ESPN Zone goes under in Denver- new Tabor Center tenant revealed

July 1, 3:25 PMDowntown Denver ExaminerKendra Wiig

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Downtown Denver just lost hundreds of televisions. For nearly eight years, the ESPN Zone sports bar lured patrons into the 23,000 square foot space in Tabor Center with unremarkable food, overpriced beer, and the promise that no sport that might conceivably be televised would go ignored. Football and basketball fans may have been the majority, but an enthusiast for, say, curling or underwater hockey might just feel at home under the glorious plasma glow of the many televisions lining the walls.

In fact, visiting sports fans were able to view the game without being interrupted by anything- including, thanks to TV screens throughout the lavoratory, pesky human bodily functions. With a little investment in some restroom hot-wing-and-ranch-dressing dispensers, ESPN Zone may have been able to bill themselves as the premier toilet-based sports bar- your "throne" away from home.

Apparently the toilet-sport-burger-and-beer concept restaurant as imagined by Walt Disney (the chain’s parent company) has reached the breaking point of viability in Denver, closing its doors this week in the midst of the recession. The windows were abruptly covered and around 100 employees were laid off.

"A decision like this is never easy. We recognize and appreciate the commitment and years of service of all of these employees," says Rick Allesandri, an ESPN Vice President, "Unfortunately, the current economic environment offered us no other choice."

Unlike other large downtown anchors who have recently shut their doors, the space in the Tabor Center already has a new tenant lined up: The Tilted Kilt, a national company that describes itself as a "Celtic-themed restaurant and sports bar." Those who have actually visited one of the chain’s other locations would probably describe it as more of a "Scotch-Irish Hooters"- for those who prefer the young women feigning interest in them to be wearing plaid instead of Broncos orange.

Some might question whether this concept will work just in an area already heavily saturated in Irish pubs and just a few feet from the former location of a failed Hooters off of Skyline Park. Perhaps they should consider incorporating the in-restroom dining concept that ESPN Zone let get away.