The century-old Federal Theatre in Denver is getting new life as a music venue.
The first performance there in 50 years is happening this weekend, when local bands play two nights of free, all-ages shows.
“This is one of those places where you’d come in and expect the ceiling falling in, or holes in walls, or copper wire torn out,” co-owner Peter Ore tells the Denver Post. “But none of that had happened, so we were very lucky.”
The Federal has been shuttered since the mid-‘80s. Like its contemporaries – the Ogden, Bluebird and Gothic theaters – it was born as a movie theater in the ‘20s. Most recently it was a church with housing for homeless and recently released prisoners. There’s still a statue of Mother Mary inside of an old drinking fountain mount.
The new owners are modeling it after their other venue, the Oriental. The Federal doesn’t have the intricate architecture of the Paramount, but it still has plenty of character – once they pulled the trash and old mattresses out.
The Federal might even have a ghost. An employee there tells the Post he “heard things from the lobby and bathrooms that made all my hairs stand up on end.”
Ghosts, ghouls and everyone else are invited to the grand reopening this weekend, Sept. 19 (iZCALLi and Los Mocochetes) and Sept. 20 (Cobranoid, The Pitch Invasion, Clusterfux and Vitrify). The Federal Theater is at 3830 Federal Boulevard in Denver, near the intersection of Federal and W. 38th Avenue.