CABLELAND HOME FOUNDATION

Denver

News: Cableland, official residence of the Denver mayor, was the setting June 20 for a reception celebrating the five most recent additions to the historic First Spouses Wall.

With the addition of Mary Louise Lee, Helen Thorpe, Wilma Webb, Ellen Hart Pena and Gabriela Cornejo Figueroa, the wall now contains photographs and memorabilia relating to all 42 of Denver’s first spouses.

Lee is the former wife of Mayor Michael Hancock, who has been Denver’s mayor since 2011 and will be succeeded next month by Mike Johnston. Thorpe is the former wife of now-U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper, who was mayor from 2002 to 2011, when he was elected governor, a post he held until 2019. Wilma Webb was Denver’s first lady from 1991 to 2003; Pena is the former wife of Federico Pena, who was mayor from 1983-1991, and Cornejo Figueroa’s then-husband, Guillermo “Bill” Vidal was interim mayor from January to July, 2011.

All five attended the event.

So, too, did retiring Mayor Michael Hancock; Kelly Brough, who had served as then-Mayor John Hicklenlooper’s chief of staff and made an unsuccessful run to succeed Hancock when his term ends in July; Allegra “Happy” Haynes, executive director of Denver Parks & Recreation and Denver’s deputy mayor in 2017 and 2019; and Evan Jones, the designer and fabricator of the First Spouses Wall.

The concept of a lasting tribute to the women behind Denver’s mayors was inspired by Mary Louise Lee, who gathered her colleagues to participate in a cake-cutting to further commemorate the occasion.

About the organization: Telecommunications pioneer Bill Daniels built Cableland in 1987 and willed the $7 million structure in Denver’s Hilltop neighborhood to the city of Denver for use as the mayor’s official residence. No mayor has actually lived there – although it has housed visiting dignitaries. Daniels also left $3 million to maintain the house so that the city wouldn’t have to bear those costs. Today, Cableland is overseen by the nonprofit Cableland Home Foundation and used as a venue where nonprofit organizations can stage fundraising events and other celebrations.

Website: cablelandfirstspousesproject.org

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