Abandoned Universal Church - Denver, CO
Universal Church, December 25, 2017
Many people like to visit church on X-Mess day. It's a tradition that reinforces their beliefs, no matter how silly I may feel the ideology is. To me, it's just another day. But I understand that a lot of people need this stuff in their lives, for meaning or whatever it may be. You do you. Just keep it to yourself and try to not get any on other people. My personal opinion is the ones who make it a point to show up on the "important days", are just there to alleviate the guilt they feel, for how they treat their fellow man, on all of the other days of the year.
Maybe they're onto something?
For two consecutive X-Mess mornings (2016 and 2017), I went to church. Granted the church was abandoned and looking pretty shabby, but I was there! The Universal Church was one of many targets I had on those mornings. From 2013-2017, on all federal holidays, I would drive around the Denver metro area for photos. Holiday mornings were the best for this, because very few cars were out on the roads.
Especially on X-Mess.
Googlesmobile photo of the Universal Church - May 2008.
Open, freshly painted and looking nice on this afternoon...
The Universal Church sat on the NE corner of that strange intersection of Colorado Blvd. and Bayaud Avenue. With Leetsdale Drive smashing right into both roads. The 45 degree angle of Leetsdale, where it meets Colorado Blvd., is responsible for the strange shape of the building. That means the alignment of these three roads hasn't changed since the Church was built in 1961.
Colorado Blvd., north of Alameda Avenue, was rarely travelled by me. If I was trying to get to Colfax, I would have taken Broadway. This area didn't have much for businesses I'd been interested in over the years. Most of the retail was built on the southern part, where this area was mostly residential. So I was aware of the church, but it wasn't really on my radar.
Until July, 2015...
Laura had an appointment about a mile north of the Universal Church. After she came home, she told me about a huge medical complex that was being demolished, at 9th and Colorado Blvd. I drove up the next weekend.
The former University of Colorado Health Services Center consisted of multiple large buildings, spread out through several city blocks. The university moved their medical operations to east Colfax and Peoria, several years ago. This was what was left of the main hospital building, in July 2015. Much of the buildings between 9th and 10th, were already taken down, but most of the buildings between 8th and 9th, were still standing. Over the next 6 months, I photographed this area with a similar focus I gave to Gates Rubber Factory.
I discovered the Universal Church on the drive up to it.
Which was looking pretty poor in February, 2018. The church had been closed for almost four years, at this point, and recently had the security fence around the property removed. I'm sure that will cut down on the tagging and graffiti that keep re-appearing on the walls.
Googlesmobile photo, September, 2012.
Despite the property being for sale, the church still had an active tenant in 2012. Found a Denver Post story from a few years back, that summarized this sale and status of the property. But I'll get to that later.
The Googles blurred out enough of the sign that I couldn't read the script font above Life Changers. Looks like it starts with a W. Anyways, in September, 2012, Pastor Whittington was celebrating his 18th year of Pastorizing. Meaning he'd been at it since 1994.
Googlesmobile photo, June, 2014
Something appears to have changed here over the last two years. The Whatever Life Changers sign has been replaced by Pare De Sufrir (cease suffering). Which is a congregation of the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God. () A quick Googles search on this church reveals it was founded in 1977, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In that time, they've been accused of some pretty unsavory practices. Including -but not limited to- money laundering, witchcraft (?) and Corruption. (Into their ass my combat boot!)
I have no interest in going down that road. If you want to read further into that (and it's pretty creepy and wrong...) you can give it the ol' Googles search. After you finish reading my stuff, of course.
Pare De Sufrir ceased operating at this location at some point before October, 2015. Assuming it's the same congregation, they have recently moved into a former kickboxing gym, on east Colfax. This former Universal Church was left to deteriorate.
More importantly... What became of Pastor Whittington?
No one moved into the 24,000 square foot building, despite the fact it would make a really cool house! After seeing the church, it was an inevitable daydream as I continued down Colorado Blvd. Imagine the possibilities the auditorium could be! And I'd absolutely find a way to build a tiny sitting area behind those stained glass windows in the turret! How about a wrought iron Bob the Duck replacing the cross at the top? And what could you do with that parking lot!
Yeah, that wasn't happening any time ever.
Both this photo and the previous one, were taken by me, two weeks apart in October, 2015. It was easy to get good pictures of the church from this angle, driving south on Colorado Blvd. Unless you had traffic or interference by too much sun. Which was the case on most of my attempts at Universal Church pictures.
******
As I got older, having spent many years "celebrating" the holiday while living alone, nearly 1000 miles away from family, X-Mess hasn't meant much to me since I was a kid. Its meaning evolved from trying to buy into the spiritual significance, to finding far greater meaning in simply celebrating a day off work.
In 2007, I had to expand my participation onto the holiday, since I was no longer living alone. For the first time in my adult life, I had to put some minimal effort into X-Mess. When you're a childless atheist, there's no point in going beyond a simple gift exchange.
You need a symbol, I'll draw you one...
X-Mess Tree the Ex and I used in 2007-2008.
My finest artistry skills on full display for the holidays! Thumbtacked to the wall, with our gifts to each other underneath. She offered to help decorate the tree. I pointed out where the markers were, but my minute-thirty of trying is as far as it went. For celebration's sake, we used this as our tree.
On X-Mess morning 2013, I started a new tradition. Laura had flown back to Minnesota to spend X-Mess with her family. I stayed behind to work, but I had X-Mess day off! Knowing that I was already driving up to Gates Rubber Factory, for that week's demolition photos, I decided to take advantage of the minimal traffic on the roads. I started thinking of places around the Denver metropolitan area, and eventually found myself in the parking lot of a partially demolished Fan Fair in Aurora. I posted a two part story on that day's excursion a few years back. (X-Mess morning 2013 photo tour, part one and part two.)
For X-Mess morning 2016, I knew that the Universal Church would be one of my specific targets. I set out just after sunrise. Stopped at the 7-Eleven at Broadway and Tufts for driving supplies (cigarettes and drinks, probably some mini-donuts if I was feeling particularly healthy) before making my way to Colorado Blvd.
The Criterion Shopping Center was still intact, but I didn't know at the time how soon it was going to go away. There wasn't a fence around the property yet. I wish I would have stopped for proper pictures today. I'd be back at least every other weekend during the summer, as an outdated retail complex was removed in favor of a massive residential build. With some odd dimensions, as not all of the businesses surrounding it wanted to sell.
Unlike the Colorado Blvd. Perkins and La Quinta hotel. They held out until early 2023 before closing permanently, then being demolished that summer. They will be replaced by another massive apartment complex.
Second Spin was still open then. I wrote about that place a couple years ago.
And I just liked the Belcaro Motel.
Approaching Bayaud Avenue, and the Universal Church.
You can make a right turn onto Bayaud, but you must immediately make another right turn, onto southbound Leetsdale. That’s because Bayaud immediate becomes a one way across Leetsdale. And not the one way you can drive, approaching from the west. So I had to do some maneuvering to access the alley behind the church.
Should have just parked somewhere and walked... Maybe next X-Mess?
Now that I'm finally driving up the alley, what's happening to the side of the building you can't see from a busy thoroughfare?
Someone brought over a Target cart, from their megastore a few blocks south. It's parked at the bottom of the stairs leading into the back of the main auditorium. There's no tracks in the snow, so that must not have been their access point.
Oh look, a point of entry! (But I’m not doing that…)
That beige door may have been how people were getting inside.
I do like that overturned chair next to the front doors.
Quite the deadly looking ice patch in front of the stairs.
Not the most creative use of stained glass windows I've ever seen...
"We could only afford multi-colored squares, after blowing our budget on those fancy curved ones in the arched windows..."
Looking across the parking lot, with the alley I just drove up, on the left side of the picture.
Colorado Blvd. is on the right.
Hello, RTD bus!
The dirt lot, for overflow parking.
You know, when the attendance is higher, because it's X-Mess!
After this shot, I continued north on Colorado Blvd. on my way to the UCHSC demolition. After taking pictures of whatever is still going on there, I'll try to get a decent shot of the west-facing side of the church.
Which is wearing some fresh new graffiti. I especially like what they've done in the covered patio area. But it's the words to the right of the turret that gave this church its new name. Just as soon as I can get a better picture of it, I'll reveal it to you.
I'll come back in a few months...
Or six...
June 17, 2017.
The paint on my new favorite tag has faded quite a bit, but it’s still legible enough for me to rename this from the Universal Church, to the Joy Division Church.
Perhaps the Googles has a better shot?
Thanks Googles, for a better symbol for the Joy Division Church…
Now we need some classic music to solidify the connection.
The graffiti showed up towards the end of 2016, on the most visible corner of the structure. Would love to know the story behind the motivation for whomever painted it. Loss and betrayal are powerful emotions, and stuff we can all relate to. Apparently it was enough for someone to make this statement, with an abandoned church as the canvas.
Love sucks, man…
For example, let’s go back to X-Mess… I showed you the tree we used in 2007 and 2008, but when it came to X-Mess 2009, I couldn’t find the stack of papers that our X-Mess Tree was stuck between. So I had to prepare a new one…
X-Mess Tree 2009
You may notice our 2009 X-Mess Tree has no balls. That’s because it was my ex’s job to decorate the tree. She misunderstood me, and was doing entirely different jobs, on entirely different balls, every night after I left for work.
2009 was our last X-Mess together.
Which brings an entirely different song to mind…
Screw the iPhone, Andy Kaufman would have never supported his art being used for this type of marketing.
But we live in different times, and this song kicks all sorts of ass.
Anyways...
Fast forwarding through a buncha more X-Messes, and it’s now X-Mess morning, 2017.
And it’s time to get some updated photos of the Joy Division Church.
Along the way, I made a brief detour on Warren Avenue to do a semi-circle around the former Criterion Shopping Center. The parking garage for the future apartments is going up on the east side of the property. All traces of the shopping center are gone, with the exception of Crown Burger, the forever closed Gas 4 Less and VIDA Veterinary Care, all of which didn’t sell their property, meaning the apartment building went up around their land.
I have hundreds of photos on the closure and demolition of the Criterion Shopping Center, which will eventually find their way here. Kind of surprised I haven’t tapped into those stories yet.
On the north side of the block was the Deadbeat Club, which burned down in September, 2015.
And before we get back to our X-Mess visit to the Joy Division Church, I’m going past and up to the former University of Colorado Health Services Campus. Another story where I have several thousand pictures, and have yet to write anything about them…
All of the UCHSC buildings are gone, between 8th and 9th Avenues. With all new buildings, nearly completed between 9th and 10th. A few years ago, this block was filled with multi-story medical offices and clinics. Now it’s just dirt.
One of the buildings that wasn’t demolished was the old Nurses Dormitory.
Nearly 100 years old, it’s sitting completely boarded up today. Only the first floor was covered up in 2017.
I’d hoped they would have renovated this and made use of it by now. Pretty sure it’s a protected historical building, so it couldn’t be removed with the rest of them. I took better pictures of it in the summer of 2015, when I was wandering around here biweekly.
The most distinct feature of the UCHSC to me, was this five story office bridge, crossing 9th Avenue. It wasn’t demolished, even as the buildings it was around and attached to, all fell down. I thought I saw it was in the plans to be saved, with a possible renovated future as a hotel. It was still standing in May of 2018, just before I moved away from Denver. But a look at the more current day Googles, showed this was demolished in 2019. The entire area around it has been built up with huge high-rise apartment buildings (and the boarded up nurses dorm).
Too bad that it’s gone, the office bridge was a really interesting piece of architecture.
Oh well, it’s time for church.
I made the left turn off 9th, back onto south Colorado Blvd, with the Joy Division Church as my next destination.
Learning from my driving/photography mistakes of X-Mess morning 2016, I planned ahead this time. Looping the one way on Bayaud Avenue and finding an on-street parking space, a block or so away. It was cold and windy this morning, so I made my walk-around the church quick.
Starting with these angled stairs, built to accommodate the cramped space between Bayaud and Leetsdale. Behind the Do Not Enter sign (in reference to the one way street Bayaud becomes right here) is the entrance to the narrow alley between the church, and the backs of houses along Albion Street.
Southwest corner of the Joy Division church. Trash cans lining the temporary security fence. Which looks like it isn't very secure in how it's assembled. Also doubt this alley is wide enough for a conventional trash compacting truck to run through.
Attempted look into the basement window. Some different colored shapes inside.
Interpret them however you wish.
Target must have gotten their shopping cart back for X-Mess.
If there was an external lock placed on this basement door, it's gone now.
Well, the whole place is gone now...
The Joy Division Church, sponsored by Rockstar Energy Drink.
Hurry up, promotion ends November 31, 2012!
Interesting that this door is now barred. Funny that a church never paid to upgrade their door/lock combos. That really looks like it's the same door that was installed in 1961.
Oh, there's Target's shopping cart! It was just moved. Probably hauling bibles.
One of the funniest things I read during my limited runs on Xitter, was a ranting White Christian Nationalist accidentally adding an extra "b" in the middle of the word bible. If you pronounce the word bibble as it's phonetically spelled, it's rather funny. Now when it's pronounced that way, in the context of angrily justifying a ridiculously hypocritical view, it becomes impossible to not laugh at.
"IT SAYS SO RIGHT HERE IN MY BIBBLE!!!"
Something I did find cool was the tag behind the cart. Someone went through the effort of stripping the paint off the brick, before outlining their tag. They didn't do such a great job on the outline, but points for effort.
Front doors of the church are now barred as well. Again, just as with the other doors, they all look like they've been in place since 1961. Churches make money. Lots of money. Upgrade your building.
Paved parking lot, with a rapidly melting blanket of last night's light snowfall covering parts the sun hasn't melted yet.
The snow covered dirt in the bottom corner of this picture is now a couple of houses. Either the church didn't own this land, or it was developed separate. Which makes sense because there isn't a 56 year old abandoned church sitting on it. Looking back at the Googles, this land was just an empty space in 2017, with an old wooden fence around it. Some fairly tall trees fronted Colorado Blvd. Those are gone too.
North of the Joy Division Church is Ellsworth Avenue. You used to cross Colorado Blvd. here, but it was closed off many years ago. I can't imagine trying to make a left turn onto Colorado Blvd. without lights. Good thing a tree was planted in the median. Hopefully powerful enough to stop anyone from trying to "make it" across, between traffic.
Walking back down the block, seeing another shoddy job in assembling a secure temporary fence.
No wonder it would be taken down soon.
The classic view of the Joy Division Church.
Still attempting to look elegant, while people keep painting on the walls.
All that space and it only gets a bubbly (bibble?) "SR". Why not paint a second somberly appropriate early 1980's goth lyric, and make a statement? Here, I'll give you a given: "Nothing Left But Faith". From The Cure's 1981 album, Faith.
Light some candles... Slit some wrists...
Love the silver and black tagging under the patio. Almost looks like it's framed. Which is good and all, but the highlight of this picture is the sun illuminating the stained glass windows in the turret.
See, these are just fun!
For some reason, the "I can't see shit!", in this context, is extra funny to me.
More stained glass goodness and empty sign frame.
Not sure what all is going on here, but I like it!
Wonder what year these retaining bricks quit retaining...
Rounding the corner, to stand where Leetsdale merges with Colorado Blvd. Wanted to get a picture of the entire tower from this angle, but couldn't get it to fit. So this is the top half.
And the bottom.
Had I felt somewhat energetic, I would have put together one of my absolutely perfect panoramic shots. But I don't have Photoshop anymore, so assemble them in your mind.
Damat Bryte! (Or whatever that says...) Your stupid tag is infringing on the Joy Division Church's logo!
And your "Y" (if that's what that is) looks like a butt plug.
Give that man a trophy.
And we're almost back to our starting point.
Would have liked to have seen if there was anything going in the windows.
Doorknob!
This was the best I could do.
One more look as I turn around and walk back to my car.
That stained glass shining in the sunlight looks nice.
A little dignity as everything supporting it slowly rots away.
Maybe the Universal Church would still be around today, if they just knew how to properly market their product? Shameless self promotion is sometimes in order, just ask the Hamline United Methodist Church, in St. Paul, MN, who ran this advertisement in the fall of 1991…
Always wondered if this was all done metaphorically? "Now close your eyes... Feel that? Jesus is signing your soul!" Or did they go completely tacky and pay a local community college actor to don a fake beard and wig, and scribble “Jesus” on glossy 8x10’s? (With a $20 surcharge for inscriptions or bats.) Either way, the Hamline United Methodist Church is still in business today.
Shameless self promotion does indeed work!
Looking out Bayaud Avenue, across Colorado Blvd., Leetsdale between us.
If you're still reading this, early on in the story, I mentioned that I found a little bit of information from an old story that ran in the Denver Post. It was detailing the efforts of the neighborhood pushing for something to be done with property. That part of the story is whatever you want to take from it. This is an excerpt of what I cared about:
"The existing church building dates to 1961, according to property records. The site hasn’t been owned by a religious organization since 2006, when Kingdom of Faith Kingdom Center Inc. sold both parcels to Folsom Ventures LLC for $1.15 million, records indicate.
First Stone bought the property from an entity affiliated with McKinnon & Associates, led by Doug McKinnon. He purchased the property for $1.8 million in 2014, records show. McKinnon also owns several largely-unused sites on the other side of Colorado Boulevard, which the city rezoned last year."
Denver Post - September 28, 2021.
Somehow the largely-unused sites across the street had completely escaped my radar. They consisted of a smaller sized office/retail building, and a shabby looking duplex. Which has been increasingly boarded up since 2014, if not earlier. I didn't take any screen captures of it. Feel free to look it up on your own. Was a kind of cool looking old house...
That shabby looking duplex sat directly north of what last was Peepers Optical. This Googles shot is from July, 2008. And it looks like they've already closed. But you've got to admire the bold choice in painting the building bright purple with (skull crushing) teal awnings.
Not long after Peepers closed their eyes for good, the entire building was painted neutral beige.
Googlesmobile drive by shot from May, 2021. If you look closely, you'll see the Peepers Optical label scars still visible on the awnings. Funny cause it's been painted a completely different color. The bushes are out of control and the doors are boarded up. By the time Googles drove by with cameras rolling five months later, the bushes and trees were removed, and all the windows were boarded up. Over the next year, the canopy above the door would be ripped off, and the property would have a fence placed around the perimeter.
The Ghost of Peepers Optical has their own shopping cart from Target! Must be some sort of property share/exchange with the Joy Division Church.
Peepers Optical was never leased to another tenant after 2008. The boring beige box sat neglected until the fall 2023 demolition. Which was done at the same time the Joy Division Church was torn down.
Back to X-Mess morning 2017... After finishing up my photo mission at the church, I set out south on Colorado Blvd., on my way to the next planned drive by, the Cherry Creek Mall (Boooooooooo!). A couple of recent retail closures were on my photo hit list.
First of which being the Cherry Creek Mall Safeway grocery store. Not a regular stop, but I'd been in this store a few times, dating back to 1996. Safeway was simply priced out of leasing space here. There were a several occasions in the late 1990's that I'd stop in here after killing a bunch of time at...
The Container Store?
No. This is, and will always be, Tower Records. My Happiest Place in Denver. That hasn't been happy since 2006, when it closed due to bankruptcy. In its place now is a giant superstore dedicated to providing you plastic tubs to store your excess tube socks in.
Bed Bath & Beyond recently closed their Cherry Creek Mall satellite store. That's just way too much retail space for decorative hand towels. A month or so earlier, I was driving through here with a friend, and saw a crew of workers removing fixtures from the building. I snuck through the opened "DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT USING OUR PARKING LOT" gates, and took some pictures of the recently deceased massive overpriced household goods shop. (Didn't include any here because I'm apparently saving them for something else...) Over the last 20 years, the Cherry Creek Mall has gotten downright greedy and ridiculous over their stupid parking lot.
March 31, 2018.
My last picture of the Joy Division Church. An actual good one, taken from the south. The temporary security fence has been removed, and all ground level windows are now boarded up. Looking at this picture no makes me wish I would have stopped for more pictures. While I wasn't going to try and get in, I would have made good use of some close up pictures to areas I was previously kept back from.
Laura and I moved to Minnesota two months later.
Now I had to make use of the Googles, in order to spy on the church…
November 2019. Still no fence around the property. The covered patio is now boarded up. Mark of the Joy Division is still legible, even if the rest of the graffiti itself is muted.
November 2020. A very appropriate sentiment has shown up on the patio. Finally an uplifting message from the church that I can appreciate! I agree sign… How could this stupid country have not learned their lesson the first time around? Embarrassing and horrifying.
October 2021. A woman hanging out in front the church, doing her best Captain Honkass impression. Probably waiting for the Googlesmobile to pass, so she can paint a giant dong on the side of the church wall.
Probably not...
November 2022. The last Googles drive by of an intact Joy Division Church. A much smaller fence has been placed around the church building. All of the windows are now covered by sheets of plywood. Including the stained glass windows at the top of the turret.
Don't cover those up! They weren't hurting anyone!
Oh well, goodbye Universal Joy Division Church.
Enjoy becoming overpriced homes jammed together in far too small of space, in order to maximize profits for the shareholders!
July 2024. Just an overgrown weedy lot where there was once a church. Which was demolished in the summer/fall of 2023. At the same time as Peepers Optical and that shabby looking boarded up duplex. None of which was really viable for use in this location, in the 21st century, but they all had a certain degree of character. The stuff that will replace them will look exactly like what you'd expect. That same boring modern style of jamming a bunch of right angles together with "wacky" clashing accent colors.
But what about the symbolism?
Laura and I have officially been together for over 13 years now.
Our X-Mess tree is much nicer and fuller, and more festive as a representation of our place in life today.
Complete with a Minnesota Wild blanket for the wrapped gifts to rest on.
Not that I was going for a hockey theme, but it happened to feature festive X-Mess colors.
Yes, we’re the type of people that never take our X-Mess Tree down.
Wouldn’t want to misplace it in some folder next to old Pizza Man advertisements.
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