RAZING HELL

CURTIS PARK RESIDENTS FEAR DEMOLITION OF SOME VICTORIAN STRUCTURES.

Comments (0) By Lloyd Jojola Wednesday, Aug 3 1994

...continued from page 1

"I looked at the paperwork submitted to the city, and in order to get a demolition permit, you have to put down a reason why you are demolishing the property," explains Oberhamer. "We put down `for parking.' But even though we put that down, there are no plans to do it."

Kay Moore, who lives at one of the remaining residences now owned by Deep Rock, says she was told otherwise when she asked demolition workers who were razing the two burned-out structures about the two surviving structures.

"I remember talking to a worker," she says, "and I asked him, `So when are you guys gonna tear these down?' And he said, `Well, we're going to wait and do them together.'" A nearby resident, Paul Steere, echoes Moore's tale.

Jo Frederiksen, who lives in the other existing house, says, "I am very concerned with these two houses, given what they did to the other two houses they owned in 1987. I would like to stay here another year, but I would also like to know that when I move that the house is secure and will remain intact."

Both of the houses were built in 1880 and designed by Frank Edbrooke, the architect of the Brown Palace Hotel and many other landmarks in Denver.

"In all the history of Denver, Edbrooke is one of our most outstanding architects," says State Senator Dennis Gallagher, who wrote a letter to the landmark commission in hopes of preserving the two homes. "One of the reasons for having an historic designation is that you can use residential for offices. That would be a possibility, that would be my hope."

Although the significance of Curtis Park has landed the neighborhood on the National Register of Historic Places, many of its historic buildings are not protected.

"People in the city, particularly the Denver Landmark Commission, have urged some of us in the Curtis Park area for a long time to start the work of protection in this area," says Bill West, who spearheads the application. West adds that it's a "hard political process, but the pressures are now upon us. There's no question, with the baseball stadium and light rail, things will happen.