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Harvesting Historical Riches West Side Court Building
In the early 1990s, the jury was still out on the West Side Court Building's future. After the District Attorney's departure, the building fell into disrepair. Its failing roof caused extensive water damage and its grand arched windows were deteriorating. In 1994, National Image, Inc., a Hispanic advocacy group, developed a proposal to salvage the building and adaptively re-use it as a Hispanic heritage center. After years of stalled efforts, National Image bought the building from the City in 1998 for $410,001. Coors Brewing Company of Golden contributed $400,000 of the purchase price. After acquiring the property, National Image took its case to the State Historical Fund. Although the group had raised a sizable development cache through private and corporate donations, it needed additional assistance to preserve the building's significant exterior and interior elements. The Fund awarded National Image $250,000 to restore windows, masonry, terra cotta embellishments, light fixtures, and an interior staircase.
Denver Mayor Wellington Web noted that when Valdez stopped breathing, his heart continued to pound for awhile. Likewise, Valdez's spirit will continue through the heritage center's work. The building itself, located in the heart-el corazon-of the predominantly Hispanic West Side, may not witness sensational court cases, but its walls will still harbor those seeking justice. BY BEN FOGELBERG, Editor, Colorado History NOW |
Pow!
Judge Joseph J. Walsh decided Spider Man's fate with one swift blow.
Striking a gavel on his West Side Court bench, he concluded the
sensational murder trial against Theodore Coneys, a.k.a., "Spider
Man." Minutes earlier, a Denver jury had declared Coneys guilty
of bludgeoning Philip Peters to death with a walking stick in his
home on October 18, 1941. Reporters covering the case dubbed Coneys
"the Spider Man" due to the unusual circumstances of his
crime. According to police reports, he lived in Peters's attic for
five weeks before attacking him. After the assault, he retreated
to his cobwebbed attic lair and remained undiscovered for ten months.
The West Side Court Building hosted this trial, and thousands of
other startling and mundane criminal cases, during its thirty-year
shift as Denver's hall of justice.
Built
on the southwest corner of Colfax Avenue and Speer Boulevard in
1922, the landmark structure reflects decades of judicial history.
Denver's most brilliant lawyers, including Ralph Carr (who later
became governor), tried criminal cases inside its red brick walls
before the courts were relocated in 1952. Later, the building housed
the fire department and the District Attorney's offices. The City
abandoned the building in 1984. Jeopardized by vandals and deferred
maintenance, it remained vacant for the next several years.
Last
month the West Side Court Building re-opened as the Bernard Valdez
Hispanic Heritage Center. Bernie Valdez was a hero in the Hispanic
community. Born in New Mexico, he moved to Colorado in 1926 to work
on the Moffat Tunnel. During the Great Depression, he worked in
northern Colorado's sugar beet fields. After graduating from Colorado
A & M (now Colorado State University), he fought against discriminatory
labor and business practices while working for the U.S. Department
of Labor's World War II Bracero Program. Later, he managed Denver's
welfare programs and served as a member of the Denver School Board.
He died in 1997.