Two important Lower Downtown historic buildings are being restored: the Colorado Saddlery Building and the Wazee Exchange Building.
I mentioned the Colorado Saddlery Building the other day. Not only is the building at 15th and Wynkoop getting a thorough exterior restoration, but the inside will be completely renovated and converted to offices with ground-floor retail and a new 3-unit residential penthouse up top. Also, the missing sidewalk and streetscape along Wynkoop will finally be installed! This is a project that was approved in 2006 but is now finally being executed. Excellent!
The picture on the left is the still-dirty 15th Street side, and on the right, the freshly-scrubbed Wynkoop side:
A few blocks away at 19th and Wazee, the Wazee Exchange building’s renovation is nearly complete. Along the Wazee side, paint has been removed from the building’s brick exterior to reveal a formerly hidden but dramatic historic commercial painted sign. On the left is the “before” and on the right is the “after”:
Along 19th Street, the historic storefronts have been restored, including the removal of the green metal panels to reveal the storefront’s beautiful cornice and modillions. Again, left is “before” and right is “after”:
It’s great to see that even in a down economy, investment in Downtown Denver continues.
This is fantastic, Bravo Denver!
I love this!! I've always wondered why it has taken so long for someone to take advantage of the Saddlery building. What a great location! Improving the streetscape in the area will go a long way to making it a pedestrian friendly area. Plus, I'm sure Fogo de Chao will appreciate the improvements since they're right across the street.
Not only will Fogo de Chao appreciate the improvements, but I'm sure everyone who lives in the Edbrooke and Steel Bridge Lofts, and anyone who's ever tried to access the Tattered Cover by walking down 15th to Wynkoop and then have to fight cars to get to where the sidewalk starts in the middle of the block.
What's most interesting to me is the renovation of Wazee Exchange, because this is a renovation of a renovation. Architect Peter Dominick did the original renovation back in the late 1970s, and for its time it was progressive–but this new, or rather old, look is far better. At the time, this building was definitely "in the wilderness." I used to work across the alley from it in the early 1980s, and we felt disconnected from the rest of downtown. Not so now.
Did anyone notice that the front of the and one side of the RTD Building at 16th and Blake was also restored in the last few months?
I hope they keep those painted signs. That look could become iconic; a real landmark for Denver.
I wonder if the city would consider modifying its sign ordinance to encourage more new ones. At such scale you'd want to carefully regulate them (only certain font, require approval by the board, etc), but it seems to me that could be a great (and cheap) way to take LoDo's iconic brand to the next level.