Hello DenverUrbanism! Some of you may have read my periodic blog over at denverhistorytours.com, where I have covered the history of downtown’s built environment, both past and present, since 2007. I am excited to add an important historic preservation element to DenverUrbanism now and in the future.
To that end, and in honor of the centennial of the groundbreaking for the wonderful Daniels and Fisher Department Store (D&F Tower) at 16th and Arapahoe, I thought I’d ressurect a couple items of note relating to that site. The first one dates from the December 10th, 1910 issue of Denver Municipal Facts.
Long-time Denverites cherish their memories of shopping at Daniels and Fisher until it merged with the May Company in 1957 (to make May D&F). After that time, the clock literally began ticking on the utter destruction of our most historic core of central downtown. While the Skyline Urban Renewal Project resulted in an area of shiny new buildings for Denver, it came at the expense of buildings we will never be able to replace. That’s a subject for future blogs. In the meantime, how did Denver let this happen, both pro and con. How did we begin to develop a sense of preservation wherein the sentiment of “saving” overcame the economic powers of “new is always better.” While we cherish our Larimer Square today, for example, you might be surprised to learn how close we came to losing the D&F Tower in 1971. In the 11th hour, this most beloved landmark was saved for another generation to admire. This comic says it all:
I look forward to continuing the conversation.
I remember how forlorn it looked in the 1970s when it was surrounded by a chain-link fence. Once again it’s a landmark. Too bad the other retail establishments nearby (Tabor Center and the totally bland and antiseptic Writer Square) haven’t progressed as well.
Am I the only one who remembers that Dave French was the one who saved the D&F tower from the wrecking ball!
This is my favorite building in Denver. My friend Holly Kylberg owns the top 5 floors of the tower up to the cupola at the top and rents the sapce out for special events and such. The site is: http://www.clocktowerevents.com .
She is coordinating the 100 anniverery of the building this summer/fall.
I built 2 perfect scale models of the tower-one is owned by Rich Kyleberg- the other, can be viewd on my website at http://www.scenographicsdenver.com.
This building is TRULY the symbol of Denver!