Civic Center is a neighborhood and park in Denver, Colorado. The area is known as the center of the civic life in the city, with numerous institutions of arts, government, and culture as well as numerous festivals, parades, and protests throughout the year. The park is home to many fountains, statues, and formal gardens, and includes a Greek amphitheater, a war memorial, and the Voorhees Memorial Seal Pond. It is well known for its symmetrical Neoclassical design.

Geography

Civic Center Park is home to the civic 10 stair, well know and skateboarded alot by denver skateboarders. Civic Center is located in central Denver just south of the Central Business District. The park is located at the intersection of Colfax Avenue and Broadway, perhaps the best-known and important streets in Denver. The park borders are defined as Bannock Street on the west, Lincoln Street on the east, Colfax Avenue on the north, and 14th Ave. on the south. The institutions surrounding the civic center are generally thought of to be a part of the Civic Center area, and future plans for the civic center would extend the area further west all the way to Speer Boulevard.

Civic Center is also a neighborhood defined by the Denver city government, but is probably identified in the minds of Denverites as the "Golden Triangle." The borders of this neighborhood are Speer Boulevard on the west and south, Broadway on the east, and Colfax Avenue on the north.

History

The origins of the Civic Center District began in the early 1890s with the building of State Capitol. Set high on Brown's Bluff with steps that rise to an elevation of one mile high, the State Capitol is aligned squarely with the mountain range of the Continental Divide.
Its grand presence inspired early Denver leaders to plan a center for the city. Denver's Municipal League, comprised of city leaders, businessmen and local clubs such as the Women's Club, envisioned a grand center of commerce and interaction to the west of the State Capitol.

By 1902 they had the support of the newly elected Mayor Speer and the Art Commission was formed to further these ideals. In 1906 they commissioned noted planner and 'civic' expert Charles Mulford Robinson who proposed a plan for Denver's civic improvement. At the heart of his plan was a grand scheme for "a great Civic Center" that aligned the State Capitol Building with the then existing County Courthouse at 16th Street and Court Place with a large, linear open space linking government and business. This initial plan was defeated by voters due to its large cost.

As Frederick MacMonnies designed his sculpture and fountain, the Pioneer Monument, he was drawn into the still on-going planning for the civic center. MacMonnies proposed a modification to the Robinson plan that re-oriented the original axis to be a western axis, aligned along the east-west centerline of the symmetrical State Capitol. He added two park spaces at the south and northern ends of the civic center to reconcile the two grid system.

In 1912, the city commissioned the Olmsted Brothers landscape architectural firm to design the civic center. Inspired by the MacMonnies plan, they proposed a 'civic center' connecting the State Capitol with a future City building along a linear open space that was defined by a concert grove on its southern edge and a garden space on the northern edge. Portions of their plan, including MacMonnies' strong central axis, were built in 1914.

“In the growth of all cities, a time is reached when they begin unconsciously to take stock of themselves. They realize that beside the physical aspect of a city, which includes population, area, bank clearings, factory payroll and hosts of similar statistics, there is another side - that which appeals to aesthetics.... They ask themselves - what have we to interest our residents after we have satisfied their purses? What thoughts do our visitors take with them to their homes? Do they remember ourmusic, our art galleries and libraries, our architecture?” “The Lookout” published in 1928 by the Denver Public Library in “cordial cooperation” with the Fine Arts committee of the City Club of Denver. .

After Mayor Speer was re-elected and took office in 1916, he commissioned Edward Bennett to create a new design for the civic center. Bennett's 1918 plan was a grand vision that emphasized the strong east-west axis and included a grand gathering space with a large formal fountain at the center of the civic center. A building addition was proposed for the existing Carnegie Library and a second building was proposed to complement this structure and to balance the formal site plan. The Olmsted 'concert grove' was formalized as a concert garden that would become the Greek Theater. A second axis, borrowed from the existing Olmsted improvements, extended from the Greek Theater north to the future site of the Voorhies Memorial.

In 1924, S. R. DeBoer, the city landscape architect, created a plan for the civic center that envisioned extending the formal open space west to Speer Boulevard. DeBoer's plan included a formal 'mall' along the central axis with government buildings flanking the mall on each side, including the future city government building. The City & County Building, designed by Associated Architects was completed in 1932 and was aligned symmetrically along the central axis.

In 1955, the Denver Public Library moved into its new building designed by Burnham Hoyt and located on the corner of 14th Avenue and Broadway. The Denver Water Board moved into the Carnegie Library, making numerous changes to the building’s interior and the immediate site. The Michael Graves addition, in association with Klipp Architects, to the Denver Public Library was completed in 1995. The Carnegie Library was renamed the McNichols Building and now houses city offices.

The city's Annex One, across Civic Center at Colfax Avenue and Bannock Street, was built in 1949 as a classroom building for the University of Denver. David Owen Tryba Architect's addition, the Wellington Webb Municipal Office Building, was complete in 2002 and city offices were consolidated into the new addition and the rehabilitated Annex One. In 1971, the Denver Art Museum, designed by Italian architect Gio Ponti and local architect James Sudler, was completed at 14th Avenue and Bannock Street. The Art Museum’s new Frederic C. Hamilton Building, designed by Daniel Libeskind, in association with the Davis Partnership, is under construction south of Civic Center and is scheduled for completion in 2006. By 1977, the Colorado History Museum at 13th Avenue and Broadway and the Colorado Supreme Court at 14th Avenue and Broadway were complete.

Institutions

Civic Center has long been the government, arts, history, and learning nexus of both the state of Colorado and the Denver Metropolitan Area. Among the institutions in the Civic Center are Denver Art Museum, and the Denver Public Library's Central Library along the parks south side, the Colorado State Capitol and the City and County Building of Denver along the east and west axis of the park, the Wellington E. Webb Municipal Office Building on the park's north side, and the Colorado History Museum and the Colorado State Judicial Building towards the southeast of the park. The Denver Mint lies immediately west of the Civic Center Park across the street from the City and County Building.

 

The Future

Civic Center has issues related with crime and poverty. Though much of the stereotypes imposed on the Civic Center regarding crime and homelessness have been found largely media-fueled, there continues to be concerns expressed over keeping the park drug-free and housing the homeless.

Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper took a precedent beginning in 2003 to reduce the population of homeless Denverites by offering a compassion and outreach package that included the first "Ten year plan to end homeless" in the United States. A crackdown on drug-dealing and crime in the area has also been started lately. Both plans have earned the city recognition and proven to have good results. Recently, City and County officials have proposed changes to make the area more accessible to the downtown population in the north and the museums towards the south. Some of these changes include adding newer pedestrian crossings, bus areas and kiosks. One proposal would even put Colfax Avenue underground with a pedestrian plaza on top of the former street. The area has seen a lot of new civic development, including The Denver Newspaper Agency (northeast of the park), the new home of The Denver Post and the Rocky Mountain News. Voters in 2004, approved a new Denver Justice Center, two blocks away from Civic Center Park. These new buildings will change the dynamic of the area with some people worrying that the architecture of the two buildings, especially the Justice Center, (which will have the city jail) will disrupt the historic design of the park. Denver hopes to alleviate these concerns by incorporating the buildings into the future Civic Center plan.

Events

Civic Center is known throughout the state as the rendezvous for the largest and most important cultural and civic events. Being at the center of the state and local government institutions, Civic Center has become the place for political statement for various groups and individuals representing a variety of causes. It was Civic Center where the public held a vigil for the victims of Columbine Massacre, and 9/11, and where former presidential candidate and Denver native John Kerry made a 2004 campaign stop. Civic Center is also the location for many annual events. These include:

• January - The City and County Building has a Christmas lights display up until the National Western Stock Show ends in mid January.
• March – Civic Center is at the end of one of the longest St. Patrick's Day parades in the nation.
• May - Denver has the largest Cinco de Mayo festival in the nation, held at Civic Center.
• June- Civic Center is host to the People's Fair, a bohemian festival with various music, art, political booths, and other happenings; the annual gay pride festival and parade are held at Civic Center
• Summer- There are various theatre and music events held throughout the summer at the Greek amphitheater.
• September- A Taste of Colorado is a food and music festival held during Labor Day weekend at the park.
• October- The park is the end point for a Columbus Day parade that often brings protests form American Indian groups.
• December- The Parade of Lights ends at the City and County Building which has holiday lights from the beginning of the parade until the National Western Stock Show.
• In 1990 and 1991, the Civic Center was the location of the CART Grand Prix of Denver.

The Golden Triangle

The Golden Triangle is a neighborhood in Denver defined in the minds of locals and visitors. It is an area of vast importance to the Denver Metropolitan Area, and to the state of Colorado with many civic and cultural institutions located in the northern part of the neighborhood in an area called the Civic Center. The neighborhood is one of the most important, historic, and vibrant neighborhoods in Denver. According to the Downtown Denver Partnership, the population of the neighborhood is 630. Though recent new developments have added many new residential units in the neighborhood so the current population is probably much higher than that, possibly even above 1,000 people.

Geography

The Golden Triangle is not a statistical neighborhood as defined by the city of Denver. However, another neighborhood called Civic Center has roughly the same geographical boundaries as the Golden Triangle. These are the boundaries:

• North- Colfax Avenue
• West and South- Speer Boulevard
• East- Broadway

However, most Denverites including the Downtown Denver Partnership, and the Golden Triangle Neighborhood Association define the Golden Triangle as extending one block east to Lincoln Street, thereby incorporating almost all of Civic Center Park and the institutions surrounding them (with the exception of the Colorado State Capitol in the Capitol Hill neighborhood and a few buildings to the north of Colfax Avenue). The main arterial street through the Golden Triangle is Bannock Street. 13th, 14th, and 8th avenues are important east-west arterials as well. All of the streets that provide the borders for the neighborhood (Lincoln/Broadway, Colfax, and Speer) are important transportation corridors for Denver.

History

The Golden Triangle is one of the oldest neighborhoods in Denver, with many single family Victorian homes and bungalows built in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Between 1904 and 1919, Denver Mayor Robert Speer completed his ambitious plan for the Civic Center area, adding many civic institutions and a neoclassic park to the north of the neighborhood, and placing a leafy concrete urban canyon around Cherry Creek, creating Speer Boulevard, the neighborhood's western and southern border.

After World War II, the Golden Triangle became a business support area for the central business district and most of those historic homes were bulldozed in favor of surface parking lots, car dealerships, supply stores and other businesses.

Starting in the 1990s, perhaps as the result of the new Central Library, the neighborhood began its transformation into a functional and vibrant multi-use neighborhood. New condominium and loft developments came into the neighborhood, and many of the old supply stores and garages were transformed into hip restaurants, art galleries, and small offices.

Today

historic church structure (built in 1895, the original Acoma originally served as the Swedish Evangelical Free Church, later becoming The Upper Room United Pentecostal Church. In 1995, a private partnership was formed to purchase and renovate this 10,000 square foot building, naming it “The Acoma Center” Curious Theatre Company is a 9 year old company of artists dedicated to producing Regional and World Premieres of the best new plays in theatre.

Curious celebrates its role as a “theatre of the community”, striving to build bridges to audiences that demonstrate the relevance of theatre in our daily lives. Curious has had a presence in the Golden Triangle for the past 9 years.

However, there is some neighborhood concern that the area is developing too quickly. Some Denverites criticize some recent condominium developments of Craig Nassi such as the Prado, a luxury 18-story neo-historic French-style building that some say are too big, and too garish (and fairly expensive) for the neighborhood. There are three of these developments built in the last five years by Nassi who apparently combined different property's entitlements to get around the height restrictions of the neighborhood.

While the developments are technically legal, some critics say the zoning does not really intend for his condominiums to be built in the Golden Triangle. His supporters contend that Nassi has built some architecturally beautiful and classic buildings that show off Denver as a great place to live. Indeed, Denver Nuggets basketball star Carmelo Anthony's Prado penthouse was featured on MTV's show Cribs.

Nonetheless, the Golden Triangle is one of the hot neighborhoods in Denver right now, and the new developments are likely only going to further the area's popularity.

Taken from DenverGov.com