Clocktower Cabaret reeling after raw city sewage flooded the Denver entertainment venue

In Denver it is no secret businesses are feeling the impact of the construction on the 16th Street Mall. It has led to a loss of sales and foot traffic for many. Now one entertainment venue is Denver is now dealing with more than that. Owners of the Clocktower Cabaret say a construction mishap sent raw sewage into their building and now they’re out thousands of dollars from lost shows and still don’t have help from the city to pay for the damage.

The Clocktower Cabaret is located inside the Daniels & Fisher Tower on 1601 Arapahoe Street. Construction that’s part of the 16th Street Mall improvement project is currently surrounding the building.

The venue known for its entertaining vintage song and dance performances, including drag and burlesque shows, and for the past 18 years has survived many hardships including the pandemic.

“We’ve had divorce parties down here, we’ve had memorials … a lot of history and a lot of stories,” said Selene and Jefferson Arca, owners of the business.

However, the latest construction mishap is making it difficult for the business financially.

In April, the venue closed for a few weeks after it became the victim of a construction issue.

“They were trying to reroute the water or something and they accidently filled our venue with raw untreated city sewage. It was disgusting,” said Jefferson.

The lower-level floor filled with large amounts of wastewater. It created a biohazard for the business that that they claim then resulted in physical and financial damage. The damage is still evident in their back room that leads to the boiler room.

“We’re kind of frustrated because we can’t finish the job. We don’t have the money,” said Jefferson.

Sewage mitigation efforts began immediately, but the damage to their back room is still evident and crews won’t begin work until they know they’ll get paid.

“We keep telling them, go to them for the money, go to the city,” said Jefferson. “And it’s just a big circle where we seem to be the ones on the hook.”

The business had to cancel nine shows, costing them a total of $70,000 in repairs and loss of income.

“We were fine, until now. We’re falling further and further behind,” said Jefferson.

The city told the Clocktower Cabaret that they would take care of the cleanup costs and repairs. However, the Arcas are growing impatient.

“It’s been almost three months and we haven’t seen a penny,” said Jefferson.

In a statement to CBS Colorado, a spokesperson from the Department of Finance for the city said they have been working with insurance carriers that approved damages and cost in June and have since mailed the checks. Their statement is below:

Supporting local businesses is a top priority for the city, and we are committed to working closely with all businesses to ensure any issues caused by construction or mitigated quickly and efficiently.

The city carries insurance that covers contractors and subcontractors on city projects. After ensuring remediation of the damage and within just two days of the incident, the city had filed the claim with its insurance carrier. The insurance carrier’s appraiser and representatives of the Clocktower Cabaret then worked together to coordinate site visits to assess damages and costs, which were approved to be paid in June. The insurance carrier has since mailed reimbursement checks to Clocktower Cabaret twice, although Clocktower Cabaret reports that they have not received the checks. The city is currently working with the insurance carrier and Clocktower Cabaret to get to the root of this issue and ensure Clocktower Cabaret is fully reimbursed.

However, the Arcas’ say that money has not arrived, and they’ve even had to take out loans to keep up with costs.

“We really need that $70,000,” said Jefferson. “We need to catch up.”