Colorado’s historic Red Rocks Amphitheatre has been under fire for its recently announced pilot plans to renovate certain aspects of the outdoor music venue. Specifically, the planter boxes lining the steps within the venue may be paved over with these new plans, causing the two rows of 75-year-old juniper trees to be moved or relocated.
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City Of Denver’s Stance
The City of Denver cites that the venue has been violating safety railing codes for years now and renovating the planting boxers would allow for these safety upgrades to be made. City code states that “Guards shall be located along open-sided walking surfaces, including mezzanines, equipment platforms, aisles, stairs, ramps and landings that are located more than 30 inches measured vertically to the floor or grade below at any point within 36 inches horizontally to the edge of the open side.”
As Brian Kitts, marketing director for the City of Denver Arts and Venues told 303 Magazine, “Bottom line is, we’re not up to code. . . . Right now, the planter boxes are used by patrons for seating/standing during shows. That’s where the violation is.”
Kitts also notes that because people sit, stand, and (during the day) exercise in the planter boxes, they are not being used in the way they were designed. Due to beer and other pollutants being spilled in the soil of the boxes, some of the trees in the planters are dying. He continues, “It’s not just about safety, it’s about aesthetics.”
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Friends Of Red Rocks’ Stance
However, Friends of Red Rocks, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving and ensuring the dignity of Red Rocks, disagrees with the changes. Since Friends of Red Rocks’ inception in 1999, the organization has successfully protested a number of proposals to renovate Red Rocks that involved removing trees out from the interior of the venue; because Red Rocks is owned by the city of Denver, all construction to the venue must be approved by the Landmark Preservation Commission (LPC), requiring that all proposed changes be opened up to a public forum.
Friends of Red Rocks is aware of the city’s need to follow building codes. However, they disagree that the safety violations are legitimate in their own right, with Steve Good, a founding member of FoRR, telling 303 Magazine, “[The City of Denver is] claiming that’s a safety concern, and we don’t really buy that, because for 75 years we haven’t had any known accidents of people falling out of the planter boxes, and our view is that by putting up railings you’re increasing distance between body to ground when people will inevitably climb up on those railings.” He continued, “We think that it’s actually increasing hazard to put those railings up.”
Ultimately though, FoRR seems most concerned about the juniper trees within the venue, arguing that these original trees should be retained. While the City has said that many of the trees’ health is in decline, the organization brought in an arborist to assess their condition—while none of the trees ranked “excellent”, two were dead, and 11 were in “poor” condition, the arborist noted that some of them could live for another century, with eight junipers in “good” condition and 35 in “fair condition.”
What’s Happening Now?
A large public backlash against the planned renovations to Red Rocks has been ongoing, with many speaking out about the removal of juniper trees in the venue. The City of Denver is currently working on a different proposal following the outspoken disapproval by Friends of Red Rocks—Kitts has explained that the new plan will only remove unhealthy trees and replace them with other foliage, while healthy junipers will remain untouched. If the city’s plans are approved, they’ll begin testing railings around the planter boxes by next year.
As for Friends of Red Rocks, they are watching these planned proposals carefully. They’re also in the process of creating, as told by Good, preservation guidelines so that when the LPD reviews things, it has a document to go off of.
[H/T 303 Magazine; Photo: Andrew Rios]