A new community center intended to be a hub for southwest Denver is set to bring food stalls, a coffee shop and sweeping mountain views to the Loretto Heights campus by 2026 — with help from a recent $20 million federal grant.
Loretto Heights, a former college campus known for its sandstone clocktower, is under a major redevelopment after Westside Investment Partners purchased the campus for $15.8 million in 2018.
The new community center, which will be operated by a nonprofit group called Commún, will also offer a wide swath of services, including a donation-based grocery store, a child care center and a community market.
“Think of a food hall,” said Margaret Brugger, executive director of the nonprofit. “It’s lively, there’s coffee, you can get a meal and it has beautiful views. So who wants to come there? Everybody that feels like they belong.”
While the Loretto Heights Community Center will provide some services for lower-income residents, it’s intended to be a space for anyone in the community to connect with their neighbors, Brugger said.
The $20 million grant was awarded by the Environmental Protection Agency in a climate-focused program. It will only partially fund the remodeling of the 1950s-era building known as Machebeuf Hall — a 45,000 square feet structure that formerly operated as a cafeteria. The full project’s budget is $41 million, with other funding coming from the Colorado Trust, the Gates Foundation, the Sisters of Loretto and some government tax credits.
Project backers are seeking donations from foundations, government agencies and individuals to raise the final $10 million, Brugger said.
The $7 million in tax credits, from the state and federal governments combined, have been awarded because the project will preserve a historic structure.
The building that will become the community center is due west of Loretto Heights’ iconic clocktower. A rendering provided to The Denver Post shows plans for a large patio, which will feature views of Pikes Peak, Red Rocks Amphitheatre and the whole Front Range.
The EPA’s Community Change Grants program received $2 billion from the Inflation Reduction Act to support projects that “help disadvantaged communities reduce pollution and increase climate resilience,” according to a press release about the award earlier this month.
Commún applied under the “resilience hub” option of the grant.
“We came together to address the changes that are happening in our community, specifically from displacement and development but also from climate,” said Andrea Savage, the associate director of Commún. “We have the background in community leadership and community organizing that made our application really strong.”
Commún, established in 2018, now provides its services — including a food bank, mental health help, community organizing and career support — at the Church in South Denver on South Tennyson Street.
The grant will help pay for several environmental updates at its new home at Loretto Heights, including new pipes, an updated heating and cooling system, solar panels and electric vehicle charging stations.
The bulk of the EPA grant will go toward renovations, but about $2 million is dedicated to the nonprofit’s climate program. It will help connect residents to climate resilience tools, like air purifiers, and educate them on environmental issues and carbon footprint reduction.
While newly inaugurated President Donald Trump has vowed to claw back unspent funding under the Inflation Reduction Act, which was major legislation signed by former President Joe Biden, Brugger confirmed that Commún had already formally received the allocation.
The center, which will be located in a part of the city that’s largely Latino, will also offer language courses, fitness classes, job training, a community market and wellness services such as acupuncture.
Aleshay Garcia, a 17-year-old resident nearby in Englewood and a member of Commún’s Climate Promotoras team — the word is Spanish for promoter or advocate — said she thinks the center will help her neighborhood.
“What I see there is a lot of people just enjoying food from different cultures, and there are no barriers,” she said. “No matter your age, no matter your race, no matter anything. It’s just you as a human.”
The rest of the 72-acre Loretto Heights property is in the process of being converted into a mixed-use development, eventually to include about 1,400 housing units, some of which are designated as income-qualified units. Denver Arts & Venues, a city agency, owns a theater and a library on the campus. About 260 housing units, including for-sale homes and rentals, have been completed so far, said Councilman Kevin Flynn, who represents the district where the campus is located.
“Reopening historic Machebeuf Hall as a gathering place — this time for the community at large rather than students only — is a key panel in the quilt that will make the Loretto Heights campus southwest Denver’s live-work-play living room,” Flynn said.
Get more Colorado news by signing up for our daily Your Morning Dozen email newsletter.