The wave of inspections at Colorado DIY art spaces continued today when the city responded to a call to check on Juice Church.
Denver Fire Department spokeswoman Melissa Taylor confirmed that inspectors visited the space in River North today.
She said anywhere from 8 to 11 people were living there and they have not been displaced, though people familiar with the space say it was fewer. Code violations did not amount to an eviction, and they were given smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors and "basic life safety information."
An official list of code violations was not yet ready at 3 p.m. today, but we'll update here when we have it. Taylor said that document, which will be given to the property manager, will outline a plan to get Juice Church up to code.
RiNo Art District President Jamie Licko said her organization did not know about the inspection in advance, and that they've been "pushing the city very hard" to give DIY art spaces time to get up to code before conducting checks.
She was told by the city that someone called to report this space, which forced the city to take action.
After the Ghost Ship fire in Oakland killed 36 people, DIY spaces have been targeted by white nationalists on 4chan calling on others to report the venues. Some threads refer to the fire as an opportunity to “crush the radical left.”
While the addresses of Rhino and Glob were already fairly well-known, other spaces try to keep their addresses fairly quiet in an effort to keep them safe.
Taylor has said the fire department is not targeting art spaces, but must act if a place is reported to be unsafe.
RiNo Art District, meanwhile, is scrambling to help.
"We are working on a game place to try to figure out how to address the situation," Licko said.
It's still unclear just how the district might help spaces like Juice Church or the recently shut-down Rhinoceropolis and Glob, but Licko said it could mean financial assistance.
