Over the past several months, developer Evan Makovsky and his project team have been busy rehabbing the Building Formerly Known as Fontius on Downtown Denver’s Block 162. Now called the Steel Building after the original occupant, Steel’s Department Store in the early 1920s, the building is really starting to look good. If you’ve already forgotten how blighted the building had become under the previous owners, check out my Fontius Building Part 2: The Neglect blog from March 2007, and certainly visit my Inside the Fontius special feature.

Anyway, I was out taking a few photos last weekend and thought I’d share with you how the Steel Building’s renovation is coming along. First of all, even though the Steel Building is just a shell at this point, with the old windows gone and all the interior walls removed, it already looks 1000% better.

You may recall the Great Window Controversy of a few months ago. Basically, the Landmark Preservation Commission wanted Makovsky to restore the building’s original historic windows and Makovsky wanted to install new energy-efficient windows that looked the same as the original ones. Thankfully, in the end, a compromise was reached. New energy-efficient windows that are identical to the historic windows are being installed, and they’ll even use some of the original window hardware. Here’s an article about it by John Rebchook at the Rocky: Fontius To Get 76 Energy-Efficient Windows. The first few of those new windows are now going in:

The restoration of the exterior terra cotta tiles is mostly finished on the upper floors… and it looks awesome. The old gal is really cleaning up nicely. Take a look:

There’s still much more work to do. The original exterior materials on the ground floor were removed decades ago to give the Fontius a more “modern” street-level facade. Artists are now handcrafting terra cotta tiles that match the rest of the building so that the ground floor will return to its original 1920s glory. Here’s another Rebchook article about the restoration process: Ugly Duckling Fontius Revealing Its Handsome Self.

Finally, you may recall that Makovsky and the Downtown Denver Partnership asked the community for ideas for temporary uses for the vacant parcels behind the McClintock Building. A decision on that has just recently been made: We’re getting a mega-tent!

Construction of a 20,000 SF white vinyl tent is starting this week where the old Republic Hotel and Bank of Denver buidings used to stand along California. The tent will be operated by Wright Group Event Services, will include flooring, lighting, air conditioning and restrooms, will seat 1,500 to 2,000 people, and will host all kinds of events this summer and fall (and possibly longer). It will particularly come in handy during the DNC. Here’s where the tent will go, with a construction fence for it installed this past weekend:

Between the new tent and the restoration of the Steel Building, Block 162 is finally starting to show signs of life. Hopefully, in a few years from now, we’ll see a tower crane or two erecting Makovsky’s permanent legacy to the revitalization of Central Downtown.