Best Save of an Old Building

Annex I was used for decades as offices for the City and County of Denver, but it was originally built in 1949 as part of a never-finished and ultimately abandoned downtown campus for the University of Denver. It was designed by local architects Smith, Hegner and Moore, with G. Meredith Musick. And although Annex I is radically different from the older neo-classical buildings in the Civic Center, it blends in because it's been appropriately clad in a similarly cut gray stone. Despite the many architectural plaudits Annex I has received, however, over the years it became a sport among amateurs to hate it, and the administration of Mayor Wellington Webb threatened to demolish it. So it was a surprise when Webb actually saved Annex I, including it in the city's plans for the new Civic Center Office Building. Government work has become a little easier to look at.