Democrats To Descend On Downtown Denver

The Denver, Colorado, skyline

Perhaps the most awesome panorama of the booming metropolis of Denver comes from atop Twister II, one of the largest wooden roller coasters in the world.

In the dizzying heights above Elitch GardensÑAmerica's only downtown theme parkÑthe Mile High City spreads out along horizons punctuated by glass office towers and the gold-plated dome of the Colorado State Capitol, with the snow-dusted Rockies all around.

By the end of this summer, television viewers across the world will be familiar with such pictures of Denver, host city for the Aug. 25-28 Democratic National Convention. For political junkies glued to their TV for those four days, the quadrennial affair will be their version of a thrill ride.

According to the Denver Metro Convention and Visitors Bureau, the political gathering will be the city's largest event ever, attracting 50,000 people and generating $160 million in economic impact. On opening night alone, there will be more than 100 private parties. The largest welcome signage in city history will decorate downtown streets for the confab, only the second major party political convention ever held in Denver. (The Democrats nominated William Jennings Bryan for president here in 1908, exactly a century ago.)

Top network news anchors will be in town, along with up to 20,000 other journalists from around the globe, to report on the expected nomination of Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.). Comedy Central's satirical "The Daily Show" with Jon Stewart will tape at Denver University's Newman Center.

Most of the TV coverage will emanate from the 46-acre Pepsi Center, a concert and sports venue adjacent to Elitch Gardens. Built in 1999, the arena is home to basketball's Denver Nuggets and hockey's Colorado Avalanche.

Nearby is Invesco Field at Mile High football stadium, stomping grounds of the Denver Broncos. During the Democrats' convention, the stadium will host "The Presidential Experience," a non-partisan civics exhibit open to the public Aug. 22-29. It will include replicas of Air Force One and the Oval Office.

Happily for convention delegates and tourists, downtown Denver is compact. Major attractions and hotels are relatively close together. The Hyatt Regency Denver, the Democrats' headquarters hotel, is next to the Colorado Convention Center, site of caucuses and meetings and within walking distance of the Pepsi Center.

Highly walkable, Colorado's capital contrasts sharply with many Western cities that have no real center. On Thursday and Saturday mornings in summer, the visitors' bureau offers a free historical walking tour of downtown, the 10th largest downtown area in America.

More than any other development, the 1995 opening of Coors Field, home to baseball's Colorado Rockies, sparked the growth of downtown Denver, especially the 26-block warehouse district known as LoDo, short for "Lower Downtown."

Blending in with the Victorian-era surroundings, the classic brick ballpark features a centerfield bullpen landscaped Colorado-style with river boulders, a waterfall, and pine and spruce trees. A fountain shoots skyward for Rockies home runs. Stadium tours feature the single row of purple seats exactly one mile (5,280 feet) above sea level. The team plays at home during the Democratic convention, adding to the downtown buzz that week.

LoDo abounds with nightlife, from music clubs to sports bars and brewpubs. By day, art galleries, trendy shops and hot restaurants bring in crowds. Thousands of residents live in the lofts of LoDo, giving the area a 24-hour vibrancy.

Wazee Supper Club, in a 1910 brick building that housed a plumbing supply business, offers irresistible pizza made from dough rolled in cornmeal. Denver ChopHouse & Brewery, between Coors Field and Union Station, impresses visitors with trappings from the golden age of railroading, not to mention steaks like the Gorgonzola Filet.

The Denver Performing Arts Complex, just a few blocks from LoDo, is by the city's convention center and will host some Democratic meetings next month. With 10 theaters offering opera and symphony, ballet and Broadway, it is the world's largest performing arts center under one roof and, in seating capacity, ranks second only to New York's Lincoln Center. The Ellie Caulkins Opera House, the oldest theater, until 2006 was called the Auditorium, site of the 1908 Democratic convention.

Lively 16th Street Mall, the mile-long spine of downtown Denver, is the place to see and be seen. Grab a table at a sidewalk cafe and watch the parade of people. Street performers add to the festivity along this banner-festooned pedestrian promenade lined with trees, benches and flower baskets. Horse carriages and free mall shuttle buses are the only vehicular traffic.

Anchoring the southern end of 16th Street Mall is the hip Denver Pavilions, a two-block complex with nightspots, cinemas and shops like Nike Town and Virgin Records.

Canyons of skyscrapers dominate 17th Street, the "Wall Street" of the Rocky Mountain West, and 18th Street. Mixed in with the financial district's high-rises are historic structures like the Brown Palace Hotel, a landmark dating back to 1892. With its stained-glass ceiling and walls of onyx, the hotel's grand, eight-story atrium lobby is the perfect spot for an English-style afternoon tea accompanied by harp or piano music.

Every president since Theodore Roosevelt, except Calvin Coolidge, has stayed at the Brown Palace. Dwight Eisenhower, a frequent visitor, ran his successful 1952 presidential campaign from the hotel. In the Eisenhower Suite one can see where one of Ike's wayward golf balls left a dent by the fireplace.

In nearby Civic Center Park in 1908, the mayor built an elaborate fountain for Democratic convention visitors to see. The fountain is being rebuilt for the 2008 event.

Points of interest near Civic Center Park include the Colorado History Museum, Denver Art Museum and State Capitol, whose open-air observation deck affords sweeping views of the Rockies.

Located on the Platte River, the city actually lies on high, rolling plains, not in the mountains. And though considered Western in character, Denver rests in the center of the country, just 346 miles west of the exact center of the continental United States.

No trip to downtown Denver is complete without touring the U.S. Mint, where you can see machines make, sort and bag shiny pennies and other coins. From glass observation galleries, visitors witness the jangling coins pour from stamping machines into wheeled "wagons," much like casino slot machines gone wild.

East of downtown is City Park, the largest green space in a city that boasts many inviting parks. Come here for the best views of the Rocky Mountains, a pretty lake with gardens and fountains, and two family-friendly attractionsÑthe Denver Zoo and Denver Museum of Nature and Science.

Buffalo Bill's Grave & Museum, a shrine to showman and frontier scout William F. Cody, is located on Lookout Mountain, above the town of Golden.

Denver's mountain park system protects herds of buffalo in two locations, another reminder of the city's Western heritage.

You not only can see buffalo in Denver but eat buffalo as well. One such place is the Buckhorn Exchange, whose menu also includes elk and rattlesnake. As much a museum as a restaurant and bar, Denver's oldest eatery (1893) displays more than 500 animal heads, some of them from hunting trips that owner Henry Zietz took with Teddy Roosevelt in Colorado and Africa.

If You Go

Weather: In summer, dry relative humidity makes Denver feel comfortable. Winters are mild with an average daily high of 45 degrees. Denver receives only 8-15 inches of precipitation a year. Information: Denver Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau, (800) 393-8559; www.denver.org.