AMSA's 2004 Summer Conference

Leading the Way ... POTWs Take
Environmental Protection Beyond the Pipe
July 20 - 23, 2004, The Westin Tabor Center, Denver, Colorado

Destination Denver!

We hope that you will take advantage of all that Denver has to offer while you are in town for AMSA’s 2004 Summer Conference. Denver is certainly best known as the Mile High City, but the Denver Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau expands on this best-known fact, and gives you 10 more pieces of information to increase your knowledge of their fair Colorado city. Here are some excerpts of what they have to say:

(If you would prefer to skip these excerpts and go directly to some helpful travel-planning links, click here.)

1. Denver really is exactly one mile high. At the 15th step on the State Capitol Building, Denver is exactly 5,280 feet above sea level.
    
2. Denver has the 10th largest downtown in America. Denver’s downtown is a definitive area and very walkable. Within a mile radius in the downtown area, sites range from 3 sports stadiums, an assortment of museums, and amusement park.
    
3. Denver is near the mountains, not in them. Although you can see them from all over Denver, Denver is actually 12 miles east of locally termed “foothills”, a series of mountains that climb up to 11,000 feet with peaks beyond them rising to 14,000 feet.
    
4. Denver has 300 days of sunshine a year. It’s east of a major mountain range, and it actually gets more sunny days a year than San Diego or Miami Beach!
    
5. Denver’s history is short, but colorful. There was not a single person living in Denver is 1858, but a Gold Rush brought nearly 200,000 people in 30 years following that.
    
6. Denver has the largest city park system in the nation. There are more than 200 parks within the city and 20,000 acres of parks in the nearby mountains.
    
7. Denver is a cultural city with the highest educated population in America. Starting in the Old West days, Denver had a performance of Shakespeare’s Macbeth before it even had a school or a hospital. It has since become home to a huge performing arts complex, and it boasts more high school and college graduates per capita than any other city.
    
8. Denver also loves its sports. Denver is home to the Denver Broncos (NFL), the Denver Nuggets (NBA), the Colorado Avalanche (NHL), and the Colorado Rockies (MLB).
    
9. Denver is a city of many colors and cultures with great diversity. Their diversity is celebrated at numerous festivals and events including the nation’s largest Cinco de Mayo celebration and the annual Juneteenth and Black Arts Festival.
    
10. Denver brews more beer than any other city. After all, their first building was a saloon. So it’s only natural that Denver would become a great beer town, home to the largest brewery, Coors as well as a number of microbreweries.

To read more about Denver and map out a huge range of activities, click on a few of the links below which are a sampling of all that Denver has to offer:

http://www.denver.org/media/releases/denverglance.asp

Particularly helpful page on the Denver Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau website which breaks down all that Denver has to offer in several different categories.

http://www.downtowndenver.com/bid/16thstmall.htm

The centerpiece of downtown Denver, the 16th Street Mall is a 16-block long pedestrian and transitway mall that serves as the retail core of downtown Denver.

http://www.buffalobill.org/
Located in Golden, CO (30 minutes from downtown), it’s filled with memorabilia honoring the famous frontier scout, showman and Pony Express rider, William F. Cody.

http://www.oceanjourney.org/
Denver’s aquarium opened in 1999 and is located downtown.

http://www.milehighcity.com/capitol/
Colorado’s State Capitol marks Denver’s famous mile high status.

http://www.coors.com/home.asp
Brewery built in 1873 in Golden, CO. Open Monday – Saturday, offers tours on a first-come, first-served basis.

http://www.dmns.org/main/en/
Denver Museum of Nature & Science. Offers a variety of exhibits highlighting Colorado, Earth and the universe.

http://www.denvercenter.org/
Denver Performing Arts Center. Check out what shows are in town when you are.