What is Clear Creek Makerspace? Located at 9110 W. 44th Ave, near the entrance to Anderson Park, CCM is a community workshop where like-minded folks can transform their creative ideas into tangible works of art. “Our goal is to provide the tools, equipment, and community resources to take away the barriers keeping you from exploring a new hobby, starting a new business, or taking your existing pursuits to the next level,” according to CCM’s webpage.
The concept of an artist “Makerspace” is catching the attention of a variety of wood and metal workers, electronics buffs, as well as leather and crafts people. A Makerspace solves the problem for artists without a home or business work area and/or the expensive tools such as table saws, routers, welders and other machines and hand tools needed to create their artistic expressions.
Jim Mullen, a CCM member, is a prime example of the person who uses Makerspace. A few months ago, he needed a 3D printer for a project he was developing. He said he was about to purchase one when he thought, “I should see if there’s a local makerspace and maybe just go try it out before I spend the money on it.
“I have a wood shop and a metal shop at home. But I don’t have a 3D printer. I don’t have a laser cutter. I don’t have a sewing machine. I don’t have almost anything that’s in the Fab Lab. It’s fantastic for me. I don’t have to go buy a bunch more tools.”
“You don’t have to already be an expert in anything before you get here,” said member Kate Martell. “If you come and do a general safety class and then you do an introduction to laser cutting, but you realize you want to dig in, then you can become a member.”
“We’ve always got classes and events going on,” said Executive Director Paige Piper. “Those are open to the public. You don’t have to be a member to take our classes and 70% of them are free. For example, ‘3D printing 101.’ That’s an introductory class you can just come in and take for free. You don’t have to commit to a membership beforehand. This can be a space to just, you know, dip your toe in the water to see if something’s right for you.
“We have a sliding scale for our paid memberships. The biggest thing for us is, we want this place to be accessible. Because we don’t ever want membership to be a barrier that you then can’t enter and not use the space, we’ve come up with a membership scholarship program. Typical average membership cost is $60 a month for 24/7 access, but we work with library programs around the Denver Metro, so if you have a library card, it is half off per month.
“We just launched our day passes. Those are $20 and you can use the space for a day. You’ve got to show us that you’re properly trained on the tools that you’re going to use and that you’ve done the quick safety course with us.”
CCM is ‘housed’ within LocalWorks in its 501(c)(3) status, and it’s one of about 10 programs that LocalWorks oversees for the City of Wheat Ridge. According to Piper, the idea of creating CCM was spearheaded by Kate Cooke, the previous LocalWorks executive director, in 2019 or 2020. A generous donation of $50,000 in tools and equipment helped to get CCM off the ground.
The city also did an art feasibility study that was funded in tandem by the city and LocalWorks. That study showed that the community wanted a space like a makerspace. “We knew it was a viable idea, but we weren’t sure where we should put all that [donated] stuff,” Piper said.
“We accepted the donation and launched the very first makerspace iteration inside Wheat Ridge United Methodist Church in about 2021. We started doing some research, worked with makerspace Tinker Mill up in Longmont, where the founder there gave us some ideas on what a makerspace could be and how it could work.
“Right before I came on [as ED of LocalWorks], in May of ’22, this building became available, and from there the makerspace idea took shape.”
BY the community. “It was kind of a paint-by-numbers project,”
said CCM member Kate Martell. PHOTO BY KEN LUTES
PHOTO BY KEN LUTES
the machines donated to the Metal Lab. The welding area
is behind the red curtain. PHOTO BY KEN LUTES
Thanks to grants from the City of Wheat Ridge and LocalWorks, CCM was able to renovate the building, getting it up to date with ADA compliance, HVAC requirements, etc. CCM now boasts fully functional woodworking and metalworking areas as well as the “Fab Lab,” the community area where people can finish building their creations and share ideas with other participants.
Recently, a $200,000 grant was received through the office of Congresswoman Brittany Pettersen. “$100,000 is going to equipment upgrades, primarily in woodshop and metal shop a little bit to the Fab Lab,” Piper said. “The other $100,000 is going towards programming and operational support and part of that is the assistant manager role that began in early January.”
“It’s an interesting group of folks here,” Mullen said. “I’m amazed constantly at the things that they’re producing.”
Members have 24/7 access, 365 days a year. The public is welcome to visit Monday-Thursday, 9:00 AM-5:00 PM. For more information, drop in, call 720-608-1778, or visit clearcreekmakerspace.com. CCM’s year one anniversary will be March 30th.
