4 MARCH 12-18, 2026 westword.com WESTWORD | MUSIC | CAFE | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | NEWS | LETTERS | CONTENTS | W ® 6 BIG IDEAS IN LITTLE ITALY North Denver descendants want a new historic district to honor their Italian heritage. BY HANNAH METZGER 10 KEEPING ARTISTS IN COLORADO Louise Martorano’s work with CAST is creating new affordable housing and studio spaces. BY KRISTEN FIORE 12 ONE FOR THE BOOKS Now serving: Four decades of Racines history at the Denver Public Library. BY TEAGUE BOHLEN 15 BOULDER ROCKS Folsom Field gets extra credit as a college-town venue. BY JUSTIN CRIADO 10 Culture 12 Cafe 15 Music CONCERTS/CLUBS ................................... 16 22 Marijuana CANNABIS CALENDAR ............................ 22 HIGH NOTES ............................................. XX VOLUME 49 NUMBER 28 MARCH 12-18, 2026 E D I T O R I A L Editor Patricia Calhoun News Editor Thomas Mitchell Food and Drink Editor Molly Martin Music Editor Emily Ferguson Culture Editor Kristen Fiore Social Media Editor Katrina Leibee Staff Writers Bennito L. 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I have visited that Safeway by the Lowry Town Center, and sometimes caught a “whiff” on my way in or out of the store. Not very appetizing, or conducive to sticking around the area. Harriet Stewart Denver I wondered what happened to Petite Ga- teaux! I loved that place, and everything smelled so good there I guess I never noticed what was happening outside. It deserved better. Denver deserves better than this landlord. Diana Davis Aurora Bennito, I enjoyed reading your article about the sewer system over at Lowry. You use your words very well! I was just curious about your opinion: Did you happen to go over there and “open your nostrils”? Or did you note your experience but not use “fi rst- person” (I think that’s what it’s called). I no longer live there, but your writing made me want to go take a smell myself! Cheryl McCarty Denver Thank you for your article about the terrible smells in the Lowry Town Center. One item that was not addressed is the reason the plaza fountain has been turned off for the past several years. There was the smell in the plaza and it was never ad- dressed, only shut down. Kimco has done a terrible job managing this center. When Weingarten Miller owned the property, they took care of the property and busi- nesses. There were activities all the time that encouraged the neighborhood to fre- quent the Town Center. I was on the Citizen Advisory Council when Lowry was to be redeveloped in 1993. The Town center was a big asset for the neighborhood; it created the “walkable” concept that everyone wants. I am also on the Lowry Foundation board, and we get complaints frequently about the vacancies, lack of quality tenants and activities/market- ing. It is frustrating to the neighborhood that we cannot get changes to improve the Town Center. The existing tenants will be leaving soon based on the vacancies, smell and lack of foot traffi c. Again, thank you for your interest. We appreciate the article. Name Withheld on Request There are a few shopping centers like this around town, some with dining establish- ments in them, and I’m always so curious as to how they pass health inspection with notable sewer smells. Not sure if it’s related, but two of the other specifi c places I’m refer- ring to are Northglenn Town Center (Cafe Rio) and the shopping center on 104th and Federal. Specifi cally the Chipotle there. Andrea Liggett Denver I read your story about sewer odors at Lowry Center. I live in Houston, where sewer odors are sometimes noticeable at various locations. The little vents in manhole covers give out the smell when you’re walking the streets. In one case, a sewer line down a street gave off odors so strong folks could not sit on their patio. This Lowry Center problem sounds to me like a major infrastructure issue for the City of Denver. As far as folks not always being able to smell it, that’s not dispositive. All you have to do is smell it sometimes at a restaurant, and you’ll stop going there. In Houston, I think sewer odors occur because the city is very fl at, underinvestment in infrastructure has always been an issue and, during especially dry spells, low fl ow leaves sewage to stink. Houston has a lot of now-illegal intercon- nects between storm sewers and sanitary sewers (these used to be common in all cities), and that often masks the problem. As the city works to remove these storm sewer interconnects, in compliance with EPA requirements, the odors become more common because there’s less fl ow. For what it’s worth. Bruce Nichols Houston
