MILE HIGH VITALITY LODO, ARTS SCENE HAVE PUT A SPRING IN DENVER'S STEP.

Byline: Eric Noland Travel Editor

DENVER - It was all made possible by a bouncing ball. Two of them, actually. Plus a puck.

Folks are rabid about their professional sports franchises here at the eastern foot of the Rocky Mountains, and when a baseball stadium and an indoor basketball/hockey arena were planted on a dilapidated fringe of downtown - just this side of the tracks - people, energy and a whole lot of money gushed into the area.

As a result, Denver today is a model of how urban revitalization can work. Its ``lower downtown'' district - or LoDo - percolates with activity day and night.

Brick warehouses from the early 20th century have been cleaned up, renovated and converted into restaurants, bars, art galleries, designer furniture stores and loft apartments. Now, office workers actually stick around the city when their day is done, perhaps to knock back a pint of Lumpy Dog Light Lager at the Rock Bottom Brewery. Visitors, in turn, are drawn to an area of historic character and bustling social interaction.

And LoDo's appeal isn't limited to those dates when either the baseball Rockies are playing at 8-year-old Coors Field or the basketball Nuggets or hockey Avalanche are taking turns inside the 4-year-old Pepsi Center (the three teams combine for a minimum of 163 home appearances a year). LoDo has proven to be self-sustainable, branching into blocks well beyond the sports stadiums, trailing eclectic offerings in its wake.

``It's spreading,'' said Storm Ireland, owner of the Pour House Pub on Market Street. ``There are a lot of niches to be filled, and people are finding that it's OK to take a chance in filling one. There's something for everybody down here. We're a downtown neighborhood pub. Next door to us is an Irish pub. And across the street is a martini yuppie bar. That's all within about 10 feet.''

Although pro sports are primarily responsible for the revival of this region, a lively performing arts scene provides the other bookend of the city's resurgence. At the Denver Center, there are no fewer than seven diverse venues clustered together.

On a weekend visit in September, I was able to savor the virtuosity of Midori as she played a Mendelssohn violin concerto with the Colorado Symphony on a Saturday night, then return the following afternoon to catch a matinee of ``I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change,'' an uproarious comedy that is about to become the longest-running theater production in Denver's history. The intimate cabaret setting of the Garner Galleria Theatre was nearly packed - even though the play was head-to-head with Denver's beloved Broncos on TV.

Before or after a game, musical, play, opera or ballet, Denver is decidedly friendly to the pedestrian. Cars were barred from a two-thirds-mile stretch of 16th Street some 20 years ago, and as business people and visitors began streaming along the sidewalks, name-brand stores and stylish chain eateries sprang up like mountain wildflowers.

During the day, the 16th Street Mall hums with activity - from chess games to power lunches. If you're fond of familiar establishments, you'll be comfortable here: Starbucks (four of them), Hard Rock Cafe, Johnny Rockets, Jamba Juice, Virgin Megastore. But in the evening, unfortunately, this outdoor mall becomes the primary domain of the city's panhandlers and street ranters.

If the colorless chain outlets and colorful street people combine for an unwelcome double whammy, direct your steps down 16th Street to LoDo (or, if footsore, catch one of the free shuttle buses that run regularly on the route).

The redevelopment of Denver's historic quarter got a foothold around Larimer Square in the early 1980s, but LoDo spread like wildfire once Coors Field opened its gates in 1995.

It's a treat to wander this forest of red brick. Many of the buildings date to a time when Denver was a regional clearing center for goods that rolled in on the rails and were stored in massive warehouses. Here and there, a vintage sign on the side of a building has been restored to its former glory: Beatrice Creamery Co., John Deere Plow Co., The S.H. Supply Co. At Union Station, the neon sign - urging citizens to ``travel by train'' - gleams brilliantly.

The building interiors are treasures, too. When you settle onto a stool at Wynkoop Brewing Co. for a glass of RailYard Ale and a Thai Cobb salad (use your imagination: peanuts, rice noodles, turkey still warm from the roasting), there's something reassuring about the scuffed wood floors, the working radiators along the walls, the pressed-tin ceiling and the Victorian light fixtures.

Actually, rough-and-tumble miners of another era wouldn't stumble in here for grog and grub as you did. After making a few bucks in gold or silver, they'd buy furniture here. It used to be a mercantile store, and the restaurant and bar occupy the former showroom.

Another one-time mercantile establishment a few blocks away today houses the impressive Tattered Cover Book Store. All the cavernous space of the 1896 warehouse accommodates an exhaustive range of the printed word, and this is one browser's delight.

Books line shelves on two floors, and there are a lot of inviting reading nooks - as well as a coffeehouse on the premises. The bargain section is particularly strong.

In the area devoted to regional history, I was disappointed not to find anything on a past pillar of Denver's community, Justina L. Ford.

For that, a visitor must head to the northeastern outskirts of the city and the Black American West Museum. ``This was her house,'' museum assistant Denver Norman said of Ford's modest Victorian dwelling that now houses a modest collection of artifacts. ``She moved here in 1902 and became the first African-American female licensed physician in Colorado. She purchased this house in 1911 and set up practice in it - and practiced until her death in 1952.''

Despite a degree from Hering Medical College in Chicago, Ford was denied hospital privileges for many years in Denver, but a lot of other ethnic minorities were excluded from the health-care system, too - Latinos, Indians, Asians, Jews. So they became the foundation of Ford's gynecological, obstetric and pediatric practice. ``I fought like a tiger against those things,'' she reportedly said of the prevalent discrimination in the early 20th century.

Well, it's probably more accurate to say that she fought when she wasn't busy ministering to patients. Ford is said to have delivered more than 7,000 babies to mostly poor families, and the house includes a re-creation of her examining room.

The museum also has exhibits on western migration of blacks in the 1870s, buffalo soldiers, rodeo cowboys, miners and the Tuskegee Airmen. But Ford's story was the most compelling. Shouldn't there be a plaza named for her somewhere in this town?

``Well, there's a statue of her over there,'' Norman said, pointing out a window at a bust that overlooks ... a light-rail station.

Denver grapples with historical perspective in other locales, too. In front of the state Capitol, at Denver's Civic Center, is a Civil War monument - a statue of a stern-faced soldier. On its base are etched the battles fought by Colorado regiments during the war. But among them is ``Sand Creek, 1864.'' That ``battle'' amounted to a massacre of 163 women, children and old men at a peaceful Cheyenne and Arapaho camp 200 miles southeast of Denver.

The story is told poignantly a couple of blocks away at the Colorado History Museum. Videotaped interviews with aged descendants of the survivors relate stories that have been passed down through the generations. With the retellings, the storytellers choke up with emotion even now.

The museum's collection and presentation is otherwise forgettable, but this exhibit alone warrants a visit. It includes the front page of the then- weekly Rocky Mountain News, with a headline that gloats, ``Great Battle With Indians! The Savages Dispersed! 500 Indians Killed! Our Losses 9 Killed ...''

Other worthwhile stops in the vicinity of the Colorado Statehouse include the elaborate Victorian home of colorful Denver character Molly Brown - dubbed ``unsinkable'' when she survived the Titanic disaster - and the Denver Art Museum.

The latter is in the midst of a major expansion - a dramatic new building, designed by David Libeskind, that is targeted for completion in 2006. It will be a welcome improvement. The museum's collection is extensive (55,000 pieces), but only a fraction can be exhibited at a time, and visitors must navigate a seven-floor box that relies too heavily on its elevators to move people from floor to floor (the only alternative is a stark fire stairwell).

The museum books some excellent special exhibitions, including its current one, ``El Greco to Picasso,'' which features notable works of Renoir, Cezanne and van Gogh from the Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C. (through Jan. 4).

Before leaving the city, a visitor should ascend the west steps of the Capitol and survey evidence that Denver, despite a century and a half as the most important city in the Rockies, doesn't take itself too seriously.

One of the steps designates the elevation of the Mile High City. Grandly etched into the granite are the words ``One Mile Above Sea Level.'' Well ... that's what they calculated when they built this thing in the late 1880s.

But in 1969, engineering students from Colorado State University took new readings and determined that 5,280 feet of elevation is actually three stair steps higher. A new marker was installed, but the original, inaccurate etching remains.

Linger here for a stunning view of the city. To the west, the Rocky Mountains rise majestically. To the northwest, LoDo pulses with newfound vitality. To Denver's credit - whether with the Statehouse steps or its former skid row - the city kept working till it got it right.

Eric Noland, [phone]

eric.noland(at)dailynews.com

IF YOU GO

BLACK AMERICAN WEST MUSEUM: 3091 California St. Currently open Wednesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (From June 1 through Aug. 31, open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.) Admission is $6 for adults, $5.50 for seniors (age 65 and up), $4 for children ages 5 to 12. [phone].

COLORADO HISTORY MUSEUM: 1300 Broadway. Open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Sunday from noon to 4:30 p.m. Admission is $5 for adults, $4.50 for seniors (age 65 and up), $4.50 for students with ID, $3.50 for children ages 6 to 12. [phone]; www.coloradohistory.org.

DENVER ART MUSEUM: 100 W. 14th Ave. Parkway. Open Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. Admission is $8 for adults, $6 for seniors (age 65 and up) and students (age 13 and up). Additional admission charge for special exhibitions. Children 12 and under are free. [phone]; www.denverartmuseum.org.

DENVER CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS: [phone]; www.denvercenter.org (home page has links to symphony, opera, ballet, etc.)

MOLLY BROWN HOUSE MUSEUM: 1340 Pennsylvania St. Currently opens Tuesday through Saturday at 10 a.m., Sunday at noon. Last tour at 3:30 p.m. on all days. Admission is $6.50 for adults, $4.50 for seniors (over age 65), $2.50 for children ages 6 to 12, and includes a guided tour. Hours and days vary during the summer. [phone]; mollybrown.org.

TATTERED COVER BOOKSTORE: 1628 16th St. Open Monday through Thursday from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., Friday from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m., Saturday from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m., Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. [phone]; www.tatteredcover.com.

CAPTION(S):

4 photos, box, map

Photo:

(1 -- 3 -- color) Symbols of Denver's revitalization include the daring design of the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, top, the pedestrian- friendly 16th Street Mall, above, and the gleam of Union Station, right, in the thriving LoDo District.

(4 -- color) A marker on the steps of the Colorado state Capitol at the east end of Denver's downtown area indicates 5,280 feet of elevation - which accounts for the Mile High City's nickname.

Eric Noland/Travel Editor

Box:

IF YOU GO (see text)

Map:

DENVER

Jorge Irribarren/Staff Artist