By John Wenzel

Copyright denverpost

The ghosts of the Federal Theatre still haunt the 102-year-old movie house, and David Lindoerfer has seen them.

“When I was up here, I felt myself being watched by an entity,” said Lindoerfer, who hopped down from his stage scaffolding to tell the story inside the newly renovated theater. “It had tan clothes and dark hair. I also saw one the other night out of the corner of my eye in the balcony, and I’ve heard things from the lobby and bathrooms that made all my hairs stand up on end.”

The Federal Theatre, which was built in 1923 and has been closed to the public for most of the last 50 years, would seem to invite such visions. Its worn movie-house glamor and pockmarked marquee has stood silently at 3830 Federal Blvd. — near the corner of West 38th Avenue — ever since it stopped showing movies in the late 1970s, according to co-owners Scott Happel and Peter Ore.

Along with Federal co-owner Andy Bercaw, Happel and Ore independently own and operate the historic Oriental Theater in Denver’s Highland neighborhood. Happel and Ore also separately own and run South Broadway’s HQ venue and Denver Delorean ’80s bar. They hope the Federal, which is holding free, all-ages concerts Friday, Sept. 19 and Saturday, Sept. 20, before rolling out its full calendar, will strengthen Denver’s independent music and arts scene against corporate behemoths such as AEG Presents and Live Nation, which control most of Denver’s large and mid-sized music booking and venues.

“If you don’t have any track record, you’re going to have a harder time getting established,” said Happel, who’s been working in operations at the Oriental Theater, 4335 W. 44th Ave., since 2013. “That’s even if you’re throwing money at bands. We’ve done this before, though … other people probably wouldn’t have pulled it off so fast.”

The Oriental Theater’s longtime landlord, The Sager Family, had alerted them to the Federal Theatre’s availability in late 2023, following the hasty departure of a church that had occupied the building for several years. The church, which served unhoused people, recently released prisoners, and other vulnerable populations, left an unofficial halfway house in its wake.

Happel and Ore, who not only cleaned up the dirty mattresses and scattered trash, but also shored up windows and doors after several break-ins, knew the space had a hazy history. They never imagined they’d be inheriting it.

“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,” said Ore, a longtime music booker in Denver. “But none of that had happened, so we were very lucky.”

That allowed the team to swoop in as soon as they signed their lease and grab the keys in early 2024, although city inspections and permitting — including a monthslong wait on a liquor license — kept them from landing firmly until a few months ago.

Now the building’s “multiple six-figures” investment, according to Happel, is ready to pay off. It features a restored neon signage and a brightly painted red-and-yellow marquee; new coats of paint inside, including a sky scene in the recessed lobby ceiling; artistic touches and displays that resurrect some of the church’s leavings (think Jesus paintings and other art); and cheeky references to its former use, such as faux-stained glass windows and an elaborate Christian icon of Mother Mary in a vestibule formerly occupied by a drinking fountain.

Custom red neon that proclaims “Chapel Perilous” hangs over a small VIP area that fits about 15 people who are willing to pay the upcharge. Inside, a print of Hieronymus Bosch’s “The Garden of Earthly Delights” leans against the wall, ready to be hung.

The theater comes by its creepiness honestly. Happel refers to the mostly-empty concrete basement as “the murder basement.” The scent of countless cigarettes still clings to the original carpets and stage drapes, suggesting more uses than just movies and church services. Happel and Ore are unable to find city records for the property, given that it was last officially used nearly a half-century ago, before computers were widely adopted for record-keeping.

Happel and his team plan to host a diverse range of local and national acts, from punk and metal to rock en español and touring legends, as well as magicians, stand-ups, burlesque dancers, neo-circus acts and more. It’s the Oriental Theater’s model, and it’s worked for years, they said.

“No offense to other venues that don’t do that, but the big ones can buy enough content to fill their places,” Ore said. “Us being independents, we have to compete with them, and we need other content to be able to do it. But it also gives the community a far wider reach of performances. I would never want this to be all concerts.”

Happel still doesn’t want to dispel the 600-person theater’s mystique, because its ultimate success will turn not just on ticket sales but the quality of experiences people have there, he said.

He compared the Federal to other historic Denver movie houses-turned-music venues, such as the Bluebird, Gothic, Ogden and Paramount theaters. The Federal lacks the Paramount and Mayan Theatre’s elaborate art deco design elements, but it does bear the marks of a 1948 art deco remodel that makes it one of the most handsome theaters in the city.

“Like a lot of people, I’d driven by it for decades and been like, ‘What’s that?’ ” said bar manager Erica Beegle. “It’s really cool to see something in Denver being used in its original, preserved structure instead of being wrecked for apartments.”

Federal Theatre opening weekend, Friday, Sept. 19-Saturday, Sept. 20, featuring free, all-ages concerts by iZCALLi and Los Mocochetes (8 p.m. Sept. 19) and Cobranoid, The Pitch Invasion, Clusterfux and Vitrify. 3830 Federal Blvd. in Denver. Visit thefederaltheatre.com for more details.

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