ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS NOBODY IS ASKING: Gondolas in Denver? One entrepreneur believes it can lift downtown up.

Downtown Denver is often referred to as a trailhead — but not often the main attraction — for tourists visiting the Rocky Mountains.

But what if building a gondola, bringing an iconic symbol and transit option from mountain ski resorts to downtown, could turn it into a destination?

This is the idea that Ryan Ross, the owner of a private investigation firm on the 16th Street Mall, offers to revitalize Denver’s downtown, which has been struggling with empty offices, businesses closing and disruptive construction since the pandemic.

Ross is proposing a three-loop gondola system connecting downtown’s most popular attractions, people-moving sidewalks on 16th Street Mall and a 1,000-seat indoor-outdoor amphitheater by Skyline Park.

He created a nonprofit to promote the project called New Downtown Denver and submitted the proposal to the newly-expanded Downtown Development Authority, the city’s financing tool expected to inject $570 million into downtown to revitalize the urban core.

“Downtown Denver needs a big infusion of energy and vitality and safety and fun,” Ross told The Denver Gazette. “And what they’ve (city officials) done so far is not helping.”

Getting the money for a gondola won’t be an easy lift, he said.

Yes, I guess it’s more of a Shelbyville idea…