Rude Rec Center to reopen Monday after hosting emergency migrant shelter

Fewer migrants and asylum seekers have arrived in Denver this month.
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People who’ve arrived from the U.S. southern border hang out on bedrolls on the floor of the Rude rec center, the city’s second emergency shelter. People were originally given cots, but a city spokesperson said they switched to mats to squeeze more people in when they neared capacity in late December. Jan. 6, 2023.
Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite

Rude Rec Center in Sun Valley will reopen to the public Monday, Jan. 30, after serving as an emergency migrant shelter since early December.

The rec center, located at 2855 W. Holden Pl., was closed to the public as the city dealt with a large number of migrants and asylum seekers, mostly Venezuelans, who arrived in the city from the U.S. border.

Arrivals have steadily dropped since the start of January, and Mayor Michael Hancock ordered the city to decommissioning the two rec centers it was using  as shelters. The city is also limiting migrants to staying up to 14 days in an emergency shelter.

The city has sheltered more than 4,200 migrants since Dec. 9. As of Thursday, 48 migrants were staying in a city emergency shelter; More than 900 are staying in partner emergency shelters.

As Denver began decommissioning the shelter in mid-January, guests moved to other shelters. The city said the center needed additional time for maintenance, cleaning and other steps to decommission the center before reopening.

The rec center will operate on normal hours Monday-Friday but will be closed Sundays until further notice, according to an update from the city.

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