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The Colorado Business Bank
A preservation award goes to Colorado Business Bank at 821 17^th St. for the incredible restoration of their nine-story bank building. This process began with a very complicated purchase of land from 13 separate owners and of the building from an absentee landlord who did not recognize its significance. After wading through the legalities, restoration began. Bank president Virginia Berkeley says, “The renovation intellectually was quite understandable; living through it was quite a challenge.”

They started with the basics – the complete infrastructure was redone. New HVAC, electrical, a new roof, new elevators, and recaulked windows. But the biggest task was to bring the lobby back to its former glory. This took some real stamina as well as artistry. Just imagine bank tellers wearing mittens in the cold of winter working under a maze of scaffolding for 14 weeks! Both customers and bank employees all agree it was worth it.

The artists on top of that scaffolding restored the lobby’s ceiling and ornate friezes to their original elegance and beauty. Down below, terrazzo floors were meticulously repaired. After a three-year renovation, the historic Colorado Business Bank building, designed by architects Fisher and Fisher, is once again a true gem in our downtown landscape. What had become a dark and dime building now shines brightly on 17^th St.

From 1987-1991, Don and Carolyn co-managed the City of Denver’s Department of Parks and Recreation as part of Mayor Pena’s cabinet. At the time, they were the highest ranking job share team in America. While doing research for the Parks, one of their volunteers uncovered some “gorgeous design documents by landscape architect Reinhard Schuetze. Another Etter preservation project was born! The result was the book The Forgotten Landscape which has become the definitive work on Shuetze. The Etters’ passion for Denver’s park system, what they like to call, “ our legacy of green,” evolved into one of their most ambitious projects to date. They wanted to introduce the public to the Denver Historic Park Documents collection. Carolyn had previously done a similar project with local architect S.R. DeBoer’s collection of drawings.

The Etter’s goal was to identify, catalogue, conserve and transfer over 7,000 documents from the Parks department to the Denver Public Library. With an exhibit, another book, lectures and bus tours, they succeeded in introduction these valuable documents to the public. This collection is already the most used special manuscript collection at the Denver Public Library.

Done and Carolyn have written six books, contributed to several others and worked together to dig deep into the roots of Denver history. Their many credentials include Don’s contribution as Chairman of the Historic Denver Board of Trustees.

Coughlin and Company, Inc.
Coughlin and Company, Inc. has been recognized with a community preservation award for the redevelopment of the Ramparts campus at Lowry Air Force Base. Under the leadership of Mike Coughlin, the Ramparts campus has been transformed from a run-down military training facility to a state of the art office complex, now the centerpiece of the Lowry District’s historic preservation project.

Coughlin & Company previously won a preservation award for their renovation of Lodo’s Mercantile Square. Mike says, “We were so proud of the results, we wanted to tackle another big project.” They found one at Lowry. The three buildings Coughlin  and Co. Restored, two mirror image classrooms and a hangar, were built in 1941 in the boxy international style. In the world of preservation, Mike calls them “babies.”

The restoration of almost 10,000 sq. ft took one year. It began with the removal of a tremendous amount of asbestos. During the renovation, strict attention was paid to detail. Bronze ornamentation was refinished and polished to a sheen. The original terrazzo floors with military insignia stars were saved. Badly damaged title, granite steps, and scarred brick were salvaged. In the hangar, panes of opaque glass, once installed for military secrecy, were recycled. Even the vegetation was replanted to recreate the original look of the plazas.

What were once neglected and dilapidated relics on the verge of demolition are now office buildings soon to be place on the National Register of Historic Places. Thanks to Coughlin and Company’s vision, the Ramparts campus takes its place in Denver and American history.

McClain Finlon had successfully completed another preservation project in LoDo, but the growing agency required new quarters. After searching for something large enough, Cathey says she walked into the building at 24^th and Blake and liked what she saw. She says, “When we started talking to the architects, they said, ‘Boy this property has good bones.”

The creative staff at McClain Finlon envisioned a building that “oozed energy.” It had to be indigenous to Colorado, full of light, avoid an industrial look and exude femininity or sexiness. They succeeded on all counts. Working from the building’s “bones,” they restored original brick and wood beam ceilings. Their design solutions changed a dark, cluttered warehouse into an architectural beauty that makes a bold and creative statement. All this on time and under budget too!