DURA Announces Next Steps for Redevelopment Of Dahlia Square
In one of the most complex real estate and redevelopment projects Denver has ever seen, the former Dahlia Square shopping center has been successfully converted from a blighted, contaminated 8-acre parcel into a site which has been environmentally remediated and is ready for new development.
Today, the Denver Urban Renewal Authority (DURA) announced that the Denver Health and Hospital Authority has purchased a portion of the property on the corner of 33rd and Elm Street and will begin construction of its new Family Practice Center shortly. Additionally, Oakwood Homes will purchase the balance of the property in 2008 for future residential development.
Dahlia Square has been a project of the Denver Urban Renewal Authority since 1997, in collaboration with the City and County of Denver, the State of Colorado, the Federal government, and northeast Denver’s residential and business community. Dahlia Square fell into disrepair over the past three decades after a number of redevelopment attempts were unable to reclaim the site. 
With the site cleared and environmentally remediated, the Denver Health and Hospital Authority’s Park Hill Family Practice Center will begin construction of their new health clinic at the southeast corner of the new Dahlia Square in 2008. The clinic, which operated at the old site for many years, relocated to temporary facilities at 38th and Grape in 2006 to enable the cleanup at Dahlia Square to occur. 
Oakwood Homes has contracted to purchase the balance of the property in 2008 and will build a series of single family attached homes on the remaining portion of the 8 acre site. A starting date for residential construction has not been established.

Black American West Museum Acquires 19 Parcels Of Historic Dearfield Town Site
The Black American West Museum in Denver is now the owner of 19 parcels of land that were part of the original Dearfield settlement located northeast of Denver.
Founded in 1910 by Oliver Toussaint Jackson, Dearfield is one of Colorado’s Most Endangered Places, as named by Colorado Preservation, Inc., in 1999. The remains of the town are also listed as an Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places for its association with African-American westward migration at the turn of the 20th century. The only significant remaining structures are founder Jackson’s home, which has been restored, and a filling station, both owned by the Black American West Museum.
Jackson founded Dearfield as an African-American farming community to demonstrate economic independence and self-sufficiency among African-Americans. Beginning strictly as a dry land farming community, the site evolved throughout the years until the Dustbowl destroyed dry land farming efforts throughout the western United States. In 1998, the Black American West Museum began efforts to purchase and preserve portions of the original town site in the hopes of exposing the rich history of early 20th century black farmers.
The land donation that was made in August by Hank Bailey and Dearfield Properties,
LLC and George Andrinakos with Dearfield Real Estate, LLC, brings the Black
American West Museum one step closer to fulfilling at least part of their goal. La Wanna Larson, executive director of the Black American West Museum, credits Colorado Preservation, Inc. for helping to orchestrate the land transaction by enlisting Melinda Beck, attorney with Faegre & Benson LLP, who donated her time and expertise. 
Last summer, Colorado Preservation and several other organizations removed siding from the old filling station on the site. Their work revealed the official stamp of Oliver Toussaint Jackson on several wood beams in the original structural framework, further validating the historic value of the building.

CU Law School Students Win In State's High Court And Protect Interests Of American Indian Children
University of Colorado Law School students are taking on complex court cases aimed at protecting the well-being of American Indian children and are succeeding in the state's highest courts, says a law professor.
Most recently, students participating in the school's American Indian Law Clinic handled complex trial work and prepared legal briefs in an adoption case heard before the Colorado Supreme Court. The case involved a 10-year-old American Indian boy who has been living under various guardianships since he was an infant.
Jill E. Tompkins, a clinical law professor and director of the American Indian Law Clinic, said the decision put to rest nearly a decade of legal disputes and would finally allow a suitable family to adopt the boy.
In its ruling, the state's high court overturned an appeals court decision and ruled that a lower probate court did not exceed its authority or engage in "de facto adoption proceedings" when considering the potential of a prospective guardian to be an adoptive parent. The decision was based, in part, on trial work and briefings prepared by CU law students enrolled in the law clinic.
The boy at the heart of the adoption case is an enrolled member of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara nations, also known as the Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation of North Dakota.
According to court documents, the boy's birth mother placed him in the care of an acquaintance when he was only 10 months old. Since then, he has been under court supervision in Colorado, has lived in various foster homes and allegedly has suffered from physical and emotional abuse. When he was only 4 years old, he underwent treatment for depression, and he struggles with asthma, court documents indicate.
Ann Rhodes, who graduated from the CU Law School in May and now works as a clerk in the Colorado Court of Appeals, prepared legal briefs and some of the motions on behalf of the boy's tribe for the high court's review of the adoption case.
Although the child's American Indian status and the application of federal Indian law were not the main focus of the case on appeal, Rhodes followed up on the work of previous clinic students to ensure that the boy achieved the best possible outcome, which was important to his tribe.
The experience of applying what she learned in law school to a real-world case with potentially life-changing consequences was invaluable, she said.
Rhodes, a former software engineer who sold her own company before entering law school in pursuit of a second, more fulfilling career, credits the American Indian Law Clinic and Tompkins' unfailing support for her success.
Established in 1992, the clinic provides pro bono legal representation to low-income American Indian clients. During a yearlong course, students receive classroom instruction and hands-on experience with American Indian law issues in Colorado.
Tompkins called Rhodes' work "outstanding," and said her students currently are involved with two other appellate cases involving the welfare of American Indian children. One involves a contested stepparent adoption and the other will determine the fate of a neglected young girl.
Both cases fall under the federal Indian Child Welfare Act, which the U.S. Congress passed in 1978 in response to the high number of American Indian children being removed from their homes by public and private agencies.
According to the language of federal statute, Congress' intent was to "protect the best interests of Indian children and to promote the stability and security of Indian tribes and families."

DPD / DPS Camera Partnership Kick-Off A H.A.L.O. - Safe City Initiative
The Denver Police Department, Target Corporation, Denver Public Schools and The Department of Justice have teamed up to enhance Denver Public School security.  This collaborative, crime prevention effort known as H.A.L.O./Safe City, will expand wireless video monitoring and establish connectivity between the Denver Police Department and the Denver Public Schools. Four DPS high schools have been selected to receive improved security measures based on feedback from DPS and DPD administrators. Security at Manual High, Abraham Lincoln High, Montbello High, and East High will each be bolstered by new wireless-mesh monitoring cameras on the exterior of school buildings.
Technology is a proven asset in safety and we believe this video monitoring project will make the schools safer for our children. This effort could not have been successful without the participation of the Target Corporation, who contributed $100,000 of match money for the grant.

Digitizing Denver's Historic Neighborhoods 
The Institute of Museum and Library Services has awarded the Denver Public Library's Western History/Genealogy Department a grant in the amount of $778,000 for the Library's Creating Communities: Digitizing Denver's Historic Neighborhoods project.
According to Kroll, manuscripts, photographs, published narrative, cartography, audio and video recordings and newspaper clippings from private sources will be linked with the public records to provide in-depth information about the history of Denver and its neighborhoods.
Over the next three years, the Library will be working on this project in partnership with the City of Denver, the Colorado Alliance of Research Libraries, DU Penrose Library, Auraria Library and the Colorado Historical Society.
In the past 12 months the Denver Public Library has received three IMLS grants totaling more than $2.7 million. 
Last October, the DPL received $960,000 for the Tu Biblioteca Hoy program, which, through our learning and language libraries, is successfully providing free adult classes in English language acquisition, Graduate Equivalency Degree (GED) support and life skills training. Thanks to the grant, the Library has recently added computer access and training classes.
In June, the Library received a $988,000 grant from IMLS for LEADers II (Librarian Education and Diversity). The Denver Public Library is partnering with REFORMA-Colorado and the University of Denver (DU) to further develop and refine the Future LEADers of America scholarship program in order to increase community access to libraries. The project will provide full scholarships for 18 racially and linguistically diverse students to earn master's degrees in library science at DU. By increasing the number of minority and bilingual public librarians, the LEADers II project will improve library services to under served populations.

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