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Sign, Sign, Everywhere A Sign. But Swallow
Hill Wants This One To Disappear
by Paul Kashmann
From folk to reggae, Appalachian
clog dancing to Jewish World Beat, Swallow Hill is the place
to go for acoustic music.
For 27 years, Swallow Hill Music
Association has brought the joy of American and international
roots music to music lovers of all ages through a year-round
concert series and music school.
Born when the Denver Folklore Center
was evicted from its longtime Capitol Hill location, Swallow
Hill spent many years bouncing from available space to available
space, before, finally, in the summer of 1999, purchasing an
old church building and attached offices, at 71 E. Yale Ave.,
on the Denver/Englewood border.
Through the efforts of volunteers
and underpaid staffers, and the dedication of its membership,
Swallow Hill has grown to become the second largest folk music
organization in the country, second only to the Old Town School
of Folk Music, in Chicago.
Last year, Swallow Hill reached another major milestone when
it made the leap from Tier III to Tier II status, qualifying
for increased funding from the Scientific and Cultural Facilities
District, which directs millions of dollars in tax monies to
arts organizations in the six-county metro area.
While the Yale Ave. location has
been a good home for Swallow Hill, times have not been easy.
To make the long, laborious voyage out of the red and into the
black has required relentless corner-cutting, and great largesse
from the faithful.
Monetary donations have played
an important role in keeping the books balanced, and repairs
and improvements to the facility have been done largely through
volunteer labor and contributed materials.
The inside has been repainted with
sweat equity and free paint. Furniture has been donated or purchased
on the cheap. While finances have not yet allowed for a full
spiff up of the building’s exterior, the front and side
lawns were redone a couple of years ago in an attempt to dress
up the view.
Hence, the distress felt throughout
the organization when shortly thereafter, an advertising kiosk
and bus bench appeared, unannounced, a few yards from Swallow
Hill’s front door, advertising a popular brand of vodka
to all passing by, and interfering with the visibility of Swallow
Hill’s sign, and the marquee advertising coming performances.
Jim Williams is executive director
for Swallow Hill. “This thing appeared outside our door,
at the bus stop, and we assumed it had something to do with
RTD, so we started calling to find out what we could do, and
got no response. Then we started calling the city, and they
didn’t respond, either. It took us about six months to
find out it was, actually, related to the city.”
It turns out that the kiosk and
bench set-up in question was permitted by Denver Public Works,
as part of a program that allows vendors to place advertising
kiosks and benches in certain locations. For each kiosk location,
the company pays a fee and agrees to place a number of benches
without kiosks in other locations at no charge to the city.
“The program was started by
City Council four or five years ago,” said Rob Duncanson,
Engineering Manager for Public Works. “The intent was to
supplement and replace the advertising bench program that wasn’t
well maintained. We get $200 per kiosk, and a standard number
of green benches with no advertising at other locations. The
permittee is responsible for the maintenance.”
Williams eventually was directed
to Viacom, the outdoor billboard company, who was the permittee
for the kiosk site at their Yale Ave. site. “We tried to
negotiate some sort of deal, but they basically told us to get
lost.”
“Basically, it’s legally
permitted,” said Mark Najarian, Senior Engineer with Denver
Public Works. He explained that there are currently about 70
kiosks, 15 bus shelters and 450 benches “in the ground,”
and another 30 kiosks and 200 benches permitted. “We’ve
got another 300 kiosks that have been requested (by vendors),
but I’d guess maybe one in three of those will actually
hit the ground. So the issue is, are we setting a precedent
by meeting (Swallow Hill’s) concern. It was felt that this
would be setting a precedent. We’ve got news boxes, XCEL
boxes, etc. Where do we stop if someone doesn’t like something
in the right of way?”
Denver Councilwoman Kathleen MacKenzie
disagrees with the Public Works position. “I don’t
agree with that. There are some structures in the right-of-way
where public safety trumps private property interests —
‘Stop’ signs, for example. Denver’s Public Works
department is justified in not negotiating the placement of
these structures with adjacent property owners. The placement
of advertising kiosks doesn’t come close to this level
of importance, however. If the city truly wants to be business
and arts-friendly, there is no reason to refuse to try to accommodate
the concerns of nearby property owners in the placement of these
optional structures. I hope elected officials can persuade Public
Works to reconsider.”
Larry Goldman is a member of the
Swallow Hill Board of Directors. “There’s no petitionary
process we have to turn to (to get the kiosk removed),”
complained Goldman. “We’re left with something we
don’t like, and the feeling that the city doesn’t
care about us. It’s a poor way to treat an organization
that’s unique, and special to Denver.”
Williams, of course, agrees with
his associate. “It appears the strategy (the City) is using
is basically if you put them off long enough they’ll go
away. We may not be a real rough bunch over here, but we are
certainly not going to go away.”
For more information, call Swallow
Hill at 303-777-1003 or the Department of Public Works, 720-865-8714.
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