"We're bursting at the seams, basically." Barbra Huntting said that to the Lafayette City Council in August, according to The Colorado Hometown Weekly. She was describing The Read Queen Bookstore & Cafe, which she and Deirdre Appelhans opened during the pandemic at 129 N. Harrison Ave. She wasn't asking for another storefront on Harrison. She was asking for the vacant former Chase Bank at 200 N. Public Road, at the corner of Public Road and Geneseo Street.
That corner is where much of Old Town's October is happening. One side has the city's arts center, running its annual Día de los Muertos exhibit. Another has a 60-seat Cajun restaurant that opened this summer. In the middle sits a nearly 9,000-square-foot bank building with the lights off. Its future will probably be decided this fall, and a city survey about it has already drawn roughly 1,800 responses.
Three Addresses, One Intersection
To see why the corner matters right now, start with the street numbers:
- 200 N. Public Road. The former Chase Bank, now owned by the city and listed at $1.6 million, waiting on a sale agreement.
- 201 N. Public Road. The Collective Community Arts Center, which hosts exhibits, historic displays, talks and events.
- 211 N. Public Road. Remi's Cajun Creole Cafe, which opened this summer.
Two of the three are already pulling people to this block. The third is the open question. What goes into it will decide whether the corner keeps the momentum it has this fall.
Lafayette, Louisiana, at 211
Axios Boulder introduced Remi's on Sept. 24 with a line that's hard to improve on: "Lafayette, Colorado, is getting a taste of Lafayette, Louisiana." Owner Dara Sanchez-Mack spent 15 years in hospitality before opening the restaurant. Colorado native Napoleon Lewis runs the kitchen.
The menu covers the Gulf Coast staples: gumbo, jambalaya, crawfish étouffée, shrimp and grits, po'boys and muffulettas. Axios photographed the catfish Pontchartrain. Remi's also serves cocktails and hosts live music. No recurring music night has been published yet, so call the restaurant before you plan an evening around a band.
Remi's matters to the corner for one simple reason. It gives people a sit-down dinner within a few steps of The Collective's front door. That makes an evening workshop or exhibit closing next door easy to turn into a full night out.
The Collective's October, Date by Date
Across Public Road at 201, the City of Lafayette Arts and Cultural Resources Department is presenting its annual Día de los Muertos exhibit, Arcos y Portales. It runs Thursday, Sept. 24, through Sunday, Nov. 8, open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The exhibit features local work by Arlette Lucero, Jesus Sales, Michelle Sepulveda and Lida Penkova, along with students from Justice High School and Centaurus High School. Visitors are invited to add to the community ofrendas honoring ancestors and loved ones who have died.
The exhibit runs for six weeks, but the programming around it is scheduled for specific days:
| Date | Event | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Mon., Oct. 5 | Art on the Street tour | Walking tour at The Collective |
| Fri., Oct. 9, 4:30–6:30 p.m. | Paper Catrina Workshop | Led by local crafter Martha Ramírez, mostly in Spanish |
| Sat.–Sun., Oct. 24–25 | Picture Frame Decorating Drop-In | Make a frame to start an ofrenda at home, while supplies last |
| Fri., Oct. 30, 3–7 p.m. | Exhibit Closing Celebration | Face painting, music, light Mexican food and refreshments |
At the Catrina workshop, participants cut, fold and glue a standing Catrina, the elegant Día de los Muertos figure, and take it home. You can request language interpretation by emailing [email protected]. The closing celebration falls on the Friday before Halloween, one day before Old Town's biggest family event of the month.
The Building in the Middle
The bank at 200 N. Public Road is quiet, but the process behind it has drawn real public input. The city bought the property and then asked residents to help pick its next use. Three proposals came in. Grant Hopfenspirger, owner of Lafayette's Teocalli Cocina, pitched a community restaurant and beer garden. The Arts Hub and Urban West Group proposed splitting the building into four separate uses. The Read Queen proposed moving its bookstore and cafe into the space.
Residents watched short videos from each applicant on the Lafayette Listens website and answered questions in a survey that stayed open through early July. The survey received about 1,800 responses, and The Read Queen drew the most support. On Aug. 4, the City Council authorized staff to begin negotiating with the bookstore.
Lafayette Economic Development Director Brigid Keating explained the city's reasoning:
"Small business support and retention is key."
Keating described the proposal as a chance to reuse an existing building while helping a local business grow. If negotiations succeed, "which we anticipate (they) will be," she said, the council will consider a purchase and sale agreement at a later meeting.
Even the bookstore's current landlord is on board. Kurt Munding, who owns the Harrison Avenue property, told the council that Huntting and Appelhans have been "our favorite tenant we've ever had" and said he fully supports the move.
Here's where it stands as of early October. Nothing is final. The city's project page says staff will return to council with a purchase and sale agreement "this fall." The agreement didn't appear on the Sept. 1 or Sept. 15 council agendas. The next regular meeting is Tuesday, Oct. 6, at 5:30 p.m. No move date, renovation schedule or opening timeline has been announced. If you're following this one, the council agendas posted on the city's site are where the next step will show up first.
The stakes are visible from the sidewalk. The bookstore says it needs more room for the events, gatherings and book clubs it already runs. Moving to 200 N. Public would bring that programming to the same intersection as The Collective's exhibits and Remi's dining room.
Where the Month Lands
The rest of October runs along a short stretch of Public Road and Harrison Avenue, and a few of the dates overlap.
On Friday, Oct. 9, the Catrina workshop at The Collective and the reception for Particulars' annual 6×6 Fall Community Show both run from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Particulars is at 401 S. Public Road, so you can catch both if you split the two hours.
On Thursday, Oct. 22, Nissi's at 1455 Coal Creek Drive, Unit T, hosts Dueling & Ghouling, a dueling-piano fundraiser for the Autism Society of Boulder County, from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m.
On Saturday, Oct. 31, the 5th annual Lafayette Fall Harvest Festival runs from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 119 N. Harrison Ave. That's the same block number as The Read Queen's current storefront at 129 N. Harrison. The lineup includes:
- A petting zoo and pumpkin patch
- Entries from the Lafayette Window Painting Contest on display
- A prize wheel outside the Lafayette History Museum, plus museum tours and kid-friendly Haunted History walking tours at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. that require sign-up
- The WOW! Children's Museum, open during the festival
- Pups Dressed Up, a pet costume parade with a donation to Rez Dawgs
- Trick-or-treat bags, live music, a harvest marketplace and food vendors
The Collective's closing celebration on Friday leads straight into the festival on Saturday. Together they make the last weekend of October Old Town's busiest stretch of the month. Both happen within a few blocks of the empty bank building.
If you live in Lafayette, you've probably wondered what will fill the old bank at Public and Geneseo. At Tara Littell, we follow these Old Town decisions closely because a corner like this one shapes how a whole block feels and how people value it. If your home is near downtown and you're curious what it's worth right now, get your free home valuation and we'll walk you through it.
