Audio By Carbonatix
Three weeks after the city red-tagged the First Avenue Hotel building — causing the immediate closure of both El Diablo and Sketch — both restaurants are back in business. For now.
After a three-and-a-half hour hearing Monday, the Board of Appeals — a mayor-appointed committee that considers actions of the Denver Department of Community Planning and Development — ordered that the building be allowed to reopen immediately, and gave owner Jesse Morreale sixty days to make necessary repairs.
Which gives Cafe Society commenters another 58 days to chew over this story.
Says Jeff:
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No one is saying that the building doesn’t need repairs and renovations. I imagine it needs lots of them.I am only saying that the “vacate immediately” order was incredibly stupid and irresponsible and did great personal harm to the livelihoods of dozens of people. The fact that the responsible parties don’t seem to think those lives and jobs are worth much because they’re just restaurant employees is reprehensible.
If the building has been standing for 100+ years, the idea that one inspector says it might fall down at any second (when dozens disagree with him) is ridiculous.
