Lufthansa (tel. 800/399-LUFT; www.lufthansa.com) announced it would begin flying nonstop from Denver International Airport (DIA) to Munich in March 2007. It will be the second nonstop daily flight connecting Germany and DIA by Lufthansa, complementing its existing service to Hamburg. DIA experienced its busiest year ever in 2006, and Concourse B will see new concessions by a pair of Colorado-based companies -- Heidi's Brooklyn Deli and New Belgium Brewery -- in spring 2007 at a new United regional jet facility.
Denver
In mid-November, a new Southeast Light Rail (tel. 303/299-6000; www.rtd-denver.com) began service along I-25, running from the preexisting Broadway stop south to Lincoln Ave. There are four new routes (19 miles of new rail in all): E (Lincoln to Union Station downtown), F (Lincoln to 18th and California downtown), G (Lincoln to Nine Mile off I-225 in Aurora), and H (Nine Mile to 18th and California downtown). It costs $3.75 to go all the way from Lincoln to the downtown zone, or $1.50 to $2.75 if you only travel in one or two of the rail system's "zones." Both the E line and the southwest C line (from Mineral to Union Station) run Monday to Friday only.
There are currently eight new hotel projects in varying stages that will add 1,400 rooms to the downtown Denver inventory by the end of 2008. Opening soon: The Curtis, a $70 million renovation of the former Executive Tower Inn at 14th and Curtis streets; a Hilton Garden Inn at 14th and Welton streets; and Denver's first Ritz-Carlton is slated to open in the spring of 2007 at 18th and Curtis streets, in an $88 million re-imagining of a onetime Embassy Suites.
A true Denver institution, Duffy's Shamrock Restaurant & Bar closed after 56 years of serving great diner fare and plenty of booze at 1635 Court Place and a previous location. With its building slated for demolition to make way for a new parking garage and a retail development, Duffy's final last call came in the wee hours of the morning on December 1, 2006.
The Frederic C. Hamilton Building, the long-awaited expansion to the Denver Art Museum, 100 W. 14th Ave. at Civic Center Park (tel. 720/865-5000; www.denverartmuseum.org), opened to the public in October 2006. Clad in a platinum exterior, the striking avant garde architecture by World Trade Center architect Daniel Libeskind received mixed reviews from architecture critics, but the museum's doubled gallery space makes for a bigger and better museum and more traveling exhibitions.
A similarly forward-looking piece of architecture, the new Museum of Contemporary Art|Denver building is scheduled to open in spring 2007 at 15th and Delgany streets. Designed by London-based architect David Adjaye, the new building will feature five galleries, each focusing on a different genre: multi-media, paper, architecture and design, photography, and new media. In the meantime, the museum is no longer in Sakura Square on Larimer St., instead occupying a temporary space across from its new building until it opens in March. For additional information, call tel. 303/298-7554 or visit www.mcartdenver.com.
The historic Elitch Theatre (44th Ave. and Tennyson St.), shuttered in 1991 when the amusement park now known as Six Flags Elitch Gardens relocated downtown, is slated for a $14 million restoration and will reopen in 2008. Also on the drawing board: redevelopments at Denver landmarks Union Station and Civic Center Park, and a new Clyfford Still Museum, featuring 2,000 works by the renowned abstract expressionist of its name, adjacent to the Denver Art Museum.
Boulder
Boulder's culinary scene has been gaining a national reputation. The November 15, 2006 issue of Wine Spectator highlighted a quintet of local restaurants, including Frasca Food & Wine, 1738 Pearl St. (tel. 303/442-6966; www.frascafoodandwine.com), which also won accolades in the October 2006 Gourmet as the country's 33rd best restaurant. Frasca Chef Lachlan Mackinnon-Patterson was also a 2006 nominee for the James Beard Foundation's Rising Star Chef award.
On the site of the former Crossroads Mall (29th and Pearl Sts.), Twenty Ninth Street (tel. 303/444-0722; www.twentyninth.com) opened in October, 2006. The indoor-outdoor mall is home to The Apple Store, Z Gallerie, Panera Bread Co., and a Mont-Bell outdoor store. Scheduled to open in summer 2007 is a 16-screen theater and four restaurants.
Colorado Springs
Money named Colorado Springs as the #1 "Best Big City" in the entire country in the magazine's 2006 "Best Places to Live" feature, thanks to a relatively low cost of living and a relatively high quality of life.
The Rodeway Inn & Suites Garden of the Gods, 555 W. Garden of the Gods Rd. (tel. 719/593-9119; www.choicehotels.com), became the Quality Inn & Suites in late 2006, and with the name change came a massive upgrading of facilities, which management expects to have in place by summer 2007.
Golf's 2008 U.S. Senior Open will be played on the east course at The Broadmoor from July 28 to August 3. The event is the sixth USGA competition hosted by the posh resort. For tickets or additional information, call tel. 719/633-OPEN or visit www.broadmoor.com.
Colorado's newest state park, Cheyenne Mountain State Park, 410 JL Ranch Heights (tel. 719/227-5250; www.parks.state.co.us), opened in Colorado Springs in October, 2006. Although construction will somewhat limit park access well into the spring of 2007, the park offers delightful mountain scenery and 20 miles of hiking and biking trails.