The city of Denver is close to starting renovations of the historic theater at the Loretto Heights campus in southwest Denver.
Loretto Heights was founded in 1864 as a Catholic boarding school and continued to be an educational campus until it closed in 2016.
At the time, city leaders saw an opportunity to turn the 72-acre campus into a cultural hub for southwest Denver, a part of the city that lacks community gathering spaces. In 2018, the developer Westside Investment Partners bought Loretto Heights and Denver City Council approved a plan to redevelop and preserve the campus.
While the private developer is focused on building a community center and housing, Denver‘s Arts & Venues agency is renovating the campus’ theater.
“This theater at Loretto Heights is truly shaping up to be a cultural gem for Southwest Denver and the larger community,” said Tariana Navas-Nieves, the deputy director for Denver Arts & Venues.
A community meeting was scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 26, at 6 p.m. at The Church in South Denver. City officials and Councilmember Kevin Flynn’s office will present project details and renderings of the renovation.
The design of the theater renovation is nearly complete.
The city’s plans for the midcentury theater include basic upgrades like meeting accessibility requirements, widening seats and adding more bathrooms. To make those changes, the city will reduce capacity from 900 seats to 750.
Other improvements include upgraded technology and adding more entrances.
The project will officially break ground later this year, with an aim to finish before the end of 2027.
The initial phase of construction will cost $60 million. Half of that was supplied by the city’s 2021 RISE bond, while the remaining funds come directly from the Denver Arts & Venues budget.
The theater was donated to the city by Westside Investment Partners.
Future improvements will come after the theater reopens.
Phase 2 of improvements would need more funding, as the $60 million budget only accounts for the initial renovations.
Future projects will likely include a parking garage and “enhancements to the current construction”, according to Navas-Nieves.
The city’s work on the campus is also set to continue beyond the theater. In 2023, the city purchased the campus library for $3.5 million. Navas-Nieves said the city hasn’t decided how to use the space yet.
Developers have sold Loretto Heights as the future “Union Station of southwest Denver”.
When the full Loretto Heights project is realized, there could be hundreds of units of housing, plus retailers and restaurants, at the former Catholic boarding school campus.
The theater will be one of the focal points, Navas-Nieves hopes, bringing a diverse range of events to the campus.
“It definitely is meant to have a balanced booking that is not just about prioritizing community use and access, but very much about multi-discipline, from theatrical productions to music, to dance to comedy,” she said.
Nearby, in a building that what was once the campus cafeteria and student union, the nonprofit Commún has secured $20 million in federal grants to transform Machebuff Hall into a community center that will include a commercial kitchen, a grocery store, food stalls, a mental health center, classrooms, co-working spaces, an event space, a laundry facility and more.
