At 12th and Arapahoe there's a public parking lot with 35 spaces. On one side is the Miners Alley Performing Arts Center. On another is the Astor House campus of the Foothills Art Center. The 1100 block of Miners Alley runs along the third. On Saturday, Oct. 10, Golden's Downtown Development Authority cleared the cars out for one afternoon. In their place came artists from both arts organizations, food from local restaurants, and a stilt-walker who used a lasso to pull passersby into the party.
The DDA wanted to know whether residents would back turning that lot into a permanent public plaza. Timing matters for that question. Between late November and the end of December, this corner hosts more scheduled arts programming than at any other point in the year. Anyone deciding what the plaza is for can see the answer on the calendar this winter.
What the DDA put in front of residents
GoldenToday's notice for the event described the trade plainly: about 35 parking spaces given up for public event space. In the Golden Transcript's coverage, local officials listed events, artist showcases and holiday markets as possible uses. The paper also noted that officials have talked about a plaza at this spot for a long time.
DDA Chair Jeff Merenkov, who lives downtown, and board member Brad Miller, who owns a business there, told the Transcript that nothing is set in stone. They said the board only wanted to "take the temperature" on whether people support a plaza at all, and whether they support it in this location. Miller explained the site's appeal to the paper this way:
"We feel like this spot is tailor-made for a plaza."
He pointed to how close the lot is to downtown and how it sits between two major arts centers and historic sites like Miners Alley and the former City Hall site.
The online survey that went with the block party was set to stay open through at least Oct. 15, so check the link in the Transcript article to see whether it's still taking responses. Either way, the board meets on the third Monday of every month at City Hall. Meetings are open to the public and streamed on the city's boards and commissions page. By that schedule, October's meeting fell on Monday, Oct. 19, and the next one is Monday, Nov. 16.
Two calendars that meet at one parking lot
The case for a plaza here rests on the two institutions that border the lot. Here is what each has scheduled for the rest of the year, taken from the Miners Alley Performing Arts Center calendar and the Foothills Art Center visit page.
| Window | Miners Alley Performing Arts Center | Foothills Art Center |
|---|---|---|
| This week through Oct. 25 | Good Night, Oscar; Cavemen vs. Zombies | Final days for Structure, Portraits in Glass: Sue Rose and CarolAnn Wachter at the Astor House |
| Oct. 27 | SCRIPTprov, one night only | Between exhibitions |
| Through Nov. 8 | Good Night, Oscar plays its last dates; Cavemen vs. Zombies wraps Nov. 7 | |
| Nov. 19 to Nov. 29 | It's A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play opens Nov. 24; The Story of the Nutcracker opens Nov. 28 | 51st Holiday Art Market opens Nov. 19 |
| December | It's A Wonderful Life through Dec. 27, The Story of the Nutcracker through Dec. 26, Who's Holiday! Dec. 1 to 23 | Holiday Art Market runs through Dec. 29 |
Look at December closely. On many weekends that month, Miners Alley has two or three holiday productions on its schedule, and each one plays on selected dates. In the first week alone, It's A Wonderful Life is listed for Wednesday, Dec. 2 through Sunday, Dec. 6. Who's Holiday! has dates that same week, and The Story of the Nutcracker runs Dec. 2 through 5. The Foothills Art Center's Holiday Art Market covers the whole season, from the week before Thanksgiving to the week after Christmas. The market is in its 51st year. Its run starts before the first holiday curtain and ends after the last one.
For anyone already living in Golden, the short-term item is this weekend. The three Astor House exhibitions close Sunday, Oct. 25, and Foothills Art Center lists the Astor House's address as 1133 Arapahoe Street. Cavemen vs. Zombies plays Thursday, Friday and Saturday this week, and Good Night, Oscar has dates every day from Thursday through Sunday.
The tables around the lot
A theater audience has to eat somewhere before the show. Visit Golden's 2026 downtown directory, published in March, lists a cluster of places within a short walk of the lot. Business hours can change, and some of these may have changed since March, so confirm before you head out.
- Alchemy at 1111 Miners Alley, right on the alley that gives the arts center its name
- Ace-Hi Tavern at 1216 Washington Avenue
- Atomic Cowboy at 1100 Washington Avenue, at the same address as Björn's Colorado Honey in Visit Golden's shopping directory
- Brick Room at 1109 Washington Avenue and Buffalo Rose at 1119 Washington Avenue
- Bella Colibri at 812 12th Street and Bridgewater at 800 11th Street
Two places that were on that map are gone this fall. Westword reported on Oct. 3 that Nosu Ramen at 700 12th Street had closed after six years. A week later, Westword reported that Abejas at 807 13th Street, which had the same owner, would not reopen after more than 11 years downtown.
There are new tenants on the way. In April, BusinessDen reported that Call Your Mother Deli had filed permits at 1106 Washington Avenue. Clayworks' latest update says Sweet Bloom Coffee's retail space there is under construction and aiming to open before the end of 2026. Neither one has a confirmed opening date yet.
The restaurant lineup near 12th Street has turned over this fall, while the theater and gallery bordering the lot have their seasons scheduled through December. Those two arts anchors are what the DDA has in mind when it talks about a plaza for showcases and holiday markets.
Where parking enters the conversation
Removing 35 spaces from a downtown lot is the trade-off most likely to come up at the next meeting. One block south, the city has its own project underway. The city's Oct. 2 update on the Heart of Golden project describes a public parking deck off 10th Street and says the first concrete pour was expected by mid-October, while brickwork and interior systems work continue on the new municipal building. That update does not give a space count or a completion date. The deck is a city construction project, and the plaza is a separate DDA question that is still at the survey stage. If you want the two discussed together, the Nov. 16 meeting is the place to raise it.
The DDA also has its own money to work with. The Transcript notes that its revenue includes a downtown-specific property tax, and its stated priorities include the annual holiday lights and a repaint of the "Welcome to Golden" arch.
The rest of the season on Washington Avenue
The city's own calendar fills in the dates around the arts programming. The City of Golden's calendar lists Trick or Treat Street at 3 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 30, and the Monster Mash at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 31.
The holiday events cover the same December weeks as the Miners Alley schedule. The Olde Golden Candlelight Walk is Friday, Dec. 4, from 6 to 9 p.m. It's free and organized by the Olde Golden Holiday Committee. The walk starts at 15th Street and Washington Avenue and ends at Parfet Park at 10th, so the block at 12th falls between its start and finish. That same night, It's A Wonderful Life and The Story of the Nutcracker both have dates on the Miners Alley calendar. Visit Golden's holiday overview lists the Holiday Parade for Saturday, Dec. 12.
For background on the older streets around this corner, see our guide to historic neighborhoods in Golden. For more on the town as a whole, visit the Golden neighborhood page.
The next DDA meeting is Monday, Nov. 16 at City Hall. That's eight days after Good Night, Oscar closes and three days before the Holiday Art Market opens next to the lot under discussion.
If you live near downtown Golden and want to talk about how a plaza, a new parking deck or a change of restaurant tenants affects the blocks around your home, Brian Grace is glad to listen and share what he's seeing. Call Brian and start with a conversation about your home.
