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I find it highly ironic that, during the week in which the proposed construction of a 140-foot building downtown, massive enough to severely compromise mountain view from Coors Field, has been in the news, and on the very day the Rocky itself printed an editorial defending such a proposal (Oct. 10), I received in the mail a clipping from my sister who lives in Minneapolis.

The article, by Bill Ward, was about Denver and appeared in the Travel section of the Star Tribune.

The piece begins with the following: “‘Check it out,’ my friend Mike said, pointing out beyond Coors’ Field’s left-field wall-way, way beyond the wall — at the sun dipping into the Rocky Mountains. ‘That’s where the Broncos got their colors.’”

Indeed, the vibrantly orange puffs of cumulus and matching solar orb, playing off a cerulean sky, were a spot-on match for the National Football League team’s original colors. And quite the icing for some kind of cake: the Front Range, the majestic purple mountains rising abruptly from the valley west of the Queen City of the Plains.

Those indelible, incandescent sunsets are but one of the countless reasons why Denver denizens spend the bulk of their time in the truly great outdoors. Three new big-league open-air stadiums lure large crowds in this sports-crazy city even when the teams are struggling.
The public spaces, even the downtown streets, feel more open than in virtually any U.S. city, the better to sneak peeks at the nearby peaks.

Here’s hoping the Denver City Council has the insight to reject this proposal and that the next time Ward visits our city he can continue to enjoy the uniqueness of Coors Field. And fie on the Rocky for supporting such an idea, especially just as the (baseball) Rockies prepare for the league championship series!

David Lampert is a resident of Denver.

READER COMMENTS

and just think how many lost their view when they built coors field, but they dont count in your need do they.
for a really clear view they should move coors field out by dia so all of the visitors can catch a game and get to/from the airport really quick.

Views don't hit me in my pocket book. I am hoping one of the dixiecrats seeeking congressional office, will toss out the "illegal" foreign trade agreement, Denver made with Pat Bowlen (Mile High "NAFTA" Stadium). Silly me! I thought only congress could shaft us with foreign welfare. We can't depend on US sEN. Shamnesty Salazar because he and his brother are too busy counting their loot ($484K-welfare), where they voted IN CONGRESS for their own federal farm subsidy (financing for THEIR criminal illegal Mexican farm workers).

and here I thought people going to a ball game would watch it. Now if this massive building is constructed these same fans would have to look a different direction or maybe wait till they leave their seat to see the mountains. what are the city planners thinking of?
david I will be the first one to offer my assistance in getting the needed Petitions signed and prevent this massive building from being built. to hell with the jobs it would bring and the homes or businesses it would establish, we have to be all concerned over the few days a year that there would be a ball game and someone would not get to see a sunset from coors field. who else will join in this wonderful cause?

The view was even more dramatic before the Rockies owners decided to build the Rockpile (seats that generate revenue for them) and moved the scoreboard (which is both a scoreboard and a giant set of billboards for coors and frontier airlines and King Soopers, and again genaerates revenue) to centerfield. I find the clamor to "save the view" a little disingenuous coming from the Rockies owners since they blocked up more than half of it themselves.

The view was even more dramatic before the Rockies owners decided to build the Rockpile (seats that generate revenue for them) and moved the scoreboard (which is both a scoreboard and a giant set of billboards for coors and frontier airlines and King Soopers, and again genaerates revenue) to centerfield. I find the clamor to "save the view" a little disingenuous coming from the Rockies owners since they blocked up more than half of it themselves.

Mr. Lampert.

Enlighten yourself. Nobody has proposed building ANYTHING yet!

The fight now is over the ordinance that might restrict any future building on the property.

You're buying right into the propoganda.

Mr. Lampert

You do not have the right to sit in Coors Field. It is private property and you have to get the property owner's permission to enter.

Once you have obtained your seat, you have not obtained a right to a view of the mountains. That's not part of the deal.

I can understand the property owner's concerns - but not yours.

We do have great mountain views throughout Colorado and if you want to enjoy them you have to take the intiative yourself to find a good spot. It's realy not that difficult under the circumstances.

If the Stadium District was so concerned about views when Coors Field was built, why did they not buy all the land to the immediate west? I've been there numerous time and have never waxed poetic about the view outside of the stadium.

Are you implying that the stadium is a public place? Civic Center Park is a public place, one that I don't have to take out a bank loan to appreciate, and that does not benefit a for-profit enterprise. Wouldn't it be nice if all the citizens of Denver actually owned a piece of Coors Field?!

Are you implying that the stadium is a public place? Civic Center Park is a public place, one that I don't have to take out a bank loan to appreciate, and that does not benefit a for-profit enterprise. Wouldn't it be nice if all the citizens of Denver actually owned a piece of Coors Field?!

No one has a stake in this particular lot/building except the owners of Coors field (though their stake is dubious) and the other property owner.
However, zoning changes made simply for the wealthy or well-connected will probably start us down a slippery slope all around the Denver area.
I go to many Rockies games and I do enjoy the view of the mountains during the extra-long breaks that allow for more TV commercals, but I don't see it as a right, and if someone screws it up, c'est la vie. I'd rather see lower ticket prices so more people could go to games

I go to the stadium to watch a ball game.

If I want to gaze at the mountains, it won't be from inside Coors Field.

This smacks of a few vociferous crybabys
trying to get their own way.

Yeah put an upper deck in left field.

Let me get this straight: The Rockies, who are the same owners who tacked on $25 per ticket premium when the NY Yankees came to town, and who are charging $30 for a Rockpile ticket during the playoffs, are telling somebody else how to maximize the value of their business and property and investment? That's rich. By the way, the extra $25 per seat times 48000 seats times 3 games (they sold out the 3 game homestand against the yanks) = $3.6 MILLION in profit. Go Rockies, win the World Series, but geez. . .give me a break. If they want to lock in that view, then they should compensate the property owners.

If the Rockies think the view from the right field stands is that important, they should just buy the property from those people. They could turn it into a park or permanent green space.

If the Rockies think the view from the right field stands is that important, they should just buy the property from those people. They could turn it into a park or permanent green space.

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