How does La Alma Lincoln Park neighborhood feel about potential Broncos stadium in its backyard?

Residents of the La Alma Lincoln Park neighborhood had questions about the expected for a new Broncos stadium to be built in their backyard What would the environmental impacts be Would one of the oldest greater part historic neighborhoods in the city be paved over in favor of parking lots How might a stadium impact the artists and small businesses in the Santa Fe Arts District Would families be displaced Could the district negotiate with the Broncos to also construct affordable housing social services or food locations A neighborhood rich in history and conditioned to fight for their right to safeguard it is again gearing up to defend the La Alma Lincoln Park society from progress that forsakes preservation This time their guard is up as Burnham Yard the state-owned former railroad yard in the area is under consideration to accommodate a new stadium for the Denver Broncos to replace Empower Field at Mile High as the expiration of the group s lease approaches in early The fate of the parcel of the land remains unclear but residents want to ensure their voices are at the table to guide its improvement So far they re left with a lot of unanswered questions The La Alma Lincoln Park Neighborhood Association board members desired answers as much as the residents posing inquiries They bought this land in secret and we just want to learn more noted Nolan Hahn president of the La Alma Lincoln Park Neighborhood Association during a Wednesday evening neighborhood association meeting Hahn was referencing the Broncos-affiliated limited liability corporations that have snapped up properties surrounding Burnham Yard Broncos spokesperson Patrick Smyth reported while they have not received outreach from specific neighborhoods the organization is engaged with representatives on a city level as they figure out the future of their stadium We ve had several positive and productive conversations with representatives from Denver Lone Tree and Aurora as we explore the prospective options for the future of our stadium Smyth noted in a announcement When there is a determination we look forward to proactively and transparently engaging with all key district constituents Connie Buckley has lived in the area for years The -year-old announced she s used to her neighborhood being overruled Who knows what the heck they re doing Buckley disclosed of the stadium It s got to be bad if they re keeping it a secret For God s sake people have basic rights and demands and they need to be cared for and attended to and listened to and respected and this secret crap that s so wrong Maybe they just thought they could hoodwink everybody in the neighborhood They wouldn t treat the people in Wash Park like this Tammy Allmer of Denver shoots hoops at La Alma Lincoln Park in Denver on Thursday June Photo by Hyoung Chang The Denver Post History repeats La Alma Lincoln Park is one of the oldest neighborhoods in Denver It has one of the greatest concentrations of homes built before and historical significance as the heart of the city s Chicano movement commented John Deffenbaugh CEO of Historic Denver The Auraria neighborhood next-door is technically Denver s oldest The working-class largely Latino population was razed by the city in the s to build the Auraria campus Hundreds of Colorado families were displaced The La Alma Lincoln Park neighborhood extends from Colfax Avenue below the Auraria college campus to Sixth Avenue to Speer Boulevard bordered by the South Platte River Neighbors described the region as tight-knit the kind of place where block parties still happen and people know each other s names with a combination of generational families and newcomers and mixed incomes Historic Denver worked with La Alma for years to receive a historic cultural district designation in honoring its storied past The society has a legacy of activism that continues to this day explained Lucha Mart nez de Luna curator of Latino history and practices at History Colorado Mart nez de Luna was born in the projects of La Alma Lincoln Park Her father notable artist Emanuel Martinez was a muralist pioneer progressing in Colorado s Crusade for Justice an organization established in the s that advocated for Chicano civil rights She started the Chicano a x Murals of Colorado Project to preserve the state s historic murals like her father s housed in La Alma This news about the promising stadium it s like don t you ever give up Mart nez de Luna mentioned Don t you ever give us a break I can t believe they re thinking about doing that especially because they already have a stadium We re reliably talking about wastefulness Why do we inevitably have to erase things and build something else Burnham Yard the -acre property of interest to the Broncos was a railway yard before Colorado became a state Deffenbaugh reported This is all incredibly central history Deffenbaugh reported The neighborhood is very engaged and mobilized and worked with Historic Denver to create that historic cultural district because they care deeply about their neighborhood and that s reflected in the work they ve done An aerial view of part of the La Alma Lincoln Park Neighborhood in Denver on Thursday June Photo by Hyoung Chang The Denver Post Victimized by progress Jason Torrez interim executive director at La Alma locality nonprofit Denver Inner City Parish announced the neighborhood being bigfooted was par for the subject The parish which isn t religiously affiliated but offers food pantries senior tools immigration services and instruction programs frequently serves people who once called La Alma Lincoln Park home but have been pushed out as housing costs grew unattainable Torrez mentioned You hear a lot of people come through the food pantry line and say their family grew up here and now they live in Aurora or Westminster Torrez mentioned So a great number of Latino families have been displaced over generations Torrez worried a stadium would uproot more families with people pressured to sell their homes and foreseen housing price increases What people don t understand is that there are two sides to the story and sometimes those that are victimized by progress don t get to share those stories Torrez announced Neighborhood association president Hahn acknowledged that the prospects of a stadium came with concerns and excitement There are things that could come out of this that are good and the promising for harms as well Hahn noted We are trying to make sure we re in those conversations so we can get as much of the good stuff and as little of the bad Good stuff that could be added Hahn reported might be more reliable accessible transit options Bad stuff would be huge parking lots he reported Our best episode scenario is that the Broncos come work with the locality around them making sure that their vision aligns with the requirements of the neighborhood and that they understand the probable costs and harms that come with it and try to mitigate it as much as manageable Hahn revealed President of the La Alma Lincoln Park Neighborhood Association Nolan Hahn claps during a monthly meeting at the Denver Housing Authority area room in Denver on Wednesday June Photo by Andy Cross The Denver Post Related Articles Amid Broncos stadium talks Denver Water quietly seeks to buy more than properties near its campus Gov Polis office involved in Broncos talks over manageable Burnham Yard sale for new stadium sources say Broncos Denver Water in discussions over -acre campus next to foreseen stadium site at Burnham Yard Broncos connected to real estate purchases around Burnham Yard possible stadium site La Alma-Lincoln Park in Denver to get new roller loop expanded skate park in makeover Denver closes La Alma-Lincoln Park for foreseeable future following homicide latest gun violence Hahn noted the neighborhood association has questioned City Councilwoman Jamie Torres to broker a meeting with the Broncos for about a year as rumors of the stadium circulated Councilwoman Torres described The Denver Post she hadn t requested the Broncos to speak to the neighborhood because the association wasn t set on their site yet She didn t want to jump the gun she commented Regardless of whether it s a stadium Torres declared something will be developed on Burnham Yard no matter what I m trying to brace along with my constituents how to best position themselves to understand what that is to identify things that need to be built collaboratively or considered Torres commented I don t ever want residents to feel like they ve been left behind and had no participation opportunities in the conversation I don t want what we ve seen in other parts of the city where a neighborhood identity is disappeared and something else is put in its place La Alma Lincoln Park has a really beautiful history This should be added to and not separated from Get more Colorado news by signing up for our daily Your Morning Dozen email newsletter