May 19, 2012 12:13 AM UTC

Denver Civic Center Likely to Receive Landmark Designation

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• by: Colorado Pols

The Denver Civic Center – spanning between the City and County Building and the Colorado State Capitol – is on track to become a National Historical Landmark as designated by the United States National Park Service.

From Denver Mayor Michael Hancock:

WASHINGTON D.C. – Denver Civic Center was recommended by a U.S. Department of the Interior agency to become a National Historic Landmark – moving Denver one step closer to receiving the first designation of this kind in the city.

On Tuesday, at the Spring 2012 National Park System Advisory Board Landmarks Committee Meeting, Mayor Michael B. Hancock gave personal testimony to support Civic Center’s candidacy.

“Civic Center serves as the keystone for the entire Denver Parks system and sits literally where the City’s cultural, community and commercial realms converge,” Mayor Hancock said at the Meeting. “For Civic Center to receive the honor of becoming National Historic Landmark would shine a spotlight on this city treasure and help to deliver Denver as a world-class city.”

The Denver Civic Center recommended for designation includes Civic Center Park, Veteran’s Park, the McNichols Building, the City and County Building and the Colorado State Capitol.

A legacy park from Mayor Speer’s City Beautiful Movement, Civic Center would join a list of some of the most iconic, treasured and historically significant spaces in the United States. Designation would place Civic Center alongside such sites as the Empire State Building, the Alamo and the Library of Congress.

On May 22 and 23, Civic Center’s recommendation will go to the National Park Service Advisory Board for further consideration. The board will advance their recommendations to U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, who will officially designate the new National Historic Landmarks.

For more details, go to: www.nps.gov.

As noted in the press release, there are currently no National Historic Landmarks within Denver’s borders. If selected, however, the Denver Civic Center would join the ranks of 22 other sites within Colorado, including Bent’s Fort and Pike’s Peak.  

While the Civic Center’s selection is by no means certain, it’s safe to assume that former Colorado Attorney General, Senator, and current Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar has a considerable voice in the process. Salazar, in fact, has the final say, and his ties to the Square State may indeed give the Denver Civic Center a leg up in the competition for nomination.

In light of the scrutiny the area has received as part of this nomination process, perhaps Denver’s urban camping ban – which takes effect in just over ten days – was designed less as an effort to deal with the Occupy Movement and more as one to put Denver’s best foot forward. What kind of historic landmark would the Civic Center be if people slept in it overnight, after all? God forbid.