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■ Presentations to neighborhood organizations intended to ‘address legitimate concerns’
BY RORY SEEBER
Representatives of US OpenAir (USOA), which plans to debut a month-long outdoor movie series in City Park next summer, attended a series of community meetings in June to address concerns about the project “before any further discussion is played out without the proper research in place,” as explained by USOA managing director Julie Frahm.
Eight meetings with registered neighborhood organizations (RNO) were held last month and as of deadline another nine were scheduled for July, along with a few the following month.
At the June 22 general membership meeting of the North City Park Civic Association (NCPCA), held at Scott United Methodist Church, 29th & Garfield, Frahm told the approximately 25 association members present, “It’s totally different than the city’s free films.” She clarified that the quality and types of food to be available, the atmosphere, the grandstand to be used, and the technology will all contribute to making the movies much more of a special event.
A USOA handout with answers to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) said
in part, “With any new event concerns can arise within the community
about how the event will impact local neighborhoods. In the normal
course of things, some of these will be legitimate and some
unfounded.... (W)e need to address the legitimate concerns and put to
rest the unfounded.” Current plans call for construction of a 1,600-seat temporary
grandstand for the series. The final City Park site to be used has not
yet been selected, but at present a location just southwest of the
Denver Museum of Nature & Science (DMNS) and south of the rose
gardens on a slope facing the mountains is being evaluated (see map,
this page).
Initially proposed as a festival running 30 consecutive nights, USOA
now says it will probably change the schedule so that it won’t conflict
with the free City Park Jazz concerts scheduled for Sunday evenings
June through the first week of August at the bandstand on the west side
of Ferril Lake.
USOA is also talking with the Denver Zoo and DMNS so as to avoid any
conflicts with those establishments’ major scheduled events next
summer. The suggested period for the series is currently July 13-Aug.
19.
Gates would open at 6 pm and the movies would be shown at nightfall.
Tickets are expected to cost $15 in advance and $20 at the door.
The original plan delineated in a Parks Use Agreement signed with
the city had called for beginning the festival this month in Civic
Center Park, Colfax & Broadway, in conjunction with the inaugural
Biennial of the Americas celebration. The contract called for moving the
event to City Park in 2011 and 2012.
Unable to secure enough corporate sponsorship or obtain a liquor
license in time, in February the debut was postponed for a year and the
use of Civic Center was thus eliminated.
Frahm said at the NCPCA meeting that the “particular concerns” she’s
heard from other groups include: blocking the view for other park
users, parking, and the movie soundtracks being heard in neighborhoods
adjacent to the park.
USOA, the exclusive US licensee of a Swiss company, has said that
locating the grandstand close to the museum will enable public use of
all but a “small corner” of the park and that only a “small section” of
the park’s pathway system will be closed during the festival’s hours of
operation.
Frahm said that the site will open after the zoo and museum are
closed for the day and that those attractions’ parking lots and garages,
along with a short stretch of park roadway, can provide 1,600 free
parking spaces (see map). She said that will be sufficient even if each
of the 1,600 attendees for a sold-out film were to drive to the park.
USOA is aware of the difficulties created when people attending City
Park events park in adjoining neighborhoods, especially South City
Park. The company will place “courtesy signs” on nearby residential
blocks, advise ticket buyers that the entrance is next to the museum,
and look at ways to encourage patrons to park in (the zoo and museum)
lots by providing incentives.
Frahm also noted that USOA is in discussions with RTD concerning
possible discounts. Shuttles from remote lots are also possible, as is
the use of pedicabs.
As stated in the FAQ handout, based on experience gathered while
staging similar events in other countries, USOA is “well versed in
monitoring and limiting sound to acceptable emission levels.”
Frahm said that the closest residences to the currently suggested
venue are 1,000' away on the east side of Colorado Blvd. She added that
occupants of those houses should hear less than 55dB(D) average
projected sound, which is less than the average street noise that is
produced by vehicles on the boulevard.
Concerns raised by residents of the Skyline neighborhood at the
meeting included: who will “profit” from the film series; whether the
program could be extended; violating the park’s 11 pm curfew; security;
and insurance.
Frahm’s responses: “The city will make money whether (USOA) does or
not;” the contract limits USOA to 30 days of films plus set-up &
break-down periods for two summers only and after that the contract
process would have to start over again from scratch; the agreement
allows an extension of the curfew to midnight, in case a film runs long
and time is needed to clear the area; a local, private security firm
will watch the site 24/7; and USOA will carry liability insurance.
The use of a portion of a free public park for a paid-admission
event is a primary complaint about USOA’s plan (and is the subject of
the Admission-Based Special Events Policy [ABSEP] being created by the
city).
Larry Ambrose, a member of the ABSEP Task Force, and former City
Councilwoman Cathy Donohue were invited to the NCPCA meeting to provide
“counterpoints” to USOA’s plans.
COURTESY OF US OPENAIR
THIS PURELY CONCEPTUAL VIEW of a possible layout plan for the US OpenAir film festival in City Park would place the collapsible screen & a 1,600-seat grandstand (in red) just southwest of the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, 2001 Colorado. Although USOA calls this proposed arrangement a ‘work in progress,’ the map also shows the more than 1,600 available free parking spaces in the Denver Zoo & DMNS lots & garages, as well as a few spots in the park itself, that filmgoers will be strongly encouraged to use.
Some opponents have argued that the City Charter specifies that such
use of a city park requires a vote of the electorate, which was the
point explained by Donohue.
“There’s always a skunk at a garden party, and that’s me,” Donohue
said. She averred that USOA’s “lease” of the park, okayed by the City
Attorney (“who works for the mayor, not for us”), should require a vote
of the people.
District 8 City Councilwoman Carla Madison, who attended the
meeting, replied that Donohue was misrepresenting the facts because the
contract “is a (legal) lease and (USOA) is a concessionaire.”
Ambrose said that USOA and the city “are making all kinds of
exceptions here,” including the length of the series, the company not
being a concessionaire, and its desire for a Special Event liquor
license.
Madison noted that USOA will be applying for a Tavern liquor
license.
Ambrose finished by saying, “I’m not here to bad-mouth OpenAir
Cinema.... They’re perfectly good people. They’re trying to do what
businesses do, to make a buck, but they’re doing it at the expense of
our Charter and at the expense of our state laws. And we’re going to
fight that anyway we can. We’re gonna fight that because it’s wrong.
We’re gonna fight them at the liquor license level, we’re gonna fight
them at the Charter level, and we’re gonna fight them at the market
level...”.
“You can spend your money to help file a lawsuit against this if you
want to stop it. That’s what we’re going to do,” Ambrose concluded.
Those in favor of the festival have said: it will “activate” the
park (a key point when Civic Center was to be used first); it will
provide maintenance funds for the parks; it will create jobs; it could
attract customers to neighboring business districts; and there is almost
no financial risk to the city, among other arguments.
The city could earn upwards of $100,000 from the first year of the
contract.
The FAQ handout and a schedule of the upcoming presentations to RNOs
can be found at usopenair.com. For
other information, email
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