Nancy P. Anschutz Center Underway
By Rebecca Voll
Excited supporters broke ground Wednesday, October 17, for the community center that will rise from the ashes of the 2008 Holly Square fire. Construction, which will take nine to 11 months, is beginning on the Nancy P. Anschutz Center, which will house the Jack A. Vickers Boys & Girls Club and the offices of the Prodigal Son Initiative. The ceremony highlighted the community leaders who have supported and funded the Holly Area Redevelopment Project. The ceremony was moved indoors to the Hiawatha Davis Recreation Center, across the street from the site, due to wind.
A former shopping center at 33rd and Hudson that was destroyed by arson related to gang warfare more than four years ago, Holly Square was purchased by the Urban Land Conservancy in 2009, and has recently been home to basketball and futsal courts and “peace poles” built by local activists and neighbors. A $5 million donation by the Anschutz Foundation got the ball rolling to build the first ever Boys & Girls Club in Northeast Denver on the 2.6 acre site. The Piton Foundation contributed financially as well.
The groundbreaking ceremony included comments from John Arigoni, president and CEO of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Denver; City Councilmember Albus Brooks; founder of the Prodigal Son Initiative and community activist Terrance Roberts; Program Officer for The Denver Foundation’s Strengthening Neighborhoods Program, LaDawn Sullivan; and Ted Harms, executive director of the Anschutz foundation. Nancy Anschutz, Jack Vickers, and City Councilmembers Chris Herndon and Mary Beth Sussman joined in the celebration. Students from nearby charter school Venture Prep also attended, to get a first look at the facilities that will directly benefit them.
Roberts spoke about the importance of the center. “Working with kids,” he emphasized, “is pretty serious business.” He expressed appreciation for everyone who has contributed to the project, which he said will be a national model. The Prodigal Son Initiative, which he founded, seeks to prevent youth violence by providing mentorship and opportunities for young people.
The Boys & Girls Clubs provide compatible service, giving kids a place to play sports, do homework, and participate in programs after school.
“Nothing of this magnitude happens in a vacuum,” Arigoni told the crowd. “So many good men and women have worked hours and hours and hours after the horrible arson that burned down Holly Shopping Center, with a vision of what could be.” He referenced illustrations of the 32,000 square foot facility that will open its doors in 2013.
Many of the speakers expressed gratitude to Anschutz for the financial backing that allowed the center to happen. Harms said her dedication to the project could be “summed up in three words: compassion, conviction, and commitment.”
“We have an amazing group of resident leaders, nonprofits, city of Denver officials, institutions.” Sullivan said, “We’re talking about larger than this square block, we’re talking about this whole community.”
To learn more about the project, visit urbanlandc.org.
