817 14th Street (soon to be demolished)
Photo by Patrick Klein
Click to enlarge
What's happening in Golden today?
Events for Thursday, Apr. 16th
- All day - CURRENT EXHIBITS AT THE MUSEUMS
- All day - SnowE-Days
- All day - Golden History Tours
- All day - Live Workouts with Community Center Pros
- All day - Golden Sports
- 7:30AM - Golden Young Professionals Monthly Membership Meeting
- 9-10AM - Golden Women in Business Book Club*
- 9:15-9:45AM - Baby Time - Registration Required
- 10-10:30AM - Call In: Mid-Morning Meditation
- 1-2:30PM - Artful Journeys
- 3-4:30PM - Vaccine, License & Microchip Clinic
- 3:30-5:30PM - Weekly Demonstration - What do you stand for?
- 4-11PM - Cheese Night with Cheese Ranch!
- 6-8PM - Trivia Night @ Scully's Cafe
- 6PM - Run Club
- 6-8:30PM - Open Climb Night
- 6PM - Parks and Recreation Advisory Board Meeting @ City Hall
- 6:30-8:30PM - Golden Bike Map Community Night
For more information, click the item above or visit the Golden Today Calendar
SnowE-Days Starts Today
Photo by Chris Davell
This year's edition of E-Days (Engineering Days) is themed SnowE-Days. Most of the events are closed to the public, but Saturday includes the cardboard boat race, a carnival, and fireworks.
More information.
Reminder to Take the Tourism Survey
You are invited to take the City's Tourism Survey. If you are a visitor, a resident, or a business, they want to hear from you. Help them understand sentiment toward tourism, and ways they can meet your needs.
Participants can win a $150 gift card to local businesses by taking part in the survey:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/GoldenTourism
Golden Women in Business Impact Awards 2026 Coming Up!
Big evolution for one of our most loved traditions… ✨
GWiB’s Founder’s Day Awards Banquet is now the GWiB Impact Awards — a celebration of real women making real impact across our community. And this year, we’re kicking it off in a big way.
Join us on April 29th at 5:00 PM at the beautiful Buffalo Rose Events Center in Golden for an elevated evening designed to connect, celebrate, and recognize the women and small business owners shaping Golden and beyond.
The night will feature live entertainment, appetizers, a curated buffet dinner (with gluten-free and vegan options), a keynote speaker, highlights from GWiB leadership, special giveaways, a cash bar and Goldmine Cupcakes. The evening will culminate with the presentation of our Gem Awards, the prestigious Founder’s Award, and the debut of a brand-new award.
This is a curated private event open to both members and non-members, bringing the GWiB community together to celebrate successes and the impact being made every day.
💎 Pro tip: Become a Diamond Member now to lock in current membership rates, preferred ticket pricing, and exclusive perks before upcoming increases.
Location:
Buffalo Rose
1119 Washington Avenue (Map)
1-2:30PM Artful Journeys @ Foothills Art Center - Astor House
Artful Journeys offers seniors creative engagement beyond their home and daily routines, fostering a vibrant social life and shared experiences. Each session is designed to inspire creativity and connection in a relaxed setting. Enjoy a guided exhibition visit, art projects, engaging discussions, special guests, and refreshments. All for free! More information
Location:
Foothills Art Center - Astor House
1133 Arapahoe Street (Map)
6PM Parks and Recreation Advisory Board Meeting @ City Hall
- Meeting Agenda & Packet
- Watch the meeting streaming live starting at 6PM
- Attend the meeting @ City Hall Council Chambers - 911 10th Street - (map)
- Send email comments to rrogers@cityofgolden.net.
After the agenda and minutes are approved, the board will listen to public comment. Any speakers will have three minutes.
The Deputy Director of Recreation & Golf will report on Fossil Trace.
The board will discuss plans to replace the playground equipment at Lions Park.
They will discuss park sites to visit over the upcoming year.
Location:
City Hall Council Chambers
911 10th Street (Map)
6:30-8:30PM Golden Bike Map Community Night @ Bivy Beer Bar
Simple Cycling Maps will be at Bivy gathering community feedback! Tell us: - your favorite routes - where biking feels unsafe - where the map should connect Drop in, share ideas, and meet fellow riders.
Location:
Bivy Beer Bar
600 12th Street (Map)
The Golden Word - 04/16/26
Live Music for Thursday, Apr. 16th
- 5-8PM Jonah Wisneski Duo @ Golden Mill
- More Live Music
6PM Ponder the Albatross @ New Terrain Brewing
6:30-8:30PM Cayden Pape @ Etta Jeanne
7-10PM Open Jam Night @ Dirty Dogs Roadhouse
8PM Karaoke @ Rock Rest Lodge
For more information, visit the Golden Today Calendar
Golden History: Luxury Living for the Local Vermin
The Bella Vista Hotel stood at the northwest corner of 12th and Jackson from the 1880s until 1920 - Dan Abbott Collection
Click to enlarge
The Bella Vista hotel was built in the early 1880s at 12th and Jackson Streets. In 1920, a salvage company dismantled it, selling off the woodwork, flooring, doors and windows, the pipes–even the bricks. What they couldn’t sell, they left behind. The pile of wreckage remained for 16 years.
90 Years Ago
The April 16, 1936 Colorado Transcript included an article titled “RATS!”
The cleaning up of the old foundations of the Belle Vista hotel preparatory to constructing the new PWA consolidated grade school building has disturbed the homes of innumerable rats and will undoubtedly scatter them out pretty well over Golden. Arrangements should be made at once to exterminate these destructive rodents.
The Transcript frequently wrote about rats, sometimes offering helpful hints about how to kill them–poison, shooting, and asphyxiation by car exhaust being among the suggestions.
Why did we have such a rat problem? It’s probably because we did not have a good method of disposing of our waste. Over the years, Golden’s town dumps were in surprisingly central places, including Parfet Park, 11th Street next to the Creek, and the west end of 8th Street. Theoretically, those dumps were intended for non-smelly things, such as construction waste or unwanted furniture, but people often dumped food waste, dead animals, and other rat attractants. Apparently, from 1920-1936, many of those rats called the Bella Vista waste pile home.
Golden offered curbside garbage collection beginning in the 1950’s and made it mandatory in 1967. References to rats in the local paper dropped off sharply after that.
Weather
Overnight: Mostly clear, with a low around 45. Southwest wind around 8 mph.
Thursday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 73. South southwest wind 7 to 17 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph.
Thursday Night: Partly cloudy. Low around 34, with temperatures rising to around 39 overnight. West southwest wind 7 to 18 mph, with gusts as high as 31 mph.
Thursday Night: Partly Cloudy, 34°F
Friday: Snow, 38°F
Friday Night: Chance Snow Showers then Partly Cloudy, 26°F
Saturday: Sunny, 56°F
Saturday Night: Mostly Clear, 34°F
Sunday: Sunny, 71°F
Sunday Night: Partly Cloudy, 44°F
Monday: Partly Sunny, 75°F
Monday Night: Partly Cloudy, 47°F
Tuesday: Sunny then Slight Chance Rain Showers, 77°F
Tuesday Night: Partly Cloudy, 49°F
Wednesday: Mostly Sunny then Chance Rain Showers, 74°F
News About Golden - April 16, 2026
Anuj Chauhan inducted to AIMBE College of Fellows
Colorado School of Mines Newsroom
Anuj Chauhan, professor of chemical and biological engineering at Colorado School of Mines, has been inducted into the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) College of Fellows... Read more...
Supporters
Many thanks to the people and organizations who support What’s Happening in Golden? If you would like to support local news, please CLICK HERE!
Sponsors:
($100/month or $1,175/year)
Buffalo Rose, Buglet Battery, Foothills Art Center, Golden Cultural Alliance, Miners Alley Performing Arts Center, The Golden Mill, Golden Chamber of Commerce, Golden History Tours, Miners Saloon, Clothilde Elingbow, Michael Mason, Earth Sweet Boutique, and Colorado Railroad Museum
Friends:
($50-99.99/month or $575/yr)
Tall Pines Painting, Baby Doe’s Clothing, Paul Haseman, Donna Anderson, Carol & Doug Harwood, Stephanie Painter, Greg Poulos, Ann Norton & Jonathan Storer, Mary & Don Parker, Saré Merrigan, The Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum, Vic DeMaria, and Unite Fitness
Supporters:
($25-49.99/month or $285/yr)
Laura King and Scott Wilson, Bobby German and Alison McNally, Forrest Jones, Barry & Liz Bettis, Cheryl & Tom Schweich, Marjorie Sloan, Chris and Joyce Davell, Rick Flint, Forrest Jones, Cynthia Merrill Tamny, Stephen Pero, Meg Van Ness & Steve Kalasz, Steve & Karla Schaefer, Bud Rockhill, Steve Enger, Kristie Brice & Mike Schwartz, The Golden Hotel, Kurt & Janet Siegfried, Ella Lyons & Jeanne Fritch, Robert Thresher, Tonie Mattox, Centennial State Wealth Advisors, Steve & M.L. Richardson, Jeremy & Stephanie Keller, AC Development, Joy Brandt, and Golden PT & Pilates
Members:
($10-24.99/month or $115/yr)
Brad Miller & Julie Bartos, Holly Thomas, Jim and LouAnne Dale, Ann Pattison, Thomas Hoffman, Carol Abel, Brian Quarnstrom, Sandra Curran, Bobby German and Alison McNally, Kathy Smith, Karen Smith, Carlos & Nancy Bernal, Robert Storrs, Michele Sannes, Elaine Marolla, Dixie Termin & Ron Miller, E Tom Hughes, Crystal M Culbert, Patrick A. Madison, Alice Madison & Jim Kalivas, Deb Goeldner, Christopher Ball, 6th Chair Home Services, Dot & Eric Brownson, Rosemary Coffman, Emeline Paulson, Sandy Schneider, Mark and Cathy Pattridge, Cheryl G Leidich, Jen Rutter, Frani R Bickart, Jennings and Litz, Bill Sedgeley, Nancy Hughes, Justin L Wade, Kathi Eggers, Traci Case, Donna Owen, Leslie D Lutz, Karen Oxman, Catherine Skokan, Ross Fraser & KC Gilliland, Lynne Haigh, Elizabeth Hilliard, Frank Young & Terre Deegan-Young, Kathy Hirons & Jack Markin, Jess & Anthony Monasterio, Heather Duncan, Lee Ann & Pete Horneck, Carol Cameron, Cheryl Williamson, San Daugherty, Jim Garner, John and Carol McEncroe, the Golden Welcome Center, the Golden Transcript, Koshare Eagle, Ken and Colleen Krantz, Traci Neuman Lacey, Jo Barber, Jamie Cookinham, Kermit Shields, Meridee Cecil, Colleen & Michael Ramey, Nancy & Pete Torpey, Jax Baker, Simon Maybury, Rose McLaughlin, Cameron Chambers, Joyce Gravina, Patrick Klein, Barb Robie, Richard Caldwell, Janice Waring, Sam & Marilyn Baron, Carmen Johnson, Mary Eiberger, Kevin Nichols, Ed & Carol Freza, Laura and Curtis Moore, Ruth Hund, Shelley & Jerry Devitt, Eileen Masterson, Kate Olivier, Amy Korengut, Pam Logan, Clare Shier, Wendy Weiman, Marge Frueh. Nannette Johnson, Edgar Walker, Bivy Beer Bar, Nancy Cooper, Jane & Mike Templeton, and Vicki Greivel
Followers:
($5-9.99/month or $55/year)
Golden Community Garden, Lora Haimes, Mariane Erickson, J.J. Fraser, Mel Perkins, Bob Hamilton, Steve Stevens, Vicki Olson, Emily Kurzinski, Nanette Johnson, Peyton Gibson, Sally Berger, Kristen Morgan, Joyce Sutton, Mary Rains, Craig Champlin, Stan Swisher, Bill Way, Chris Toney, Alicia Zimmerman, Tamara Feucht, and Carie Chimbel
