently under study. The
sites being considered take
into account the geographical distribution of residents
and where the highest concentration of residents are
located in order to make
the facility accessible to the
greatest number of West
Siders.
The people engaged in the
effort of locating suitable
sites have been considering
present existing facilities
with the possibility of entering into negotiations for the
purchase of such an outlet.
However, they are not restricting their efforts in this
area alone. They are also
looking into the possibility
of locating a suitable site
and constructing a building
that would be adequate. We
have been assured by persons in the financial field
that funds can be made
available to construct such
a facility.