Updated Jan. 12 at 4 p.m.: With dangerously cold temps and weather expected through the weekend and into early next week, Denver city has extended emergency cold weather shelter availability. The Denver Navigation Campus and New Directions will be open from 7 p.m. Friday night through 10 a.m. Tuesday. Jan. 16.
Denver Parks and Recreation will also be using recreation centers as warming centers during regular business hours through Sunday, Jan. 14. Libraries may also be used as warming centers during the day. Rec Centers and libraries are closed Monday for the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day holiday. However, the Glenarm Recreation Center at 2800 Glenarm Pl., will be open Monday, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. solely to shelter those in need.
Families in need of shelter should call the Connection Center at 303-295-3366.
It's about to get very cold in metro Denver.
There's a chance of snow starting Wednesday that continues through the weekend, according to the National Weather Service. But the real struggle the next few days is going to be the well below freezing temps we're in for as Arctic air moves into Colorado and much of the country.
Wednesday's high will be about 40; Thursday's temps will stay below freezing all day; Friday could reach back up to about 36 degrees. But come Saturday, temperatures will dip into the teens, single digits and negative territory, and likely stay there until Tuesday afternoon. Major brr.
To that end, Denver has extended emergency shelter operations through Monday, Jan. 15th, for people who need someplace warm to be.
The city is referring individual men to the Lawrence Street Community Center, 2222 Lawrence St., individual women to Samaritan House, 2301 Lawrence St. and people aged 15 to 20 to Urban Peak, 2100 Stout St. Families should call the city's "Connection Center" at 303-295-3366.
Buses will also be available to move people from St. Francis Center, 2323 Curtis St., between 6:30 and 9 p.m. each night to the "Denver Navigation Campus," the old Doubletree on Quebec Street, and "New Directions," the old Best Western on Quebec Street. People who need somewhere to go after 9 p.m. should go directly to the old Doubletree, at 4040 Quebec St. These sites will only be open from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m., and the city has circulating buses to help people move between shelters.
People who need shelter in Aurora can go to the Aurora Day Resource Center at 13387 E. 19th Pl., though the city's website says that the facility's overflow capacity will only be activated on days when temperatures are below 20 degrees.
People who need shelter in Lakewood can go to 8000 W. Colfax Ave. between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m. if that overflow site is open - you should check the city's website to see if it is. Lakewood says families who need help should call 211.
Denverite editor Obed Manuel and reporter Desiree Mathurin contributed to this article.
