Heritage Harvest At Larimer Square: Signs Of Life Again On Denver's Most Historic Block!

Back in the 1960s, when urban renewal was all the rage, the City of Denver wound up tearing down hundreds of its most historic buildings, especially in the downtown area, leaving vast empty spaces that would stay vacant for years. And since Larimer Street had become skid row, the reasoning was that if the buildings on that street were torn down, the vagrants would disappear. Instead, they just moved a few blocks north. Who could have guessed that would happen? However, that street's most historic block, between 14th and 15th Streets, featuring Victorian style commercial buildings from the 1870s to the 1890s, was saved by preservationist Dana Crawford, who began acquiring and rehabilitating the buildings on that block in the 1960s. This became Larimer Square, the most popular gathering spot in Denver. But then came twin crises - first, the Covid pandemic, and after that the sale of the block to Asana Partners in December of 2020. The pandemic resulted in the closure of The Market, a cafe and deli, after 42 years in that location, as well as other businesses. And then, a major renovation of the buildings by the new owners forced Bistro Vendome, a popular French restaurant, to move, and Green Russell, a speakeasy style bar, and Russell's Smokehouse to close. Ted's Montana Grill closed after failing to negotiate an extension to their lease. Needless to say, for a number of years Larimer Square was almost like a ghost town. However, recently, new businesses have moved in, and events are beginning to be held there again, such as the Heritage Harvest, described as an autumnal celebration, with pumpkins, seasonal bites and cider, live bluegrass, and more, as seen in the photograph on the left. And it is really nice to see the place filled with people again.

New shops on Larimer Square include Little Blue Pigeon Bookstore, which had a major presence at the festival, as well as a new restaurant in the space formerly occupied by Ted's Montana Grill called Romyo, which the owners describe as the place where "Rome meets Tokyo in Larimer Square." I'm not sure how they can pull that one off, but it is definitely better than a vacant storefront. My favorite restaurant at Larimer Square was Josephina's, an Italian restaurant that was around for 30 years before closing and being replaced by Rioja, a Mediterranean-style restaurant, and Corridor 44, a champaign bar. I remember going to Josephina's many times with my then-wife Lisa. The food was good, the downtown atmosphere was fun, and the prices were reasonable. Of course, these days, you don't go to restaurants in Larimer Square for the reasonable prices, but they do seem popular, and their outdoor patios keep the block lively. Heritage Harvest was by no means a major event, but it did draw a crowd, and hopefully there will be many more events to come. And yes, the photograph on the right is of one of the live bluegrass bands performing during the festival, right in front of the Little Blue Pigeon Bookstore, no less. Works for me.