The Sage Building, formerly the Fontius building, gets its name in lights

After decades of disregard, it's been a busy couple of years for the downtown structure formerly known as the Fontius building. First in the summer of 2007, local developer Evan Makovsky bought the infamously decrepit building at the corner of 16th and Welton streets as part of his ambitious plan...

By Joel Warner

May 5, 2009

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After decades of disregard, it's been a busy couple of years for the downtown structure formerly known as the Fontius building. First in the summer of 2007, local developer Evan Makovsky bought the infamously decrepit building at the corner of 16th and Welton streets as part of his ambitious plan to renovate the entire block. Then, with the help of Klipp architects, Makovsky restored the building to its former luster in time for its coming-out party during the 2008 Democratic National Convention. In the meantime, prominent hotel management and development company Sage Hospitality Resources decided to move into the edifice, thereby giving Makovsky a reason ditch the "Fontius" title and all its negative connotations in favor of a new moniker: the Sage Building. And now, to top it off, the revitalized building will be winning a Downtown Denver Award from the Downtown Denver Partnership this Wednesday evening, alongside other prestigious winners like the Democratic National Convention Host Committee and Opera Colorado. To see what all the fuss is about, check out the Ken Burns-style ode above to Makovsky and the Sage Building that local production company the Light Group put together for the awards.

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Joel Warner is a former staff writer for Westword and International Business Times. He's also written for WIRED, Men's Journal, Men's Health, Bloomberg Businessweek, Popular Science, Slate, Grantland and many other publications. He's co-author of the 2014 book The Humor Code: A Global Search for What Makes Things Funny, published by Simon & Schuster.

Contact: Joel Warner