Item 5A - 1236 Canyon Blvd LB Memo 04.06.22
MEMORANDUM TO THE LANDMARKS BOARD
April 6, 2022
STAFF
David Gehr, Interim Planning & Development Services Director
Charles Ferro, Interim Comprehensive Planning Manager
Lucas Markley, Assistant City Attorney, City Attorney’s Office
James Hewat, Principal Historic Preservation Planner
Clare Brandt, Historic Preservation Planner
Faith Hamman, Historic Preservation Intern
LANDMARK DESIGNATION REQUEST
Public hearing and consideration of a proposal to amend the designation boundary to include all of
Block 13 of 1236 Canyon Blvd., the Bandshell, an individual landmark, pursuant to Section 9-11-5 of the
Boulder Revised Code 1981, and under the procedures prescribed by chapter 1-3, "Quasi-Judicial
Hearings," B.R.C. 1981.
Address: 1236 Canyon Blvd.
Owner: City of Boulder
Applicant: City of Boulder Landmarks Board
Case Number: HIS2021-00263
Case Type: Landmark Designation
Code Section: 9-11-5, B.R.C., 1981
SITE INFORMATION
Date of Construction: 1938
Zoning: P (Public)
Lot Size: 88,694 sq. ft. (approx.)
Landmarked Area: 52,700 sq. ft. (approx.)
Legal Description: BLOCK 13 BOULDER O T
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STAFF RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends the Landmarks Board not forward the application to the City Council with a
recommendation to amend Ordinance 5751 (Attachment A) to expand the designation boundary of 1236
Canyon Blvd., to include all of Block 13.
RECOMMENDED MOTION
The Landmarks Board does not recommend the City Council expand the designation boundary of 1236
Canyon Blvd., to include all of Block 13 as a local historic landmark finding that, at this time, it would not
meet the standards for individual landmark designation in Sections 9-11-1 and 9-11-2 B.R.C. 1981, and
adopt the staff memorandum dated April 6, 2022, as the findings of the board.
SUMMARY
This application was submitted by the City of Boulder Landmarks Board in 2021 in response to a request
from The Friends of the Bandshell. The City of Boulder owns the property, which is managed by the
Parks & Recreation Department, and considers that the application is consistent with Section 2.28 of
the Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan “Leadership in Preservation: City and County-Owned
Resources”.1
BACKGROUND
•May 3, 1995, Modern Architecture Preservation League submits a landmark designation application
for the bandshell, designed by Glen Huntington and constructed in 1938.
•In July 1995, a Front Range Associate study 2 determines that the bandshell and site meet National
Register of Historic Places and local landmark criteria. The southernmost portion of the site and the
train monument are excluded from the study.
•On October 17, 1995, City Council adopts Ordinance 5751 (Attachment A) designating the bandshell
and the northern 170 feet of the lot as a local landmark.
•October 28, 2015 and November 19 2015, City of Boulder receives Determination of Eligibility letters
from History Colorado stating that the Boulder Bandshell and associated landscaping (within the
current landmark boundary) is eligible for individual listing in the National Register of Historic
Places under criterion A & C with a defined period-of-significance from 1937 to 1965. (Attachment
C).
1 Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan: 2020 Mid-Term Update. City of Boulder, 2021. https://bouldercolorado.gov/media/3350/down
load?inline (link)
2 Front Range Research Associates, Inc. Boulder Bandshell Historical Study. Prepared for the City of Boulder. 14 July 1995.
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•In January 2016, a letter from the National Park Service confirms that the bandshell is eligible for
individual listing in the National Register of Historic Places under criterion A & C. The determination
recommended that “regardless of the landscape architectural significance, the landscape provides
an essential setting, and preservation of the landscape over time contributes to its evident integrity.
… the boundary should be generous enough to provide an adequate setting and capture the
designed landscape.” (Attachment C).
•In 2016, Colorado Preservation, Inc. lists the “Glen Huntington Bandshell” on Colorado’s Most
Endangered Places list.3
•August 27, 2021, Landmarks Board receives a letter from the Friends of the Bandshell requesting it
consider expanding the landmark boundary south to the White Rock Ditch to include all of Block 13.
•On November 3, 2021, the Landmarks Board initiates process for amending designation pursuant to
Section 9-11-3 “Initiation of Designation for Individual Landmarks and Historic Districts” of the
Boulder Revised Code 1981, and, Section 2.27 of the Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan. As such, the
Landmarks Board is the applicant. Background prior to the initiation hearing is included in the
11.03.2021 Landmarks Board memo (link).4
•The designation hearing is scheduled to occur between 60 – 120 days (before March 30, 2022).
•On January 24, 2022, the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board (PRAB), reviews the initiation memo
and supporting documentation. PRAB requests postponing the designation hearing to provide
additional time to advise on implications for the city park property. The Landmarks Board agrees to
postpone the designation hearing to April 6, 2022 to provide time for the PRAB to comment on the
proposed expansion.
•On February 28, 2022 the Parks & Recreation Advisory Board (PRAB) reviews the designation
application, and provides written comments that were summarized and approved at the 03.28.22
PRAB meeting5. Concerns from PRAB include significance of the area in question; jurisdiction
Landmarks Board will have over park land, curtailed only by a call-up from City Council; and
precedence for future designation of park land.
•At the request of Historic Preservation and Parks & Recreation staff, on March 24 Mundus Bishop
provides an opinion as to the eligibility of proposed expansion of the landmark boundary to include
all of Block 13 (see Attachment D - Mundus Bishop Bandshell Memorandum 03-24-2022).
Staff recommends that, at this time, the Landmarks Board not forward with a recommendation to the
city council to amend the landmark boundary for the following reasons:
3 “Glen Huntington Bandshell” Colorado Preservation, Inc. Last modified 2016. Accessed March 2022.
coloradopreservation.org/2016-list-colorados-most-endangered-places/glen-huntington-bandshell/
4 Memorandum, "Item 5B - 1236 Canyon Blvd Initiation Memo 11.03.2021," November 3, 2021. City of Boulder archive, Boulder, CO.
5 Matters from the Board, “03.28.22 PRAB Packet,” Pp. 71 and 73-75. City of Boulder archive, Boulder, CO.
Item 5A - 1236 Canyon Blvd. LB Memo 04.06.22 Page 3 of 62
1. As an existing individual landmark, any changes to the Bandshell or seating, including relocation
or rehabilitation, already requires review by the Landmarks Board.
2. The areas of Central Park south of the existing boundary are currently city park. In 2021, City of
Boulder voters approved funding for an extension of the Community, Culture, Resilience and
Safety tax, which included funding for enhancements to the Civic Area Phase II, including
Central Park. Landmarks Board and the PRAB will have opportunities to work together to
ensure that these plans reflect the historic and cultural significance of this area and the City
Council-approved Civic Area Master Plan.
3. The area considered for expansion would more logically be included in a future civic area
historic district which could encompass all of the existing individual landmarks in the civic area
(the Bandshell, the Boulder – Dushanbe Teahouse, the City Transfer and Storage Building, the
Atrium Building, and the Penfield Tate II Municipal Building) and better protect the historically
significant setting for each of these landmarks. While staff do not have capacity for this in 2022,
it could be considered in 2023.
PROPERTY DESCRIPTION
The Bandshell is located on the south side of Canyon Boulevard, between Broadway and 13th Street
within the larger Central Park area, which encompasses Block 13 and adjacent properties south of Block
13. Three individually landmarked buildings are located to the east of the property: the Boulder –
Dushanbe Teahouse (1770 13th St.), the City Transfer and Storage Building (1750 13th St.), and the Atrium
Building (1300 Canyon Blvd.). An additional individual landmark, the Penfield Tate II Municipal Building
(1777 Broadway) is located across Broadway and west of the Bandshell.
Figure 1. Civic area with approx. boundaries of existing landmarks indicated as a dashed blue line.
The Bandshell was constructed in 1938 by the Boulder Lions Club after designs by local architect Glen
Huntington as an outdoor amphitheater for musical concerts and other forms of community
entertainment. Landscape architect and city planner Saco R. DeBoer selected the site and prepared
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Figure 3. Designated Landmark Boundary, Ordinance 5751. 1995.
BOUNDARY EXPANSION
The proposed expanded boundary includes all of Block 13, bounded by Broadway, Canyon Blvd., 13th St.
and the Boulder and White Rock Ditch (also known as the Beasley Ditch). The ditch would not be
included in the designation.
The proposed expanded landmark boundary would recognize the interrelationship between the Glen
Huntington Bandshell and the surrounding designed landscape.
The National Park Service, a designed historic landscape is defined as:
“… a landscape that has significance as a design or work of art; was consciously designed and laid
out by a master gardener, landscape architect, architect, or horticulturalist to a design principle,
or an owner or other amateur using a recognized style or tradition in response or reaction to a
recognized style or tradition; has a historical association with a significant person, trend, event,
etc. in landscape gardening or landscape architecture; or a significant relationship to the theory
or practice of landscape architecture …
In many instances, the original design intent of a significant designed historic landscape was to
complement an adjacent building or buildings. In such cases the nomination needs to address the
Item 5A - 1236 Canyon Blvd. LB Memo 04.06.22 Page 6 of 62
significance of both the architecture and the designed historic landscape and their
interrelationship.”8
However, Central Park is one small piece of the area that was conceptualized by Frederick Law Olmsted
Jr. in the 1910 Plan for Improvements to Boulder.9 The city demolished existing buildings within the Civic
area at Olmsted’s recommendation and established a lawn and paths in Central Park in the mid-1920s.
Landscape architect and city planner Saco R. DeBoer formally designed the area to include pathways to
direct people around the Bandshell site through the expansive lawn. In 1950, the city constructed the
amphitheater seating.
SACO DEBOER AND THE CITY BEAUTIFUL MOVEMENT
Saco Rienk DeBoer was born in 1883 in Ureterp, Netherlands. He immigrated to the United States in
1908 for health reasons, first living in Maxwell, New Mexico and then Denver.10
According to the Boulder Bandshell Historical Study, 1995:11
“Noted Denver landscape architect Saco R. DeBoer recommended the site and planned the
landscaping for the Bandshell, as well as reviewing other components of the project. In June 1937,
the Boulder Daily Camera reported that DeBoer, as consulting city planner, had made
recommendations to the planning and parks commission for the new Bandshell. In July 1937, the
Camera recorded that ‘S.R. DeBoer, landscape architect and consulting city planner ... took
preliminary sketches of the proposed Bandshell to be erected by the Lions club in Central Park
and photographs of similar structures at Sioux City and Sioux Center, Iowa, to prepare final
drawings for the work here.’ …
… Mayor Robert Speer, in the midst of converting Denver into a ‘City Beautiful,’ appointed DeBoer
the city’s landscape architect in 1910 and reappointed him in 1916. He became a member of
Denver’s first zoning commission in 1925, the first city planner in 1926, and co-authored the ten-
volume Denver Plan (1929-1947). In 1926, he developed a master plan for Grand Junction which
received widespread attention and resulted in his being hired to plan the new town of Boulder
City, Nevada, in 1930. DeBoer died in Denver in 1974.”
8 NPS Bulletin 18: How To Evaluate And Nominate Designed Historic Landscapes
https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nationalregister/upload/NRB18-Complete.pdf (link)
9 Carrigan, Beverly Halpin. Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. : Maker Of Parks - Planner Of Cities. Boulder, CO: City of Boulder Context
Report, 1992.
10 S. R. DeBoer booklet presented by the S. R. DeBoer Committee: “Parks and Open Space: A Denver Perspective”. Denver, CO: West
ern History Department, Denver Public Library, 1983.
11 Front Range Research Associates, Inc. Boulder Bandshell Historical Study. Prepared for the City of Boulder. 14 July 1995.
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According to the S. R. DeBoer Committee 12:
“When he [DeBoer] first came to work for Denver Parks in 1910, the City Beautiful movement was
still the fashion. It was an appropriate time for DeBoer, given his own priorities, to commence so
important a part of his life’s work. DeBoer and others have seen that movement as the formal
beginning of city planning in America. As its name suggests, the movement was concerned with
beautification and, to DeBoer’s mind, that meant ‘landscape planning.’ The Denver Planning
Primer of 1934, for which DeBoer served as consultant, makes the same point: Between the years
1900 and 1910, city planners considered civic ‘beautification’ one of the major principles of
planning, if not the most important one.”
DeBoer became disillusioned with American cities as the City Beautiful movement fell out of fashion. In
1922, DeBoer studied with English planner Thomas Mawson, and traveled throughout Europe. On his
return, his attitude toward public parks had shifted:
“The American house, surrounded by its green grass, its plantings, its trees and garden beds, was
something he [DeBoer] had come, like other Americans, to take for granted … The American city,
then, for all its ugly features, carried in itself the ideal toward which DeBoer aspired after all: the
ideal of the city itself as park or garden.”13
In 1938, when DeBoer was first consulted on the location of the Bandshell, he was in private practice in
landscape architecture and planning. He developed a schematic landscaping plan for the larger civic
area, filled with expansive lawn and trees, a future city hall, civic memorial, and community spaces such
as a farmers market (see Figures 4, 5, and 6). The pedestrian paths through the area reflect European
civic landscape design; while the curving parkway along Canyon Boulevard and 13th Street (designed but
never realized) is reflective of DeBoer’s understanding of the modern American city and its reliance on
the car.
David Hill, Director of Graduate Division of Planning and Community Development at the University of
Colorado at Denver, wrote in 1983:14
“A recuring theme seems to be, however, the honorable struggle to integrate the romantic
classicism of the American City Beautiful movement into a dynamic, young, frontier urban culture
generally enamored with quick market return and impulsive auto mobility, His [DeBoer’s]
numerous attempts and successes were remarkable, even his failures are highly instructive.”
12 S. R. DeBoer booklet presented by the S. R. DeBoer Committee. Ibid.
13 S. R. DeBoer booklet presented by the S. R. DeBoer Committee. Ibid.
14 S. R. DeBoer booklet presented by the S. R. DeBoer Committee. Ibid.
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Figure 4: “Proposed Boulevard & City Building Group, with Flood Protection, Parking Areas and Farmer’s Market.
Boulder, Colorado. S.R. DeBoer, Consultant. February 1945.” Denver Public Library.
Figure 5: Cropped image of “Boulder Creek Boulevard Plan. S.R. DeBoer & CO City Planners.” Date unknown. Denver
Public Library.
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Figure 6: “Sketch of Proposed Civic Center and War Memorial. War Memorial Committee of Boulder Colorado. S.R.
DeBoer & CO City Planners, Landscape Architects, Denver, CO, July 1947.” Denver Public Library.
INTERRELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE BANDSHELL AND THE LANDSCAPE
The Bandshell has defined Central Park since it was constructed in 1938. However, the park existed
before the Bandshell. Between 1921 and 1925, the city cleared the area of buildings and trees, and
created a formal grassy lawn bounded by trees. This was part of a larger effort to beautify the entire
civic area after recommendations made by Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. The Boulder and White Rock
Ditch (also known as the Beasley Ditch) bisected Central Park, with a pedestrian crossing at the weir
near Broadway (12th St.)
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Figure 7: Boulder and White Rock Weir in Central Park, May 1921 (looking east from Broadway). Haenselman Greenhouses are
on the left. Carnegie Library for Local History, Boulder.
Figure 8: The grassy lawn of the park seen from the 12th St. (Broadway) bridge. The Lyon Lumber Company building (the site of
the current Boulder-Dushanbe Teahouse) is in the background, 1925. Boulder Historical Society/Museum of Boulder.
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Figure 9: the lawn with the Engine No. 30 monument alongside the ditch. C. 1971. Photo by Delbert A. Nelson.
Carnegie Library for Local History, Boulder.
Figure 10: Similar view, with the grassy, tree-lined lawn north of the ditch, 2021. Google Streetview.
Although the park was in active development beginning c.1920 it continued to evolve through 1938 with
construction of the Bandshell, designed by Glen Huntington. DeBoer’s landscape plan encouraged
passersby into the park and provided a comfortable gathering space for concerts and other open-air
activities at the Bandshell. The park development continued into the 1950s with construction of the
amphitheater seating and the placement of Engine 30 along the ditch in 1953. Subsequent changes
have occurred to Central Park including relocation of the train immediately south of the bandshell
seating in 1975 (and its eventual removal from the park in 2012), reorientation of concrete paths and
installation of new lighting associated with the reconstruction of the Broadway Bridge in the early
2000s.
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History of the Central Park Area
When gold was discovered in the mountains nearby, 60 original shareholders 15 of Boulder City Town
Company ignored the 1851 Treaty of Fort Laramie, also known as the Horse Creek Treaty, and claimed
1,280 acres alongside Boulder Creek on February 10th, 1859.16 The productive creek side land was an
essential part of the ancestral homelands of Indigenous Peoples who had lived on and travelled through
them for thousands of years.
In 1873, the Boulder & White Rock Ditch Company was founded to support irrigation of surrounding land
and local farming communities. The re-trenching of waterways into planned irrigation channels is a
theme of importance for the development of Boulder County.
In addition, the railroads converged at the railyards and freight depot at Water Street (now Canyon
Blvd.) and 12th St. (now Broadway). The availability of abundant water from the creek meant water-
powered industry—mills, smelters, and lumber yards—gravitated to the area. The proximity to the creek,
and the creek’s unpredictability, also made the area undesirable for residences. On May 30, 1894, a flood
covered the entire area from Walnut St. to Arapahoe Ave. and from 9th St. east to the city limits,
destroying the railyards and businesses.17 This didn’t prevent people from living there, however. The area
along Boulder Creek between 10th and 11th streets and south of Canyon Blvd. —just west of current-day
Central Park—was known as “The Jungle,” an expanding town of makeshift and basic vernacular
housing and notorious as the location of at least five “bordellos.” 18
15 Whitacre, Christine, and R. Laurie Simmons. “Boulder Survey of Historic Places.”
1987. 760-1-5. Carnegie Library for Local History, Boulder, CO.
16 “Land Acknowledgement.” City of Boulder. https://bouldercolorado.gov/projects/land-acknowledgment
17 Sturtevant, Joseph B. The Flood of 1894: 12th Street looking east. Photograph. BHS 225-2-8. Boulder Historical Society/Museum o
f Boulder. Boulder, CO. https://localhistory.boulderlibrary.org/islandora/object/islandora%3A22079
18 Berry, Dennis, and Sydney Tanner. Boulder Creek Path History Tour: from the settlers to the space age. Boulder, CO: Boulder Hist
ory Museum, 2018.
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Figure 11: Flood of 1894: 12th Street (Broadway) looking east toward 13th Street. Boulder Historical Society/Museum of Boulder.
Figure 12: Along Canyon Blvd. (Water St.) looking east along the tracks from Broadway (12th St.), 1894. Boulder Historical
Society/Museum of Boulder.
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In 1897, Boulder’s Citizens Reform League passed a resolution to make Boulder “the cleanest and purest
city in the state.”19 Ostensibly aimed at the saloons and gambling halls, the group also focused on
clearing “The Jungle.” However, the area remained a combination of factories, industry, and basic
housing for Boulder’s poorest residents.
The Boulder City Improvement Association, in 1903, organized with a goal of “improvement of Boulder in
health, growth, cleanliness, prosperity and attractiveness.” Around the same time, Joseph B. Sturtevant
photographed “Cigarette Park” possibly to promote the area, but the name never became official. The
exact location of “Cigarette Park” is not known, but is assumed to be modern-day Central Park.20 The
Boulder City Improvement Association formed the Parks Board in 1907 and hired Frederick Law
Olmsted, Jr. to write “The Improvement of Boulder, Colorado: Report to the City Improvement
Association.”21 In this 1910 report, Olmsted recommended planting trees to screen against the “rather
unattractive class of occupants” that resided along the creek and suggested that Boulder Creek could
be reimagined as a "pretty, shady spot with a clean park path running beside the murmuring water …”22
Figure 13: Well-dressed woman standing among cottonwood trees in “Cigarette Park”, 1900. Boulder Historical Society/Museum
of Boulder.
19 Collier, Grant, and Joseph Collier. Colorado: Yesterday & Today. Collier Publishing: Grant Collier, 2005.
20 Sturtevant, Joseph B. Cigarette Park in winter and summer. Photograph. BHS 207-3-48. Boulder Historical Society/Museum of Bo
ulder. Boulder, CO. https://localhistory.boulderlibrary.org/islandora/object/islandora%3A40021
21 Noel, Thomas J., and Dan W. Corson. Boulder County: An Illustrated History. Carlsbad, CA: Heritage Media Corp., 1999.
22 Carrigan, Beverly Halpin. Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. : Maker Of Parks - Planner Of Cities. Boulder, CO: City of Boulder Context Re
port, 1992.
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Figure 14: four men reclining under the trees in “Cigarette Park”, c. 1870-1920. Boulder Historical Society/Museum of Boulder.
Thirteen years later, in “Improvements of Boulder Creek,” Olmsted solidified his plan for the creation of a
stream side park and new city hall.23 During 1920 - 1921, “The Jungle” was cleared:
“Boulder's Jungles Are Gone Forever; Make Room for Park. Jungle Town no longer exists.
Squatters on city property along Boulder creek have either moved to other parts of town or have
left Boulder. Their former homes were torn down and the land has been filled in with dirt from the
paving district, giving a former eyesore part of town a very respectable look. Two frame homes
which were located on Water Street facing the railroad yards are now being torn down by their
owners. This improves the appearance of the remaining houses. The colony has been reduced in
numbers from around the thirties to ten or twelve. The city this summer purchased all the land
except three lots lying between Eleventh and Ninth, the railroad tracks, and Boulder creek. They
were given a lot highly desired for park purposes by Mrs. C. A. Butsch. The Colorado & Southern
railroad gave an indeterminate lease on a paralleling tract of land and also over the land lying
between Eleventh and the main C & S line into Boulder. All of this section is being filled in with dirt
and leveled up so that it can be used for park purposes. There will be enough dirt from the Pine-
Spruce district to complete the job and also to permit other improvement work along the creek.”
(Boulder Tribune, 29 July 1921)24
23 Noel. Ibid.
24 Tangen, Edward. The Jungle. Photograph. BHS 207-5-4. Boulder Historical Society/Museum of Boulder. Boulder, CO. https://local
history.boulderlibrary.org/islandora/object/islandora%3A42431
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Figure 15: South side of Canyon Blvd. between 10th and 11th Streets, known as the "Jungle" 1920. Boulder Historical
Society/Museum of Boulder
Figure 16: The “Jungle” after being cleared to make way for the park, 1920. Boulder Historical Society/Museum of Boulder.
Item 5A - 1236 Canyon Blvd. LB Memo 04.06.22 Page 17 of 62
Figure 17: 1920 view of the railroad and street intersection at 12th (Broadway) and Water (Canyon) streets in Boulder and the
area to the east (Central Park). Boulder Historical Society/Museum of Boulder.
“The section...was once a disgrace to the city, and a gathering place of undesirable people. In
the early days, it was a red light district, later became the tramp quarters of Boulder. The most
undesirable section of the district was wiped out by the city in purchases made several years
ago.... The acquirement [of this area] completes the task that was inaugurated a few years ago
of cleaning up the ‘jungle’” .... (Boulder Daily Camera, 13 April 1928).25
Over a period of years, from 1906 - 1933, the city purchased parcels of land along Boulder Creek to
create the future site of the civic area, including Central Park and other downtown creek-side parks.26
Landscape Design of Central Park
Saco DeBoer was no stranger to Boulder. In 1928, he created Boulder’s first zoning plan that included
height restriction and other regulations. DeBoer was consulted on the site for the bandshell in 1937 and
design for the Central Park area.
25 Tangen. Ibid.
26 Front Range Research Associates, Inc. Ibid.
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Figure 19. C. 1940 photograph looking north across Central Park from White Rock Ditch, Carnegie Library for Local History
Figure 20. Looking north across Central Park from White Rock Ditch (2022)
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Figure 21: Undated photograph of view southwest toward Broadway Bridge, constructed in 1921.
Boulder Historical Society/Museum of Boulder.
Figure 22: View southwest toward Broadway Bridge, October 2021.
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Figure 23: A 1921 view of railroad tracks running past present day Central Park on Canyon Blvd. east of Broadway. Boulder
Historical Society/Museum of Boulder.
Figure 24: View into the park from Canyon Blvd. showing back of Bandshell (with temporary fencing) 2020.
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Figure 25: West toward Broadway Bridge and Central Park, c. 1929. Carnegie Library for Local History, Boulder
Figure 26: View west toward Broadway Bridge, October 2021.
According to the Boulder Bandshell Historical Study, 1995:27
“Important characteristics include the trees and bushes which were chosen to provide a screen
around the edges of the site, the bermed seating area with stone retaining walls, and the
pathways which were designed to prevent bypassers taking shortcuts through the amphitheater.”
27 Front Range Research Associates, Inc. Boulder Bandshell Historical Study. Prepared for the City of Boulder. 14 July 1995.
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Plans show a boulevard wrapping around the east side of Central Park, with a series of paths creating a
large oval green in front of the bandshell (See Figures 5, 6, and 7). While DeBoer’s landscape plans were
not fully realized, the trees and open lawn area south of the bandshell is largely intact with the
Bandshell as a central component.
Community Attractions and Events in Central Park
The civic area and creek-side paths have played an important role in the social and cultural life of the
city, having served as a setting for formal musical programs at the Bandshell, cultural entertainment
within Central Park, and civic celebrations along the creek.
In 1952, the railroad tracks still followed Canyon Blvd. on the north side of Central Park. The passenger
train depot was located on the south side of Canyon Blvd. at 14th St. (becoming a bus station in 1957
and moved in 1972) and the Colorado and Southern freight depot was on the north side of Canyon Blvd.
at 12th St. (demolished in 1963). When the city purchased a historic narrow-gauge locomotive engine,
caboose, and coach as a monument to Boulder’s mining history, Central Park was proposed as an
appropriate location to display the train.
According to the Switzerland Trail of America: Engine No. 30 commemorative souvenir envelope and
pamphlet published by the Boulder Stamp Club in 1953:29
“In August of 1952, Boulder acquired its little narrow-gauge (3 feet between rails) train. The
engine and caboose were in actual use in the Colorado mountains until January, 1952, and
the coach made its last regular run between Durango and Silverton in August, 1952.
The different insignia on the train: Colorado Northwestern on the engine; Denver, Boulder
and Northwestern, and Denver, South Park, and Pacific on the coach; and Rio Grande
Southern on the caboose, represent the four railroads on which ‘Old No. 30’ actually
operated in Colorado—in that order.
. . . It was secured through the cooperation of a committee of Boulder citizens and set up in
Central Park near the very stream along whose banks it ran for so many years, as a Memorial
to Boulder’s Railroad and Mining Pioneers . . . ‘Old Number 30’ is the only remaining engine in
the United States which operated on this line.”
On Aug. 6, 1953, the attraction opened to the public with speeches by Dr. John Schoolland and the
Boulder Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution regent, who hoped that the historic
29 Switzerland Trail of America: Engine No. 30 commemorative souvenir envelope and pamphlet, August 6, 1953. Boulder, CO: Boul
der Stamp Club, 1953. Carnegie Library for Local History, Boulder call number 998-5-21.
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display would serve in the years to come — “to inspire the youth of Boulder with an appreciation of the
enterprise and romance of Boulder’s early pioneers.”30
In 1958, vandals destroyed the caboose with a stick of dynamite. The caboose was replaced in 1975, at the
same time the monument was moved closer to the bandshell next to the berm behind the seating. This
also was damaged by an arsonist in 2007 and the entire monument was moved out of the park in 2012.
Figure 27. 1962 aerial of the train monument alongside the Boulder and White Rock Ditch in Central Park. Carnegie Library
for Local History
30 Pettem, Silvia. "A story of community, dynamite and arson: Engine No. 30 set in Central Park 60 years ago." Daily Camera (Bould
er, CO), July 19, 2012. https://www.dailycamera.com/2012/07/19/a-story-of-community-dynamite-and-arson-engine-no-30-set-in-ce
ntral-park-60-years-ago/
Item 5A - 1236 Canyon Blvd. LB Memo 04.06.22 Page 25 of 62
Figure 28. Aug. 6, 1953 dedication in Central Park to Engine No. 30 situated as a monument next to the Boulder and White
Rock Ditch in Central Park (post- 1971, train was moved north to south edge of bandshell seating). Boulder Historical
Society/Museum of Boulder
Figure 29. 1995 map showing location of the locomotive monument prior to its removal in 2012. Boulder Bandshell
Historical Study
Item 5A - 1236 Canyon Blvd. LB Memo 04.06.22 Page 26 of 62
Prior to the railcar monument, the Bandshell and Central Park were a focus for community activities
that included events organized by the Boulder Lions Club, especially during Christian celebrations like
Christmas and Easter. Other community events through the 1950s included performances by the
Boulder Band, the Prep “A Capella” Choir, the “Just Kids” Band, Memorial Day events, Color Guard, and
Huck Finn Day activities.
Figure 30. Memorial Day celebration in Lions bandshell in Central Park c. 1940 – 1949 prior to construction of
seating. (BHS 129-10-4). Boulder Historical Society/Museum of Boulder.
Figure 31. Huck Finn Day activities in Central Park bandshell in 1954 (BHS 222-6-4).
Boulder Historical Society/Museum of Boulder
According to the 1995 Boulder Bandshell Historical Study:
“The scope of activities held at the Band Shell broadened over the years to include many forms of
outdoor entertainment, although musical programs continued to be the primary usage for the
structure.”
Item 5A - 1236 Canyon Blvd. LB Memo 04.06.22 Page 27 of 62
The Christmas focus persisted through the 1970s, even as usage of the bandshell and Central Park
declined due to unsanitary conditions:
“The Band Shell played an important role in Boulder's Christmas celebrations from the 1950s
through the 1970s. Christmas decorations were placed inside the structure, banners wished
passersby “Merry Christmas” and “Happy New Year,” and the shell was surrounded by evergreen
boughs.
Marie Sindt remembered that the Band Shell was “really in good shape” before the “hippie time,”
when the structure deteriorated. This view is confirmed by Boulder historian Phyllis Smith, who
wrote that the young transients overran Central Park beginning in 1968. She noted that sanitary
conditions in the park deteriorated so much that City Manager Ted Tedesco declared the park
partially closed, claiming it was a potential health hazard. As Smith wrote, ‘Boulder risidents [sic]
no longer used the parks, and band concerts were canceled.’”31
Through the 1970s to the 1990s, Central Park was used for events and festivals and the Bandshell used
for performances, but it wasn’t until 1995-96, when the bandshell was rehabilitated , that the area saw a
resurgence in community use.
Figure 32. C. 1970 – 1980 artshow in Central Park. Boulder Historical Society/Museum of Boulder.
31 Front Range Research Associates, Inc. Boulder Bandshell Historical Study. Prepared for the City of Boulder. 14 July 1995.
Item 5A - 1236 Canyon Blvd. LB Memo 04.06.22 Page 28 of 62
CRITERIA FOR THE BOARD’S DECISION
Section 9-11-5(c), Public Hearing Before the Landmarks Board, B.R.C. 1981, specifies that in their review
of an application for local landmark designation (in this case expansion of the existing landmark
boundary), “the landmarks board shall determine whether the proposed designation conforms with the
purposes and standards in Sections 9-11-1, Legislative Intent, and 9-11-2, City Council May Designate
Landmarks and Historic Districts.”
Section 9-11-1, Legislative Intent, states:
a) The purpose of this chapter is to promote the public health, safety, and welfare by protecting,
enhancing, and perpetuating buildings, sites, and areas of the city reminiscent of past eras,
events, and persons important in local, state, or national history or providing significant
examples of architectural styles of the past. It is also the purpose of this chapter to develop and
maintain appropriate settings and environments for such buildings, sites, and areas to enhance
property values, stabilize neighborhoods, promote tourist trade and interest, and foster
knowledge of the city’s living heritage.
b) The City Council does not intend by this chapter to preserve every old building in the city but
instead to draw a reasonable balance between private property rights and the public interest in
preserving the city’s cultural, historic, and architectural heritage by ensuring that demolition of
buildings and structures important to that heritage will be carefully weighed with other
alternatives and that alterations to such buildings and structures and new construction will
respect the character of each such setting, not by imitating surrounding structures, but by
being compatible with them.
c) The City Council intends that in reviewing applications for alterations to and new construction
on landmarks or structures in a historic district, the Landmarks Preservation Advisory Board
shall follow relevant city policies, including, without limitation, energy-efficient design, access
for the disabled, and creative approaches to renovation.
Section 9-11-2, City Council may Designate Landmarks and Historic Districts, states:
(a) Pursuant to the procedures in this chapter the City Council may by ordinance:
(1) Designate as a landmark an individual building or other feature or an integrated group
of structures or features on a single lot or site having a special character and historical,
architectural, or aesthetic interest or value and designate a landmark site for each
landmark;
Upon designation, the property included in any such designation is subject to all the requirements of
this code and other ordinances of the city.
Item 5A - 1236 Canyon Blvd. LB Memo 04.06.22 Page 29 of 62
ANALYSIS
Staff’s analysis is based on the criteria for review provided above.
A.Does the proposed application protect, enhance, and perpetuate buildings, sites, and areas of the
city reminiscent of past eras, events, and persons important in local, state, or national history or
provide significant examples of architectural styles of the past?
The designed landscape features identified in the 1995 Boulder Bandshell Historical Study, and
confirmed by consultants Mundus Bishop in 2022 (Attachment D) are extant and expansion of
the boundary to include all of Block 13 would be consistent with the National Park Service’s
Guidelines for evaluating designed historic landscapes 32. However, staff does not consider
expanding the landmark boundary necessary at this time. Staff considers that the area
considered for expansion would more logically be included in a future civic area historic district
which could encompass all of the existing Individual Landmarks in the civic area (the Bandshell,
the Boulder – Dushanbe Teahouse, the City Transfer and Storage Building, the Atrium Building,
and the Penfield Tate II Municipal Building) and better protect the historically significant setting
for each of these landmarks.
B.Does the proposed application draw a reasonable balance between private property rights and the
public interest in preserving the City’s cultural, historic, and architectural heritage by ensuring that
demolition of buildings and structures important to that heritage will be carefully weighed with
other alternatives?
Staff considers that moving forward with the proposed landmark boundary expansion at this
time would not be appropriate as the areas of Central Park south of the existing boundary are
currently city park. In 2021, City of Boulder voters approved funding for an extension of the
Community, Culture, Resilience and Safety tax, which included funding for enhancements to the
Civic Area Phase II, including Central Park. Landmarks Board and the PRAB will have
opportunities to work together to ensure that these plans reflect the historic and cultural
significance of this area and the City Council-approved Civic Area Master Plan.
32 NPS Bulletin 18: HOW TO EVALUATE AND NOMINATE DESIGNED HISTORIC LANDSCAPES
https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nationalregister/upload/NRB18-Complete.pdf (link)
Item 5A - 1236 Canyon Blvd. LB Memo 04.06.22 Page 30 of 62
To assist in the interpretation of the historic preservation ordinance, the Landmarks Board has also
adopted significance criteria to use when evaluating applications for individual landmarks (see
below). The criteria are included in Attachment E: Significance Criteria for Individual Landmarks (link).
HISTORIC SIGNIFICANCE:
Summary: The expanded landmark boundary of 1236 Canyon Blvd. to encompass all of Block 13
meets historic significance criteria 1, 2, 3 and 4.
1.Date of Development: 1909 – 1950
Elaboration: The open lawn area of Central Park from Canyon Boulevard to White Rock
Ditch is visible in a 1920s photographs (see Figure 8), however the addition of the
Bandshell, constructed in 1938, unified the design of Central Park. The 1995 Band shell
Report by Front Range Research notes “Landscaping around the shell was completed in
1939” and modified in 1950 with the addition of the seating.35
2.Association with Persons or Events: Cultural entertainment; Park Development
Elaboration: Central Park has historic significance for the role it has played in the social
and cultural life of the city. The Bandshell anchors the park as a focal point and setting
for formal musical programs and cultural entertainment. Central Park from Canyon
Boulevard to the White Rock Ditch has served as the location of civic celebrations that
have spanned the civic area and creek-side parks.
3.Development of the Community: Central Park and Boulder Creek
Elaboration: The proposed boundary expansion to the White Rock Ditch (all of Block 13)
includes land acquired by the city between 1906-1933 specifically for use as a civic park.
Formal planning for the park began c. 1907-1910 Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr.’s
suggestions to reimagine Boulder Creek as a "pretty, shady spot with a clean park path
running beside the murmuring water …”Construction of the Bandshell in 1938 with
associated landscape improvements including the planting of trees and expansion of
pathways across the park saw the area development into a center of civic celebration in
the park that continues to the present.
4.Recognition by Authorities: Front Range Research 1996, History Colorado, Keeper of
the National Register of Historic Places 2015, Mundus Bishop, 2022
Elaboration: The expanded boundary to the White Rock Ditch would likely eligible for
listing in the State and National Registers as a contiguous area planned as a park and
civic gathering place in central Boulder. The expansion of the boundary to include all of
35 Boulder Band shell Historical Study. Front Range Research. 14 July 1995. City of Boulder. Page 4.
Item 5A - 1236 Canyon Blvd. LB Memo 04.06.22 Page 31 of 62
Block 13 is consistent with the National Park Service’s Guidelines for evaluating
designed historic landscapes.38
ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE:
Summary: The expansion of the landmark boundary meets architectural significance criteria 1,
2 and 4.
1.Recognized Period or Style: European Influenced Public Landscape Design
Elaboration: As is typical of designed landscapes, Central Park has evolved over time.
However, the essential historic character of the site remains; The landscape was
consciously designed by Saco DeBoer over a period spanning 1938 - 1950. The expansive
lawn, trees and pedestrian paths through the area exemplify European-style civic park
design favored by DeBoer at the time.
2.Architect or Builder of Prominence: Saco DeBoer and Glen Huntington
Elaboration: The expanded boundary is associated with the design intent for a central
park area as originally envisioned by Frederick Law Olmsted in the early twentieth-
century and Saco R. DeBoer's realization of this vision as consulting city planner to
Boulder’s Planning and Parks Commission in the 1930s and 1940s. The historic
landscape was designed specifically to complement the 1938 Bandshell, designed by
Glen Huntington. The Bandshell was situated by Huntington and DeBoer to encourage
passersby into the park and to provide a comfortable gathering space for concerts and
other open-air activities.
3.Artistic Merit: None observed.
Example of the Uncommon: The Bandshell is Boulder’s only example of park bandshell
construction and one of the few such examples in the state. However the associated
park is not uncommon in Boulder.
4.Indigenous Qualities: None observed.
38 NPS Bulletin 18: How To Evaluate And Nominate Designed Historic Landscapes.
https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nationalregister/upload/NRB18-Complete.pdf (link)
Item 5A - 1236 Canyon Blvd. LB Memo 04.06.22 Page 32 of 62
ENVIRONMENTAL SIGNIFICANCE:
Summary: The expansion of landmark boundary meets environmental significance criteria 1, 2, 3,
4 and 5.
1.Site Characteristics: Urban Park
Elaboration: The proposed landmark expansion is environmentally significant for its
planned and natural site characteristics. The bandshell and its open-air seating and
treed lawn area have long served as the focus of Central Park and as a civic center for
social and cultural events in Boulder.
2.Compatibility with Site: Park Setting
Elaboration: The open lawn, informally planted mature trees and pathways contribute
to the historic character of Central Park and the setting of the Bandshell as its central
element.
3.Geographic Importance: Visual landmark
Elaboration: Central Park and the Bandshell comprise an established, familiar, and
prominent visual civic landmark located near Boulder Creek, the White Rock Ditch on
major thoroughfares that has been an important gathering place in central Boulder
since the Bandshell’s construction in 1938. The Bandshell is uniquely located as a focal
point of Central Park in Downtown Boulder and was consciously situated to encourage
passersby to enter the park for entertainment and relaxation.
4.Environmental Appropriateness:
Elaboration: Expansion of the landmark boundary south to the White Rock ditch is
appropriate given the design and orientation of the bandshell facing south to the park
with planned seating, a mature tree canopy for shade and open lawn for additional
seating and recreation.
5.Area Integrity: Continuity of an existing condition
Elaboration: The character of the property has changed very little since the Bandshell’s
seating area, also designed by Saco DeBoer and contributing to the character of the
site, was added in 1950. The southern portion of the site has remained an open lawn
with informally planted trees and unpaved paths since at least 1938. The pathways on
the east and southern edges of the site were added in 2008. These non-historic changes
do not detract from the historic character of the site.
NEXT STEPS
Historic Preservation and Parks and Recreation staff have engaged in extensive discussions about the
proposed boundary expansion since it was first suggested by the Friends of the Bandshell in August of
2021. While staff acknowledges the potential significance of the area included in the proposed
Item 5A - 1236 Canyon Blvd. LB Memo 04.06.22 Page 33 of 62
expanded landmark boundary, it recommends that, at this time, the Landmarks Board not forward with
a recommendation to the city council to amend the landmark boundary for the following reasons:
1.As an existing individual landmark, any changes to the Bandshell or seating, including relocation
or rehabilitation, already requires review by the Landmarks Board.
2.The areas of Central Park south of the existing boundary are currently city park. In 2021, City of
Boulder voters approved funding for an extension of the Community, Culture, Resilience and
Safety tax, which included funding for enhancements to the Civic Area Phase II, including
Central Park. Landmarks Board and the PRAB will have opportunities to work together to
ensure that these plans reflect the historic and cultural significance of this area and the City
Council-approved Civic Area Master Plan.
3.The area considered for expansion would more logically be included in a future civic area
historic district which could encompass all of the existing individual landmarks in the civic area
(the Bandshell, the Boulder – Dushanbe Teahouse, the City Transfer and Storage Building, the
Atrium Building, and the Penfield Tate II Municipal Building) and better protect the historically
significant setting for each of these landmarks.
Staff suggests the Landmarks Board and the PRAB continue to work together as planning for the East
Civic Area/Central Park continues.
Within 45 days of the hearing date, the Landmarks Board must adopt specific written findings and
conclusions approving, approving with modifications, or disapproving the application. Should the board
disapprove the application, the board must notify the City Council of that action within 30 days of the
hearing date. City Council may call up a decision disapproving a designation. Should an application be
disapproved, the same application may not be submitted for a period of one year.
If the board finds that the proposed designation conforms to Sections 9-11-1 and 9-11-2, B.R.C. 1981, it
shall adopt specific findings and conclusions approving or modifying and approving the application. If
the board approves the proposed designation, the application will be forwarded to City Council (within
45 days) for a public hearing. The public hearing before City Council must be held within 100 days of the
Landmark Board’s decision recommending designation.
ATTACHMENTS
A: Ordinance 5751
B: LPAB Action Minutes, July 25, 1995
C: Letters of Eligibility, October 2015, November 2015, and January 2016
D: Mundus Bishop Bandshell Memorandum 03-24-2022
E: Significance Criteria for Individual Landmarks (link)
F: Guidelines for Names of Landmarked Structures and Sites (link)
Item 5A - 1236 Canyon Blvd. LB Memo 04.06.22 Page 34 of 62
Film 2088
Rec #01561053 Pate: 11-7-95
ORDINAL"I/CE NO. 5751
A,"1/ ORDINAt"IICE DESIGNATING THE STRUCTURE AND ITS SITE,
LOCATED ON THE NORTHER.� 170 FEET OF BLOCK 13, ORIGINAL TO\.VNSITE TO THE CITY OF BOULDER, COLORADO, A
LANDMARK UNDER CHAPTER 10-13 OF THE REVISED CODE OF
THE CITY OF BOULDER, COLORADO 1981 A."1/D SETTING FORTH
DETAILS IN RELATION THERETO.
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BOULDER,
COLORADO, THAT:
Section L The council enacts this ordinance pursuant to its authority under
Chapter 10-13 of the Revised Code of the City of Boulder, Colorado, 1981 to designate
as a landmark a structure having a special character or special historical, architectural,
or aesthetic interest or value.
Section 2. The council finds that: 1) on or about J\ifay 3, 1995 the applicant,
:Vlodern Architecture Preservation League, applied to the City of Boulder Landmarks
Preservation Advisory Board to designate said property as a landmark; 2) the board
held a public hearing on the proposed designation on July 25, 1995; and 3) on July 25,
1995 the board recommended that the council approve the proposed designation.
Section J. The council also finds that: 1) upon public notice required by law,
the council held a public hearing on the proposed designation on September 19, 1995:
and 2) continued the public hearing to October 17, 1995 and upon the basis of the
presentations at these hearings finds that the structure and its site, located on the
northern 170 feet of Block 13, Original Townsite to the City of Boulder, does possess a
special char acter and special historical, architectural, or aesthetic interest or value
warranting its designation as a landmark.
Attachment A - Ordinance 5751
Item 5A - 1236 Canyon Blvd. LB Memo 04.06.22 Page 35 of 62
Section 4. There is hereby created as a landmark the structure and its site,
located on the northern 170 feet of Block 13, Original Townsite to the City of Boulcler,
County of Bo ulder, State of Colorado, whose legal description is shown on Attachment
B.
Section s, The characteristics of the subject property that justify its desig-
nation as a landmark are: 1) its historical significance for the role it has played in the
social and cultural life of the city; for its importance in the history of park development;
and for its association with the Boulder Lions Club; 2) its architectural significance as a
rare representative of Art Deco style as reflected in its streamlined composition,
compound arch, and simplified design: as Boulder's only example of park band shell
construction and one of few such examples in the state; and as representative of the
work of Saco DeBoer and Glen Huntington, noted landscape architect and architect;
and, (3) its environmental significance for its planned and natural site characteristics; as
a component of the central urban park; an d as an est ablished, familiar and prominent
visual landmark.
Section 6. The council further finds that the foregoing landmark designation is
necessary to promote the public health, safety, and welfare of the residents of the city.
Section 7. The council directs that the planning department give prompt notice
of this designation to the property owner and cause a copy of this ordinance to be
recorded as required by Section 10-13-6 ( d) of the Revised Code of the City of Boulder,
Colorado 1981.
Attachment A - Ordinance 5751
Item 5A - 1236 Canyon Blvd. LB Memo 04.06.22 Page 36 of 62
INTRODUCED, READ Ai'lD ORDERED PUBLISHED BY TITLE ONLY this 5th day of September , 1995. Attest: Di Ex-officio City Clerk READ ON SECOND READING, Ai'\1ENDED, PASSED, ADOPTED, Ai'lD ORDERED PUBLISHED BY TITLE ONLY this 17th day of October , 1995. Attest: Director of Finance & Ex-officio City Clerk h: \data \comdev\hist\genlbandshe I. LMO
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Attachment A - Ordinance 5751
Item 5A - 1236 Canyon Blvd. LB Memo 04.06.22 Page 37 of 62
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Attachment A - Ordinance 5751
Item 5A - 1236 Canyon Blvd. LB Memo 04.06.22 Page 38 of 62
STATE OF COLORADO) COUNTY OF BOULDER) SS. CITY OF BOULDER)
ORDINANCE NO. 5751
CERTIFICATE
I, Alisa D. Lewis, City Clerk of said City in the County and state aforesaid, do hereby certify that the foregoing ordinance was introduced, read on first reading at a regular meeting of the City council thereof held on the fil;h_ day of September , liM, and that I caused the same to be published (by title only) on the 9th , day of September , 1995, in the official paper of said City (the same being paper of general circulation published in said city), and that said publication was mad e ten days before the passage of said ordinance.
I hereby certify that the foregoing ordinance was afterwards duly and regularly passed and adopted as amended, by the city Council of said City on second reading at a regular meeting thereof held on the 17th day of October , 1995, and that I caused the same to be published (by title only) on the 21st day October , 1995, in the official paper of said city.
WITNESS my hand and the seal of said City of Boulder hereto affixed, this 24th day of October ,�-
Alisa D. Lewis City Clerk
cert2.ord
Attachment A - Ordinance 5751
Item 5A - 1236 Canyon Blvd. LB Memo 04.06.22 Page 39 of 62
Proof of Publication D:1il�?J;i��:1111l'r:I
P.0. Box 591
Boulder, CO
00306-0591
(Ue11m nl -One Pul1licnlio11)
S 1/\1 E OF COLOll/\!JO } ss.COUN I Y UF BOIJLlJEl1
Uh\11 rouc\,er Ill, ol lawlul aye, he\11y fllsl duly SWIJ)ll ll\)011
oafl, deposes a11d says:
1.·1 hat he Is tl1e rlnancial Se1vlces neprese11lative ol Thi,
Bould�r Dally Cmnera nm\ lrns pe1so1rnl lmowlmllje of all the
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cerlily llrnt the facls stated hetein me accurate and he he,ehy CP.7 !iflAs:
That ·11rn Rouk!P.t Ual\y Cm11e1a Is a puhllc dally newspaper ol yo.11eia\ chculatlon as delined hy law and Is printed and puhllslmd wholly \11 the City of Bouldet, County ol Roulder mul Slale ul Cr1luradu: l lral II hns heen ad1111t!od lo lf1q ll11lled Slates mails as ser;ond class nmtlet under lhe provisions ol lhe 11,,1 ol Congress ol Match 3, 187!!, a11rl an10111l111n11ls lherelo: /\11rl 11ml It lo, a lnyal 11ewspnpet duly qualllled lo puhllsh le11nl t1(1/ir:ns of ndvArl!�mrient wflld1 mo required to he published in said Clly ol Roultler and s*I Cou11ly ol Boulder ot hulh.
�. 11 ml II re !luu\det IJally Cameta is duly qua\11\ed lo
pul.Jlish l\10 m111exed public 1101\ce, which Is a full, hue and
c01recl copy of lhe 01lylnal thereof, and 11,e same was pulJllshed
In I he Boulder IJaily Came, a 011 lhe __ _'7.Lk ____ day or
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ORPINANCE NO, 17111
AN ORDINANCE DES/GNAT•
ING THE ST.RUCTURE AND
ITS SITE, LOCATED ON THE
NORTHERN 170 FEET OF
BLOCK 13, ORIGINAL
TOWNSITE TO THE CITY OF
BOULDER, COLORADO,
ALSO KNOWN AS THE
BOULDER BAND SHELL, A
LANDMARK UNDER CHAP·
. TEA 10·13· OF THe RE!VISED
CODE OF THE CITY OF
1;1OULDf:R, COLORADO 1981
ANO SETTING . F,ORTH DE·
TAILS IN RELATION THERE·
TO
(The published text of the
above ordinance la a.vallalll•
for i:iubllc lnepectlon and ac•
qule\tlon In the Office of the
City Clerk, Munlclpal Bulld·
Ing, 1777 Broadway, Boulder,
Colorado 80302). AMeNDeD INTRODUCED,
AND ORDERED PUBLISHED
BY TITLE ONLY THIS 5th DAY
Of September, 1995. L.esna L, Durgin Mayor ATTEST: A!leaO.LewlS Cltv Clark Pub. Sap. 9, 1995 In the Dally
Camera -
7
4
7
0
2
.
Attachment A - Ordinance 5751
Item 5A - 1236 Canyon Blvd. LB Memo 04.06.22 Page 40 of 62
Proof of Publication Da:!iiSE:r:nera
P.O. Box 591
Boulder, CO
80306-0591
(General -One Publication)
------------r----__.,:======-�
STATE OF COLORADO } ssCOUNTY OF BOULDER
Laura Kistner, of lawful age, being first duly swam upon oath deposes and says:
1. That she is the Financial Services Representative ofThe Boulder Daily Camera and has personal knowledge of all the facts set forth in this affadavit and is a competent person to certify that the facts stated herein are accurate and she hereby certtties: That The Boulder Daily Camera is a public daily newspaper of general clrculation as defined by law and is printed and published wholly in the City of Boulder, County of Boulder and State of Colorado: That it has been admitted to the United States mails as second class matter under the provisions of the Act of Congress of March 3, 1879, and amendments thereto: And that ii is a legal newspaper duly qualified to publish legal notices of advertisement which are required to be published In said City of Boulder and said County of Boulder or both.
2.That The Boulder Daily Camera is duly qualified topublish the annexed public notice, which is a full, true and correct copy of the original thereof, and t�ame was published in The Boulder Daily Camera on the 'di._ I ,b-T day of0 c ,P:i.b1½ • , 1e.9.S,.
Furth�er affi th not. a _A-__,ifj _ .kddc� l
Subscribed and swam to before me this cwt-h dayof Qc..-\oboc .A.o.1e 9::::> . Witness? h�d and offic�I. 1 ) ..:,,j_/k_.� ,/;b-z: J./41_ .J-?1_.f'L,,-y,JNotary Public
!
MY COMMISSION EXPIRES 10/25/98
Publication fee S ___ \�?-i""'""�· b-="-�--=----
Paste Advertisement Here
Clly Clerk, MuplcJpal Bulld· Ing, 1777 Broadway, Boulder,
ORDINANCE NO. 11711 Color-do, 80302}.
AN ORDINANCE DESIGNAT· INTRODUCED, FIEAO AND
ING THE STRUCTURE AND ORDERED PUBLISHED BY
ITS SITE, LOCATED ON THE TITLE ONL\' THIS 6th DAY
NORTHERN 170 FEET OF OF Seplember, 1995. BLOCK 13 ORIGINAi,. READ ON SECOND READ· TOWNSITE TO THE CITY OF ING, AMENDED, PASSED, BOULDER, COLORADO, A · ADOPTED ANO ORDERED LANOMARK UNDER · CHAP· PUBLISHED BY TITLE C•NLY TEA 10-13 OF TH.I;: RE-VISED THIS 17TH DAY OF Ootober, CODE OF THE CITY OF 1996. SOUi.DEA, COLORADO 1981 Leslie L. Durgin AND SETTING FORTH DE· Mayor TAILS IN RELATION rHERE· ATTEST: TO. Allaa □. Lewis (The publfshad tellt of the Cltv Clark above ordinance la available Pub, Oct. 21, 1996 in the·Oalfor public Inspection and ac, ly Camera - 861M8. qulsltlon In the Office of the
Attachment A - Ordinance 5751
Item 5A - 1236 Canyon Blvd. LB Memo 04.06.22 Page 41 of 62
To:
Fax# • Jay Devereux, Daily Camera From: Lara Ramsey, Planning Dept. July 6, 1995
473-1144 441-3270
City of Boulder
Pages including this one: 1
Please publish Sunday, July 9, 1995
(2 col. x 2 inches)
Please charge to P.O. # 2042442
Landmarks Preservation Advisory Board Agenda
CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS
Municipal Building
1777 Broadway
July 25, 1995
1 :00 p.m. -6:00 p.m. •
The following items will be considered:
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2. 3. 4.
Public hearing and consideration of a recommendation to City Council concerning a request for individual
landmark status for the Central Park Bandshell. Applicant: Modem Architecture Preservation League. Owner:
City of Boulder Parks and Recreation Department.
Public hearing and consideration of a request to approve a Landmark Alteration Certificate for a demolition
of an outbuilding located at 2420 10th Street, within the Mapleton Hill Historic District. Owner and applicant:
Paul Whiteside
Public hearing and consideration of a demolition permit application for the structure located at 1045 Linden
Avenue, pursuant to Section 10-13-23 for buildings over fifty years old or recognized as structures of merit.
Owner and applicant: J. Lee Stevenson
Matters from the Planning Department.
*If time does not allow completion of all items listed above, the Landmarl<s Board meeting will continue from 7:00
p.m. -9:00 p.m. in the City of Boulder Library Auditorium, 1000 Canyon Boulevard.
For further information contact Lara Ramsey in the Planning Department at 441-3270.
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Attachment B - LPAB Action Minutes, July 25 1995
Item 5A - 1236 Canyon Blvd. LB Memo 04.06.22 Page 42 of 62
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City of Boulder LANDMARKS PRESERVATION ADVISORY BOARD ACTION MINUTES July 25, 1995 1:00 p.m
City Council Chambers Municipal Building 1777 Broadway
Board Members Present: Estella Cole, Chair; Monica Costello; Sharon Rosall; Michael Holleran
Excused Absent Board Member: Bill Coburn
Staff Members Present: Lara Ramsey; David Gehr; Lindsey Washburn; MaryAnn Weideman
No Planning -Board Member Present
Ms. Cole called the meeting to order at I: 15 p.m. l.PUBLIC HEARING AND CONSIDERATION OF A RECOMMENDATION TO CITYCOUNCIL CONCERNING A REQUEST FOR INDIVIDUAL LANDMARK STATUSFOR TIIE CEN1RAL PARK BAND SHELL. APPLICANT: MODERNARCHITECTURE PRESERVATION LEAGUE. OWNER: CITY OF BOULDERPARKS AND RECREATION DEPARTMENT.
Mr. Gehr reviewed the procedure for all three public hearing agenda items. He asked the Board to reveal any ex-parte contacts.
Ms. Rosa)! stated she had received a couple phone calls. She spoke with Mr. Holleran and Ms. Cole briefly over matters in the packet.
Mr. Holleran mentioned that he is a member of the Modern Architecture Preservation Leagi..e but not a member of the board and had no role in the decision to make the nomination nor any advance notice of the nomination. He did not feel that being a member created any conflict. His ex-parte contacts included a couple of conversations with Len Segel. He had a phone call from Steve Gady urging him to vote to designate the Band Shell as a landmark. He had a conversation with Dale Heckendon of the Colorado Historical Society on how individual resource boundaries are drawn for the National Register. His last ex-parte contact, which gave him information that was not available in the packet, was the 4th grade classes of the Flatirons Elementary School he met with during Preservation Week. The students were shocked to think there was even a question to not landmark the Band Shell.
Ms. Cole had talked with Steve Gady urging her to vote in favor of designating the Band Shell
as a landmark.
Attachment B - LPAB Action Minutes, July 25 1995
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Landmarks Preservation Advisory Board July 25, 1995
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Ms. Costello had also received a phone call from Mr. Gady. She did not have any other information that was excluded from the packet prepared by staff.
Everyone who wished to speak to this item was sworn in.
Ms. Ramsey clarified the Board's role in the landmark designation process and presented slides of the Band Shell and its site.
Ms. Costello asked if the rear shed was original. Ms. Ramsey stated that it was determined that the back portion was a later addition.
Ms. Costell o asked if that was included in the application. Ms. Ramsey replied that it was.
Ms. Rosall asked if the asbestos that was found was in the fiber board and not loosely floating around. Ms. Ramsey stated that she believed it would be in the rear wall paneling of the Band Shell.
Ms . Ramsey stated that based on the findings of the report, staff recommended that the Landmarks Board recommend to City Council that the Central Park Band Shell structure and its site, shown in Attachment A, be designated as an individual landmark. Staff also recommended that a full analysis of the Band Shell be done prior to forwarding the item to City Council in order to look at a number of other issues to help City Council balance out the preservation issues with other city goals as set forth in the ordinance. She outlined some of the issues and reiterated that this item be continued to the Board's November meeting in order to allow staff time to look at all of the issues and have them fully outlined for City Council.
Mr. Holleran questioned Ms. Ramsey about how much of that analysis would be done by a consultant and if there was enough funding available.
Ms. Costello asked if there were any comments from the neighborhood. Ms. Ramsey stated she received phone calls from people wanting to know the hearing date and gave out packets of information to reporters and people from the community but she didn't have any formal letters submitted. There were some letters submitted to the consultants and those were included in the packet.
Ms. Costello asked how many phone calls were received. Ms. Ramsey replied four or five.
Ms. Costello brought the issue back to the continuation suggestion and her concern that other landmark applicants aren't usually given this kind of an opportunity. She stated the Board has a specific time table to follow. She stated her concern due to the time consuming process that the acoustical and structural analysis would take. Ms. Ramsey stressed the point that staff was not asking the applicant to submit these studies that the City would hire a consultant to perform
the work.
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Landmarks Preservation Advisory Board July 25, 1995 Page 3
Ms. Costello felt by continuing this item, it would put staff in a very awkward position by not following nonnal procedure. She wanted to discuss her concerns. Ms. Costello asked when the Parks and Recreation Department stopped maintaining the Band Shell. Ms. Ramsey believed it was in 1988. Tom Simmons, consultant working with staff, 3635 West 46th Avenue, Denver, stated that from the rather scanty records he found in Central Files, it appeared that in three of the late 1980's files, the Band Shell received fairly regular maintenance. After that it seemed as though anything that might be a direct safety concern was addressed, but no major refurbishing or renovation was done. The Board heard from the applicant. Leonard Segel 726 Pine Street, addressed the Board as the co-chair of the Boulder subcommittee of the Modern Architecture Preservation League, also known as MAPL. He stated MAPL's interest in preserving modern design in Colorado. MAPL reviewed the Band Shell and found it to be a worthy candidate for landmarking based on the Boulder ordinance. He was very pleased that their findings had been corroborated by the independent research group hired by the Board. He urged the Board to officially recognize the unique qualities of the Central Park Band Shell and recommend to City Council that it be designated as a local landmark. He asked that the Board consider this application in terms of landmark criteria only and let others study the periphery related issues such as flood plain, maintenance, and park master plans. It was time to begin the process to reverse the effects of demolition by neglect. Landmarking would be the first step. Mr. Holleran asked Mr. Segel who the other co-chairs were. Mr. Segel replied the other co-chair is Steve Chucovich. Ms. Cole asked if there was anyone from the Parks and Recreation Department that wished to address the Board. There was no response. The public hearing was opened. Betty Chronic, 4705 Shawnee Place, a long term resident of Boulder, gave a short presentation in favor of landmarking the Band Shell. She declared the unique qualities of the bandshell due to the history it represents. Kathryn Barth, 2940 20th Street representing Historic Boulder, spoke in agreement that the Band Shell meets all of the landmark criteria of architecture and landscape architecture for being an example of being uncommon and an example of masters. Historic Boulder had a unanimou� vote to landmark the Band Shell on its site now and requested that the acoustic and structural studies be completed after it has been landmarked . Attachment B - LPAB Action Minutes, July 25 1995
Item 5A - 1236 Canyon Blvd. LB Memo 04.06.22 Page 45 of 62
• Landmarks Preservation Advisory Board July 25, I 995 Page 4
Roy Scott, 3105 Stanford Avenue, current president of the Lions Club in Boulder, had a copy of the Daily Camera from 1938 showing the dedication of the Band Shell. He gave a copy to the Board. The Club did not think it should be moved but should be dedicated a landmark on its current site.
Ricky Weiser, living at 4020 North 75th Street, spoke in favor of designating the Band Shell on its site.
Bob McFarland, 2300 Kalmia, concurred with what Ms. Weiser said in favor of designating the Band Shell today so it could be brought to City Council before November. He stated that repair
was needed now.
Philip Simpson, 890 Iris Avenue, is a Boulder native and licensed architect currently working at CU. He spoke in favor of landmark designation for the Band Shell. He stated that it was an
important part of Boulder as well as a focal part of our community. He included that as an architect, he recognized it as an important piece of architecture as well as an era we do not have any more due to the uncommon structure.
Phyllis Olsen, 1740 Sunset Boulevard, encouraged the Board to landmark the Band Shell.
June Holmes, 541 Highland Avenue, urged the Board to make a decision today to landmark the
•Band Shell. She felt it was important to landmark it before the political stand-off this November.
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Steve Brown, 10462 Zuni Street in Northglenn, urged the Board to follow through withlandmarking the Band Shell today.
Len Barron, 601 Canyon Boulevard, spoke in favor of landmarking the Band Shell.
The public hearing was closed. A short recess was ordered.
Ms. Cole recalled the meeting to order at 2:40 p.m.
Ms. Cole stated for the record that Mr. Scott gave a copy of the letter and article of thededication of the Band Shell he mentioned in his statement to the Board. Before bringing thematter back to the Board for motion and discussion, staff had made a recommendation that theBoard consider continuing this item. To be able to do that, the applicant, the owner, and theBoard must all consent. She asked Mr. Segel, as the representative ofMAPL, if his organization,as the applicant, would consent to a continuance. Mr. Segel stated that MAPL would prefer notto consent, that the Board make a determination based on the landmark issues alone today andallow other bodies, perhaps City Council to handle the other issues.
Ms. Costell o asked staff if this meant the Board could not discuss it because the applicant didnot concur. Ms. Ramsey replied yes .
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The following motion was made by Mr. Holleran:
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He moved to continue the item until the Board's regular October meeting. with the intention of recommending landmark designation of the Band Shell and requesting staff to arrange the structural and acoustical studies in order to bring a complete recommendation to Council.
Ms, Costello seconded the motion,
Mr, H ollerart agreed with staff's suggestion for a continuance in order to specify a greater area. He wanted to expand the boundaries at this time. He wanted the Board to be part of the discussion about what happens in the area around the Band Shell.
Ms. Cole stated that the Board could approve, deny, or modify its recommendation based on evidence presented. She asked if the Board could modify the boundary as part of its recommendation to Council. Mr. Gehr stated that the practice, in the past, has been to minimize
the boundari es, not to expand it.
Ms. Cole asked specifically what the ordinance states. Mr. Gehr said that the problem would be
that the Board may be doing things to affect real property and there is a notice issue. The fact that the City is the owner, he doubted that the City would object, but he had to defer to staff
to object if they would so choose .
Ms. Cole stated that this would not be like expanding a district boundary where new property owners are incorporated.
Ms. Rosall supported moving forward today for a variety of reasons and at a later point to amend
the designation if information is brought forward through further studies that a larger parcel should be included around the Band Shell. She stated that there are a lot of other possibilities but was very concerned in any delay She spoke to the other points of Mr. Holleran's motion. She felt the other issues of the acoustics, land use issues, and structural analysb are administrative items and that these are not in the Board's criteria. She felt very strongly that this item should not be continued. They can be given the time and attention at a later point. She felt that the boundaries were fine and could later be amended as the Board received more information. She saw no reason for a delay.
Ms. Col e asked Mr. Holleran ifhe had strong feelings for where the boundaries should be drawn today and wh y he needed to continue this item until October. Mr, Holleran replied that he was
continuing it in order to get the information gathering process underway.
Ms. Cole stated that a continuance would mean another public hearing. Mr. Holleran agreed. He wanted to present a complete package of information to Council and the Parks Department.
Ms. Cole mentioned that this discussion was mute if MAPL was unwilling to accept the
continuance.
Attachment B - LPAB Action Minutes, July 25 1995
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Mr. Ho))eran wanted Mr. Gehr to make some suggestions of how to solve this problem. He said he would prefer to find a solution today. He was basing his motion on his understanding of the rules.
Mr. Gehr stated that the notice had been satisfied. The other issue was the scope of the report and the scope of the information that has been presented to the Board, dealing with the context of the Band Shell and not looking at the larger area.
Ms. Ramsey stated that the Board could expand the boundaries through a modification.
Ms. Rosal! asked Mr. Holleran to state the boundaries he had in mind. She stated that because of the public's concern, she would like to arrive at a decision today.
Ms. Cole asked Mr. Segel as the applicant's representative, ifhe was willing to agree to continue this matter. Mr. Segel responded that MAPL did not want this continued.
Mr. Ho)leran withdrew his motion.
Ms. Costell o made the follow ing motion:
She moved that the Landmarks Preservation Advisory Board recommend to City Counci l th at the Central Park Band Shell structure and its site, located on a portion of Block 13 Original Townsite, City of Boulder, further described in Attachment A, be designated an individual landmark under the City Historic Preservation Code, adopting the evaluation report and staff memorandum detailing the significance criteria as findings of the Board. Recommending the structure and its site be named the Boulder Band Shell.
Ms. Cole seconded the motion.
Ms. Cole stated that Ms. Costello, in her motion. has called out the site as described in Attachment A. She asked Mr. Holleran if he had alternative boundaries that he would like to propose that the Board might be able to consider.
Mr. Holleran made the following amendm ent:
He proposed that the northern most 250 feet of Block 13 also be included and that would give a line that is roughly 50 feet north of Boulder and Left Hand Ditch. He thought it would more accurately outline the Band Shell and the site associated with it including th e half which Mr. DeBoer sited to control the traffic pattern around it the plantings that were intended to mitigate the acoustic interfer ence from the roadways, and in general, all of the landscape issues,
Ms. Ramsey said that in looking back at the report and the justification of expanding the
•boundaries, based on the information in the report, she was not certain that the Board ought to
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Landmarks Preservation Advisory Board July 25, 1995 Page 7
be including the train. She recommended a boundary that would be well outside of the berrned area but not so far that it included the train.
Ms. Cole stated that someone needed to second the amendment.
Ms. Costello asked if it was supposed to be a friendly amendment. Mr, Ho))eran did not want to make it a friendly amendment.
Ms. Costello suggested that before continuing deliberation, she wanted to see the proposed boundaries and what the extended boundaries would be. She said it is not very clear on Attachment A.
Mr. Holleran stated that as far as the train, he was perfectly happy to not call it out as a contributing feature. His intention was to deal with the area that is immediately relevant to the Band Shell and that this area happens to include the train.
Ms. Cole seconded the amendment.
Ms. Rosall stated that her support of this motion in part, depended on whether the train is specifically mentioned as not being a feature of the site.
Ms. Costello asked Ms. Rosall whether she wanted to include the train. Ms. Rosall felt it was a different issue and that it had not been addressed in the packet.
Ms. Chronic asked the Chair for a point of order. She stated that the application before the Board was for the Band Shell and the boundaries as proposed. There are other elements of the park that may come before the Board in the following months for landmarking and they would be separate issues. She asked that the Board consider the application that was before it today and leave those matters for a future date when the public has a chance to prepare and present it to them.
Ms. Ramsey commented that if the Board was thinking about modifying the boundaries, she would strongly recommend a boundary that did not include the train since it w as not a part of the report.
Mr. Holleran stated that he made his boundary for a reason. The exact dimensions are arbitrary, but the logic of them was not. He specified that what he would like to propose after finishing with the Band Shell is a policy that the Board deal in complete parcels of land unless there is a good reason not to. He would like to avoid future arguments about whether a specific tree, walkway or tree stump is significant or not. To draw specific boundaries in this case would be to take the entire park. He understood Ms. Chronic's statement. He specifically selected the boundary away from the ditch. He would prefer to designate the ditch but knew that it would have an entirely separate set of historical and management issues. He felt the things around the Band Shell are important. The Board's purpose today ultimately is to have a role in that planning and to protect that resource. Going back to the train, it was addressed in here that if the Board
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thought it was a contributing part of the site, it would certainly have received the information to make that detennination. If the rest of the Board wanted to specifically exclude it, he was willing to accept that as an amendment. It was not his purpose to prevent plans that involve moving the train. It was his purpose to make sure that the whole environs of the Band Shell are part of the scope of what was reviewed.
Ms. Cole restated that there was an amendment to the motion. 'That amendment was to modify the boundary of the site of the Band Shell to the northern most 250 feet of Block 13. That is. the so uthern boundary would be 50 feet north of the Lefthand and Boulder Ditch. She wanted to know if the Board wanted to discuss it any further.
Mr. Sc;gel questioned if the applicant had a voice in the discretion of the revised boundaries. Mr.. Gehr stated that the boundaries were already determined by the application submitted;. however, the Board could change those boundaries if it so chose.
Ms. Cole stated that the Board would be willing to hear from the applicant on the issue.
Mr. Sc;gel stated that his concern would be that expanding the boundary to the extent that had been suggested would open this discussion to scrutiny with the Parks and Recreation Department, the Planning Department, the master plan and perhaps step on more toes than MAPL had already done. His preference would be to keep to the smallest possible footprint that would include the majority of elements that make up this complex. He deferred to Mr. Simmons if there was more in his report that covers more area than he was aware of.
Mr. Simmons stated that their mandate was to look at the Band Shell. He did not look at the rest of the park or the train. The train was mentioned in the report in the context of when it was moved into the park in 1953. He thought there would be some rational for including the areas to the rear of the Band Shell that includes some historic plantings. Since he did not look at the park as a whole. which he would have to look at as a district, he did not think about how far south that boundary should extend beyond what he had already specified.
Ms. Rosal! stated that if the amendment failed, she would offer another amendment that would include the boundaries suggested by staff. It would start at Canyon and end just before the train area.
Mr. Holleran stated that he would be happy to specifically exclude the train as a feature of his motion.
Ms. Rosall asked Mr. Holleran if he would take that as a friendly amendment. Mr. Holleran agreed and then asked if Ms. Rosall would please specify that the area included the northern most 250 feet adding to the list of contributing features the trees and walks and not the train or its tracks
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Ms. Costello stated that if the Board were to include this entire boundary, the focus would be
taken off the Band Shell. She felt the application before the Board was for the Band Shell and the rest of the park could be designated a district at a later date.
Ms. Cole stated that she would like to take a vote on this motion and amendments. She stated that after hearing from Mr. Segel, she thought that he raised a very good issue that if the Board drew the boundary too large, the focus of the need to landmark the Band Shell might be lost.
Mr. Gehr suggested that if the Board really wanted to look at the whole park, the proper process would be to go ahead with the original application and then initiate a designation for the whole park as a district if it thought that the whole park needed to be included.
Ms. Cole was not sure if that was the spirit of Mr Holleran's suggestion.
Mr. Holleran said his main concern was that this would be setting a bad precedent.
Ms. Cole asked for a vote on the amendment to the motion.
The amendment failed by a vote of two to two, with Ms. Costello and Ms. Rosall voting nay.
Ms. Cole asked if the Board had any further comments about the motion before the Board .
Mr. Holleran spoke in favor of the motion.
Ms. Costello spoke in favor of the motion.
Ms. Rosan spoke in favor of the motion.
Ms. Cole questioned how the Board would feel if the boundary were to be amended to 130 feet north of the ditch. She also asked if the Board could vote on the application as submitted and then if the Board could amend this designation to include some larger portion of the site which could be heard at a later date. Mr. Gehr replied yes.
Ms. Cole stressed that none of the Board members are talking about the whole park.
Ms. Cole made the following friendly amendment:
To modify the site boundao: to the northern most 170 feet so that the southern boundao: of the site would be 130 feet north of the Boulder and Lefthand Ditch.
Mr. Holieran seconded the amendment.
Mr. Gehr asked the chair to restate the amendment.
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Ms. Cole stated that the amendment to the motion was to modify the boundary to include the northern most 170 feet of Block 13, Boulder Original Townsite, to the City of Boulder.
The amendment passed by a vote of three to one with Ms. Costello voting nay.
The motion passed unanimously.
The Chair did an agenda check and the Board decided to continue item 4, "Matters from the Planning Department" to its July 27, 1995 meeting.
2.PUBLIC HEARING AND CONSIDERATION OF A REQUEST TO APPROVE ALANDMARK ALTERATION CERTIFICATE FOR A DEMOLITION OF ANOUTBUILDING LOCATED AT 2420 10TH STREET, WITHIN THE MAPLETONHILL HISTORIC DISTRICT. OWNER AND APPLICANT: PAUL WHITESIDE.
Mr. Gehr stated that this was a quasi-judicial hearing.
Everyone who wished to speak to this item was sworn in.
Mr. Gehr asked the Board to reveal any ex-parte contacts
Ms. Ramsey showed slides and gave a brief presentation on the application. Staff was unable to determine that this outbuilding has any historic significance.
Ms. Costel)o asked how often the Board had ruled on a demolition without new construction replacing it. Ms. Ramsey said the Board had done this on a couple of occasions.
Ms. Rosall asked staff if there was a garage on the site. Ms. Ramsey stated that there were two outbuildings. There is no access to either of the outbuildings. They were merely for storage and not used as garages.
The Board heard from the applicant.
Mr. Whiteside 2420 10th Street, did not wish to address the Board at this time.
The public hearing was opened.
No one from the public spoke to this item.
The public hearing was closed.
The following motion was made by Ms. Costello:
She moved that the Landmarks Preservation Advisory Board approve the application for an alteration certificate for demolition of the existing outbuilding located on the property
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at 2420 10th Street, adopting the staff memorandum with findinW! as listed, calling out that this is the outbuilding furthest from the house, with the stipulation that any new construction also come before the board,
Ms, Cole seconded the motion.
The motion passed unanimousl y.
3.PUBLIC HEARING AND CONSIDERATION OF A DEMOLITION PERMITAPPLICATION FOR THE STRUCTURE LOCA1ED AT 1045 LINDEN AVENUE.PURSUANT TO SECTION I 0-13-23 FOR BUILDINGS OVER FIFTY YEARS OLD ORRECOGNIZED AS STRUCTURES OF MERIT. OWNER AND APPLICANT:J.LEE SIBVENSON
Mr. Gehr stated again that this was a quasi-judicial hearing.
Everyone who wished to speak to this item was sworn in.
,Mr. Gehr asked the Board to reveal any ex-parte contacts
Ms. Costello spoke with the applicant in design review .
Mr Holleran spoke with the applicant in design review.
Ms. Ramsey gave a brief slide show.
Ms. Cole asked if the outbuildings were more than 50 year s old. Ms, Ramsey believed they were, although there was no documentation for that.
Ms. Cole asked if this application was only for the main structure. Ms, Ramsey understood that the application was only for the main structure. If the applicant was interested in having the outbuildings demolished, they would need to have the design review committee review that as
well.
The Board heard from the applicant.
Mr. Stevenson, 1045 Linden, did not wish to address the Board at this time.
The public hearing was opened.
No one from the public spoke to this item.
The public hearing was closed .
The following motion was made by Ms. Rosal!:
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She moved that the Board issue a stay of demolition on this property and adopt the staff memorandum as finding,5 of the Board.
Ms. Rosall stated that with the research before the Board, the building was definitely historically significant for its association with a person nationally, as well as locally known. She thought it looked like at this preliminary point, the building is a good intact example of the bungalow style particularly of a country and rural style. It was probably the last remaining intact example of this rural bungalow style on Linden Avenue. She wanted to see this studied further with the stay of demolition.
Ms. Cole seconded the motion.
Ms. Costello supported the motion She wanted more time for research, but it didn't mean it wouldn't be issued a demolition permit. She felt the structure was not very significant. She thought the significance was due to Ted Allen but was not necessarily tied to this structure.
Mr. Holleran did not support the motion. He would be very sorry if this house gets demolished and hoped that whoever Mr. Stevenson finds to buy it will be someone who will appreciate this little house and its historical significance and do something good with it. It is a neighborhood where its significance is eroding. But, he pointed out that it is eroding for the reasons we see here today, none of them important enough in themselves to be designated. His feeling was that the Board was not going to designate this house and not learn anything in six months. All the Board was going to do was hold up the applicant. He planned to vote against the motion and vote to issue the permit. Then he would cross his fingers and hope that someone would see how important this house is to the neighborhood.
Ms. Cole asked staff if the Board could require that the house be photo documented, even if the demolition permit were issued. Ms. Ramsey affirmed the preservation ordinance allows the Landmarks Board to record demolished and moved properties. Prior to the issuance of a permit, the City :Manager may require the applicant to provide information about the building including, without limitation, the date of original construction, significant events and occupants, architectural features, and a description of the building through photographs and maps. The City :Manager will determine where the documentation will be deposited. She pointed out that the Board could issue the permit with a condition of whatever it felt needed to be further documented.
Ms. Cole agreed with Mr. Holleran. If this motion failed, she wanted to move that the applicant proceed under Section I0-13-23(h), of the B.RC. 1981, to give the Board photo documentation of the house, inside and out.
Ms. Costello stated that because the house was in the forefront of the lot, she saw no reason for a builder to incorporate it into any proposed future plans.
Ms. Rosall agreed with Ms. Costello .
The motion passed by a vote of three to one, with Mr. Holleran voting nay.
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July 25, 1995
4.MATTERS FROM TI-IE PLANNING DEPARTMENT
This item was continued to the Board's July 27, 1995 meeting.
With no further business to discuss, the meeting was closed at 6: 10 p.m.
l:\data\comdev\hist\min\7-25-95.Lmk
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Item 5A - 1236 Canyon Blvd. LB Memo 04.06.22 Page 55 of 62
l+J OFFICE of ARCHAEOLOGY and HISTORIC PRESERVATIONOctober 28, 2015 James M. Hewat Senior Historic Preservation Planner City of Boulder P.O. Box 791 Boulder, CO 80306 Re: Updated determination of eligibility for the Boulger Band Shell property, Broadway & Canyon, Boulder (SBL.5680) Dear Mr. Hewat: Based on an updated review of the above referenced property by the Office of Archaeology and Historic nreservation, we have detennined that the Boulder Band Shell continues to meet the criteria for evaluation and nomination to the National Register and State Register of Historic Properties under Ctiterions A and C. Additionally, the 1950 bench seating and Saco R. DeBoer landscape .design surrounding the Band Shell have been detennined as significant to the overall eligibility of the Band Shell and as Sllch considered contributing features to the property. Because a request for an official determination by the.Keeper of the National Register was made in 1995 for the Band Shell, which was determined eligible by the Keeper, we \VOtdd like to forward information and photos of the benches and landscape design to the Keeper as well. We do not believe these features were a part of the 1995 request. Review by the Keeper of the National Regisrer for eligibility does take some time, possibly as long as three months or more. However, we will let you know as soon as we hear back from the Keeper. In the eyent a nomination is pursued, I will be happy to provide the nomination forms, checklist, and a sample nomination to the preparer. Once the completed nomination fo1m and the other required materials are submitted to our office, we will review the forms for completeness arid may suggest revisions to clarify and strengthen the nomination before its consideration by the State ReYiew Board. The board curre ntly meets three times each year. If the board approves the nomination, the State H,istoric Preservation Officer will review the nomination and then forward it to the National Register in Washington, D.C: for final consideration for listing.Feel free to contact me with any questions at heather.peterson@state.co.us or (303) 866-4684. National and State Register Historian • • • • •• •
Attachment C - Letters of Eligibility, October 2015, November 2015, and January 2016
Item 5A - 1236 Canyon Blvd. LB Memo 04.06.22 Page 56 of 62
l<fl HISTORY�
lfJ OFFICE of ARCHAEOLOGY and HISTORIC PRESERVATIONNovember 19, 2015 James M. Hewat Senior Historic Preservation Planner City of Boulder P.O. Box 791 Boulder, CO 80306 Re: Updated determination of eligibility for the Glen Huntington Band Shell ~ Boulder
Band Shell property, Broadway & Canyon, Boulder (5BL.5680) in regards to proposed
changes to the seating and landscape Dear Mr. Hewat: The Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation has been asked to provide additional information regarding the eligibility of the Glen Huntington Band Shell (Boulder Band Shell) property with regards to two proposed scenarios for the property discussed below. In its current state, our office has determined that the Boulder Band Shell property meets the criteria for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places and State Register of Historic Properties under Criteria A (in the areas of Entertainme�t/ Recreation, Social History) and C (Architecture, Landscape Architecture). The period of significance under Criterion A is from 1938, the date the Band Shell was placed into service, to 1965, in keeping with National Register guidelines. The period of significance for Architecture is 1938 and that of Landscape Architecture is 1937, the date of Saco R. DeBoer's first landscape sketches, to 1950, th� date of the effective completion of the historic landscape design. As such, the 1950 bench seating as well as the DeBoer landscape design broadly are considered contributing to the overall eligibility of the Band Shell. Specifically, under Criterion A the Band Shell property has played a central role in the social and cultural life of Boulder since 1938, serving as the site of numerous public concerts, performances, ceremonies, and celebrations. 1 he Band Shell property is closely associated with park development and use in Boulder. Under Criterion C, the B_and Shell property is eligible as a good intact example of the Art Deco style as applied to a rare type and is representative of the work of prominent architect Glen H. Huntington. 1ne property is further significant as an intact example of a designed park landscape featuring an earthen berm, stone wall-ways, stone retaining walls, and landscaped plantings, all of which represent the work of prominent landscape architect DeBoer, and midtwentieth century concrete and wood bench seating that facilitated enjoyment of the Band Shell. Attachment C - Letters of Eligibility, October 2015, November 2015, and January 2016
Item 5A - 1236 Canyon Blvd. LB Memo 04.06.22 Page 57 of 62
NoYember 19, 2015 Page2 Sce11a1io 1 1 -if the 1950 benches were re11Joued a11d the c11m11//a11dscape altered. This is based on thecity's proposed Boulder Civic Area plan to excavate and remove the bench seating (including the concrete support structures and wood seats), the earthem berm and small retaining wall. The proposal includes the redesign and incorporation of a new grading system, new bike paths, concrete pads for fanner's market (or other similar events), a natural play area, and planting new trees. Because the landscape is a key resource to the overall historic plan for the Band Shell property and contributes to its significance, and the benches are central to the overall experience of the Band Shell, removal of these resources would jeopardize the property's eligibility for the National Register of Historic Places by diminishing its integrity. Specifically integrity of design, setting, feeling, materials, workmanship, and association would be negatively compromised by this plan. Sce11ano � -if the Band Shell 1vere moved from its c11m11t localio11. This scenario is based on ongoing discussions by the City Council, although not part of the current Boulder Civic Area proposal. Consideration of moved properties for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places is limited because location is a key element of integrity. As noted by the National Park Service under National Register Bulletin No.15: Significance is embodied in locations and settings as well as in the properties themselves. Moving a property destroys the relationships between the property and its surroundings and destroys associations ,vith historic events and persons. A move may also cause the loss of historic features such as landscaping, foundations, and chimneys, as well as loss of the potential for associated archeological deposits. Additional guidance may be found in the above-named bulletin under Criteria Consideration B: Moved Properties (pp. 29-31). 11iank you for the opportunity to prm·ide additional information regarding the eligibility of the Band Shell property. It is our hope that as a Certified Local Government, the City of Boulder will pursue plans to maintain the integrity of the Band Shell property. We would be happy to assist with n nomination of this significant resource in the event the City chooses to pursue same. Feel free to contact me ,vith any questions at heathcr.peterson@statc.co.us or (303) 866-4684. Best regards, �?A-----Heather Peterson National and State Register Historian 1 Scenario 1 is based on e-mail from James �L Hewat to Heather Peterson November 13, 2015. 2 Scenario 2 is based on: Enca l\Ieltzer. "Boulder Weighs 2 Alternate Locations for Bandshell within Civic Area." Bo11/d,r
Dai/y Call1tra,July 27, 2015.
Attachment C - Letters of Eligibility, October 2015, November 2015, and January 2016
Item 5A - 1236 Canyon Blvd. LB Memo 04.06.22 Page 58 of 62
•
January 6, 2016
I leather Peterson History Colorado
United States Department of the Interior
NATIONAL PARK SERVICF.
1849 C Str'N't. N.W.
Wuh1ngton, DC 20240
Office of Archaeology ond Historic Preservation
I 200 Broadway Denver, CO 80203
Dear Heather:
Thank you for giving me an opportunity to comment on the Boulder bandshell. rm sorry for the delay in responding. but between work and personal travel I was gone much of December.
My understanding is that you want an opinion from the National Register on the potential eligibility of the bandshell and surrounding landscape. The opinion you nre requesting is not related to a nomination or compliance-related activity at this time. Please let me know irthis is not correct, so I can present this opinion in a different fonnat, if necessary.
The bandshell is a wonderful historic resource and the City of Boulder is fortunate to have it. The property appears to be eligible under Criterion A, for its local significance in the area of entertainment/ recreation, and under Criterion C for the architectural significance described in your letter to James Hewit dated November 19, 2015. The architectural significance may be statewide.
I do not have enough infonnation about DeBour's work to evaluate significance in landscape architecture, but the drawings and early images present a sensitive design with plantings that direct views and provide screening and shelter, and walks that reflect the curves of the bandshell. lfthe property is also eligible under landscape architecture, however, J believe the beginning date should relate to actual construction or plan ling, rather than the date of DeBour's drawings (1937). On page 12 of the Simmons' report, it is stated, "Landscaping around the shell was completed in 1939," which suggests that would� an appropriate beginning date. Regardless of the landscape architectural significance, the landscape provides an essential setting, and preservation of the landscape over time contributes to its evident integrity. The eligible site appears to be the extent of DeBour's design, although that is difficult for me to establish. In any case, the boundary should be generous enough to provide an adequate setting and capture the designed landscape.
Attachment C - Letters of Eligibility, October 2015, November 2015, and January 2016
Item 5A - 1236 Canyon Blvd. LB Memo 04.06.22 Page 59 of 62
These opinions about eligibility are based on the intact integrity exhibited in the current photos
you sent. Removal of the seating would be a critical loss of integrily, as would moving the
bandshell. If �ither of these situa tions took place, l would need to re-evaluate the eligibility of the property based on n review of new information.
I have additional thoughts about the seating, which I consider to be an important historic
elemenL It is nol clear to me if the seating is considered part of the architecture or a landscape
feature. In the materials you sent, I could not find copies of Huntington's architectural drawings
(nor could I find them online). I suspect he included the seating in his original design. but you
may have specific infonnation about this. Although the notes from the Eligibility Committee Meeting (10-28-15) state, "the original construction did not include seating" (p. 8), the same
report states, "the entire plans for the shell, which will be erected solely by the Lions club, have
been drawn up by Huntington" (p. 8, quoting the Boulder Daily Cc,mera-underscore added). It
seems that the entire plans would have included seating.
I suspect both Huntington and DeBoer would have considered seating to be important, whether
or not the city could afford it at the time of ori ginal construction. In fact, many bandshells
designed in this period considered seating an essential component. Audiences in many places
expected a place to sit, even a bench, so they would not be forced to sit on the ground or haul in
lawn chairs. Exceptions may include those that faced water. The images in Attachment B focus
on the bandshelt, so in most cases the seating is not visible. Often seating wns nn important
design element that reflected the bandshell design. For example, the architectural rendering of
the Ames, Iowa, bandshell ( 1935), by the architectural engineer Owen Baty shows the seating as
a component of the design (http://www.omeshistory.org/exhibits/civic/bandshell.htm). The Oleson Park bandshell in Fort Dodge, Iowa, (1938) also included seating in the original design.
See an image on this website, which also shows several other examples from the period:
https://Jivingncwdeal.org/projects/oleson-park-bandshell-fort-dodge-ia/
Removal of the seating would, potentially, be lopping off nn important architectural component
of the bandshell that may have been part of the original design. Even ifit was not included in
Huntington's original design, the need for seating was evident early. The documentation quotes
newspaper articles at the time of the bandshel1's dedication that express an expectation that
seating would be provided. When seating was eventually installed, it was a sturdy, pennanent
solution that worked well with the design of the shell.
I would be happy to discuss these comments. Feel free to call me at
email to barbara wyatt@nps.gov.
Barbara Wyatt, ASLA
National Register of Historic Places
or send an
Attachment C - Letters of Eligibility, October 2015, November 2015, and January 2016
Item 5A - 1236 Canyon Blvd. LB Memo 04.06.22 Page 60 of 62
1525 Raleigh Street, Suite 310 Denver, Colorado 80204 T. (303) 477-5244 F. (303) 477-5146
mundusbishop.com
MEMORANDUM
Date: March 24, 2022
To: Tina Briggs, Parks Planner, Project Manager, City of Boulder Parks
James Hewat, Senior Historic Preservation Planner, City of Boulder
From: Tina Bishop, Principal, Mundus Bishop
Project: City of Boulder Multiple Property Preservation Plan
Re: Glen Huntington Bandshell, Central Park
Dates of construction – designers Bandshell (1938); Landscape (1939); Seating (late 1940s) Glen H.
Huntington, Architect (1938) Saco Rienk DeBoer, Landscape Architect (1939)
Areas of Significance: Architecture; Landscape Architecture Entertainment / Recreation
Recommended Period of Significance: 1938 to 1968
Glen Huntington Bandshell in Boulder’s Central Park, designed by Glen Huntington and Saco R.
DeBoer, was designated a Boulder Individual Landmark by Ordinance 5751 in 1995. The designation
boundary is described as: “Central Park at the southeast corner of Broadway and Canyon Boulevard ‐
North 170 feet of Block 13, Original Townsite to the City of Boulder.” The designation includes the
Bandshell, the open space between the stage and seating, the amphitheater seating, and the portion
of Central Park that includes “features of the site associated with (Saco R.) DeBoer, such as the
pathways and planted vegetation screening the structure from Canyon Boulevard.”
The landmark nomination drew from the 1995 Boulder Bandshell Study, which determined the
Bandshell and site met Criterion A and Criterion C for listing in the National Register of Historic Places
(NRHP). The Colorado Historical Society concurred with this determination of eligibility, noting the
structure to be eligible for local significance for its historical associations and for state‐wide
significance for its Art Deco design, as an example of band shell construction and as representative of
the work of Glen Huntington and Saco R. DeBoer.
The Bandshell was listed as an Individual Boulder Landmark for its role in the social and cultural life of
Boulder; as a performance venue; for its role in the development of Central Park; and its importance
in the history of park development in Boulder and association with the Boulder Lions Club. The
Bandshell was determined to be “architecturally significant as a rare representative of the Art Deco
style in Boulder, as reflected in its streamlined composition, compound arch, and simplified design; as
Boulder's only example of park band shell construction and one of the few such examples in the state;
and as representative work of Saco R. DeBoer and Glen W. Huntington, noted landscape architect and
architect, who are associated with the site design and the design of the structure.”
The Bandshell was deemed environmentally significant for its planned and natural site characteristics;
as a component of the central urban park; and as established, familiar, and prominent visual landmark
for Boulder citizens due to its arched design, its location near major thoroughfares, its amphitheater
seating; and for its long‐term role as the focus of Central Park and as a civic center for social and
cultural events in Boulder.
Attachment D - Mundus Bishop Bandshell Memorandum 03-24-2022
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1525 Raleigh Street, Suite 310 Denver, Colorado 80204 T. (303) 477-5244 F. (303) 477-5146
mundusbishop.com
The Bandshell and setting are included in the current City of Boulder Historic Places Plan (HiPP). The
plan includes preparing a historic context through further historical research of secondary data, and
conducting an existing condition assessment and analysis of integrity. Findings from this study confirm
the eligibility and significance of the Bandshell and setting including its historical associations and
architectural significance as representative of designs by landscape architect Saco R. DeBoer and
architect Glen W. Huntington. The study establishes a recommended period of significance extending
from when construction of the Bandshell and park began in 1938 and ending in 1968, the year Central
Park closed due to sanitary issues – 1938 to 1968. The analysis of integrity confirmed the Bandshell
and setting to retain integrity in all aspects and identified contributing features. These include the
landscape designed by Saco R. DeBoer and associated features that remain from the recommended
period of significance as the setting evolved with the Bandshell ‐ the Bandshell, amphitheater seating,
stone retaining wall, mature groves of trees, sidewalks and paths, open lawn, views, and landscaped
berm.
Review of historic photography and the analysis of integrity revealed a fuller extent of Central Park to
be associated with Saco R. DeBoer’s 1939 park design and the subsequent evolution of the Bandshell
and setting during the period of significance than what is currently within the designated boundary.
This additional area extends south of the designated boundary to Left Hand & Boulder Ditch. This
space has the same historical associations and architectural significance as the current designation
and retains integrity to the recommended period of significance. Features that contribute include the
open lawn surrounded by a landscape of mature trees and established vegetation, and the interior
path on the west boundary of Block 13. Newer non‐contributing features include Art‐Deco style
lampposts, walkways and boulders with engraved text along Boulder Creek Path. The historical and
architectural significance of this space, which also retains integrity, suggests this area of the DeBoer‐
designed park and Bandshell setting could be eligible for inclusion with the current designation.
Attachment D - Mundus Bishop Bandshell Memorandum 03-24-2022
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