ARVADA, COLORADO
“When I was a child, living in Denver, we used to visit friends in Arvada. We would frequently stop at a family farm along the way to pick fresh corn for dinner. We would cross over Clear Creek on an old truss bridge, passed the flour mill, the old water tower, and the old 1st National Bank building, with a giant rotating 1st sign on top. About 5 blocks from our friends’ home we would drive through the three blocks of downtown Arvada. The farms and bridge are long gone, but the flour mill is now a museum, the bank building is still there, and down town is now called ‘OLDE TOWN ARVADA’.” – Carl Burg, Member
Arvada is no longer the sleepy little town of the past, but it is a town that remembers where it came from. We are a city of 117,453 people taking up almost 23 thousand acres, nestled between Boulder, Golden, Denver, and the Rocky Mountains.
Things in Arvada
Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities
Since its opening in 1976, the award winning Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities has grown to become one of the nation’s largest multidisciplinary arts centers, devoted to all aspects of the arts. Just south of the buildings is the 17 acre “Sculpture in the Field”, currently showing 27 outdoor sculptures, many from prominent local artists.
Inside the building, there is a historical museum and art galleries. The museum and galleries are always free. Contact the center to schedule a free docent-led tour. For the Performing Arts and Special Events the center has two indoor theaters. The Main Stage Theater has 526 comfortable seats and the Black Box theater seats 226. Outdoors is the Amphitheater, with covered fixed seating for 600 people, and uncovered on the lawn for 900 more, with space for picnics, and every seat is within 100 feet of the stage. Find out more about the center.
Olde Town
Olde Town is roughly 3 blocks by 8 blocks. Downtown Arvada is listed on the national register of historic places. It still feels like a family friendly small town. In the center, next to the Library is the Town Square, where on Sundays during the summer, the children run through the water fountain while their parents shop at the farmers market. On the first Friday of the month, the art galleries and merchants host a First Friday Art Walk.
Olde Town is a great place for shopping, dining, drinking or just walking around.
Here is a map and more detailed information.
APEX Park and Recreation District
The APEX Park and Recreation District operates 11 facilities, mostly serving the Arvada area including the Apex Center, the Field House, a Tennis center, the Community Recreation Center, George G. Myers Swimming Pool, the Indian Tree Golf Club, the Lake Arbor Center and outdoor pool, outdoor field rentals, a Racquetball and Fitness center, the Secrest center and outdoor pool, and the Simms Street Recreation Center
The APEX center is 1.6 miles from GEOS. Learn more.
Things Around Arvada
Neighbors
Active Outdoors
Skiing
If you are moving here to go skiing, you have a lot of choices. Lake Eldora, Loveland Ski, Winter Park, Copper Mountain, Keystone, Breckenridge, and Vail are less than two hours from your door.
Climbing
Want to climb indoors? Earth Treks in Golden is a large indoor climbing facility.
White Ranch Park
White Ranch Park., at 5,114 acres, is the largest park in Jefferson County Open Space. It is just under 7 miles from the Geos neighborhood. The park has 20.9 miles of trails and two camp sites.
Reserve a campsite, or checkout the maps at: White Ranch Park
North Table Mountain Park
North Table Mountain Park is another Jefferson County Open Space park. It has 1,997 acres, and 17 miles of trails. It also includes the Golden Cliffs Rock Climbing. It is less than 7 miles from the Geos neighborhood
For more information about the park go to: North Table Mountain Park
For more about the park and Golden Cliffs Rock Climbing: North Table Mountain
Entertainment
Red Rocks
Red Rocks is 15 miles from Geos.
Check out Red Rocks.
The Chautauqua
Originally located at the base of Boulder’s Flatirons and one of only 25 National Historic Landmarks in the state of Colorado, the Colorado Chautauqua is one of only a few remaining Chautauqua’s in the U.S. It is considered THE western representation of the cultural movement that swept the U.S. in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and is the only site west of the Mississippi that has been in continuous operation since its founding and with its original structures intact and used for their original purposes.
The main venue is the auditorium, which is accurately called “the barn” that comfortably seats over 1,300. The more intimate venue is the common house.
See the upcoming events at the Chautauqua.
Mercury Cafe
If what you are looking for is something else to entertain you? You just might find it at the Mercury Café, located at 2199 California St in Denver, they operate on the sun and wind. The Café has an organic menu with items locally sourced, with occasional fair trade imports.
Their entertainment is pretty diverse but good. You should drop by some Sunday evening for the Poetry Slam at 8:00, be there by 7:00 for the jam before the slam. Check the Mercury Cafe.
Interested in Cohousing?
Ralston Creek CoHousing fuses the best of intentional neighborhoods, healthy living, and green technology.
Denver Center For Performing Arts
The DCPA is 0.7 miles from Union Station, the end of the G-line from Arvada.
They have eight theaters of various configurations and sizes.
Check out the calendar.
DCPA is also home the Boettcher Concert hall, the first “in the round” symphony hall built in the US, and home to the Colorado Symphony. Check out their calendar.
Molly Brown House
Molly Brown, the Titanic heroin was a woman who described herself as a daughter of adventure. She lived at 1340 Pennsylvania Street in Denver. The Docents will show you through the home, and are experts on the Browns, and Denver.
Learn more about the museum.
Museums
Denver Arts Museum
Denver Art Museum
The Denver Art Museum takes up about two city blocks in the heart of Denver.
Get details.
Ask About a Tour of our Neighborhood
Our resource-conserving design is simple, straight-forward, and affordable. Homes will be fossil fuel free and produce more energy than they consume.
Clifford Still Museum
Clyfford Still was among the first generation of Abstract Expressionists who developed a new, powerful approach to painting in the years immediately following World War II.
Still’s contemporaries included Philip Guston, Franz Kline, Willem de Kooning, Robert Motherwell, Barnett Newman, Jackson Pollock, and Mark Rothko.
In 1951, Clyfford Still ended his relationship with commercial galleries. From that time forward, only a select few of his works entered the art market. As a result, the Clyfford Still Museum houses 95 percent of Clyfford Still’s total output, making its collection the most intact body of work by any major artist from any century.
The Clifford Still Museum is located just west of the Denver Art Museum. More about the Clifford Still Museum can be located here.
Kirkland Museum of Fine and Decorative Art
The Kirkland Museum just opened. I have not visited yet, but I intend to soon. It is located across the street, to the west of the Clifford Still Museum.
The Museum of Contemporary Art
In contrast to the previous are museums, The Museum of Contemporary Art does not have a large permanent collection. They explore the art and culture of our time through rotating exhibitions and educational programs. Check out what is happening in art now.
History Colorado Center in Denver
Colorado Railroad Museum
The Colorado Railroad Museum is less than 5 miles from the Geos Neighborhood at 17155 W. 44th Avenue.