What’s Happening in Golden Today?
6:30-7:15AM Dynamic Circuit (Virtual)
8:30-9:30AM Power Training (Virtual)
10-10:55AM All Levels Yoga (Virtual)
10AM and 1PM Wild West Walking History Tour
10AMand 1PM Wild West Short Tour
10:15-10:45AM Let’s Dance @ Golden Library
12-12:30PM Mondays with Mayor Weinberg (Virtual)
2-3PM Active Minds Monday – China Belt & Road Initiative (Virtual)
4-4:30PM Kids Martial Arts Class (Virtual)
4-7PM GWiB’s Vision Boarding & Happy Hour
4-5PM LEGO® Build and Play @ Golden Library
6:30PM Downtown Development Authority Meeting @ City Hall
Don Cameron joins the DDA tonight, as this year’s City Council representative. The board will review the results of a survey sent to downtown business owners. They asked whether the businesses would favor bigger grants (they said yes!). Businesses are also asking for specific grants to improve security. Respondents also asked for better parking management, more lights and flowers, and more police presence. Most respondents were unaware of business support services available from the City.
The 2023 budget will not include several sizeable grants that the DDA has provided in previous years, including Arts & Culture ($15K), Golden Visitors Center ($25K), Miners Alley Playhouse ($20K) and Foothills Art Center ($15K). The assumption is that the new Thriving Community fund (from the lodging tax) will cover these areas.
Staff proposes hiring a marketing consultant, who would, upon request, provide downtown businesses with 3 hours of marketing consulting per year.
DDA will begin discussing the CoorsTek project, including which infrastructure costs will be covered by the developer and which by the city. Staff anticipates significantly more tax revenue once that project is built out. Tonight, the DDA will begin discussing how to spend it. See the meeting packet for more information on any of these topics.
Protecting the Hogback
You’ve probably noticed the white “seam” on the hogback at Golden’s northern edge. This resulted from clay mining in the distant past. A mining company is proposing to reopen and dramatically expand that clay mine. This would require rezoning, which the company is currently seeking from Jefferson County.
There will be an online public meeting about this proposed project on Thursday evening, January 26, at 6PM. The Protect the Hogback organization hopes you will attend. For more information:
Visit ProtectTheHogback.com
Download the case documents
Download the event flyer
Plan to attend the meeting
Golden History Moment
If you’ve visited the Boettcher Mansion on Lookout Mountain, you probably think of it as a fine craftsman home, beautifully preserved. It was not always thus.
49 Years Ago
The January 23, 1974 Golden Transcript announced that Jefferson County Commissioners had allocated $100,000 to begin restoring the building. The mansion had been built in 1917 as a summer home for the Boettcher family. In 1968, Charline Breeden, a granddaughter of the Boettchers and owner of the house, donated it–along with the surrounding 110 acres–to Jefferson County. The gift came with the stipulation that the County must keep it for public use and could not sell it.
The County wasn’t quite sure what to do with it, and during the several years they spent deciding, the house deteriorated and was vandalized. The 1974 Transcript article detailed some of the repairs needed: “roof, broken windows, plaster, heating system, electricity, plumbing, floors, carpeting, exterior and interior painting, new locks, drapes, ventilation, outside steps and porches.”
The house is now rented as a venue for meetings and social events. The grounds form the Lookout Mountain Nature Preserve. The Lookout Mountain Nature Center was originally housed in the mansion’s garage, but is now a stand-alone structure.
Thanks to the Golden History Museum for providing the online cache of historic Transcripts, and to the Golden Transcript for documenting our history since 1866!
