COUNCIL REJECTS CIVIC AREA HISTORIC DISTRICT
Boulder’s City Council has almost unanimously nixed a controversial proposal for a new historic district in the heart of the city.
At a meeting Thursday evening, council members voted 7-1 to reject an ordinance that would have established a Civic Area historic district. Mayor Aaron Brockett was the only person present to vote against rejecting it. Councilmember Mark Wallach was absent.
The Civic Area historic district’s boundaries would have stretched roughly from the west side of the Penfield Tate II Municipal Building to 14th Street and from Canyon Boulevard to Arapahoe Avenue. The district would have linked together a constellation of existing historic landmarks near downtown, such as Central Park, the Glen Huntington Bandshell (informally known as the Boulder Bandshell), the Boulder-dushanbe Teahouse and the Municipal Building.
The plan has been divisive among community members and members of the city’s boards and commissions. Supporters of the historic district have argued the area has historic significance for Boulder and that it tells the story of marginalized communities who lived there.
The purpose of the Civic Area historic district would have been to “appreciate and celebrate an era” in Boulder history, according to Leonard Segel, the executive director of Historic Boulder Inc. (one of the groups that applied to create the district). He has also previously said the area has been Boulder’s civic center at least since the early 1900s and is the “historic heart” of the city.
But in addition, the area was once home to Boulder’s early Black residents. Before Central Park existed, the area was an established neighborhood where people had been living since the 1870s. According to a city memo, those homes were located mostly within a twoblock area between 10th and Broadway (formerly called 12th Street) along Canyon Boulevard (once called Water Street).
The block between 10th and 11th Streets, originally designated as “Block 11,” was the site of Boulder’s first Black neighborhood. Some white residents lived in the area, as well. But according to Marcy Gerwing, a principal planner with the city, all of the homes there were torn down and the people in them displaced. It’s not clear where those displaced residents went.
Gerwing said part of the purpose of creating a historic district there would be to recognize this chapter in Boulder’s history.
“Historic designation is not just about celebration,” she said. “It can be, but it’s also
about acknowledgement and recognition. And so, I think having this history just helps us as a community … to understand the history of Boulder a bit better.
The plan also has gotten support from the city’s Landmarks Board, which voted 4-1 to recommend approving the historic district. Chelsea Castellano gave the only dissenting vote.
Stuart Lord, a member of NAACP Boulder County, spoke at the Landmarks Board meeting on Feb. 7 about the importance of the area for Boulder’s Black community. He later said in a written statement that while the civil rights group was “not explicitly advocating” for the Civic Area to become a historic district, if the district were to move ahead, the group wanted to see it done in a way that “fully acknowledges and respects the diverse history” of the community.
Namely, he said, the group wanted to see Block 11 included in the district, and it also hoped for the city to consider naming the park Water Street Park in order to recognize “the contributions of Boulder’s early Black residents.”
Opponents of the plan have voiced numerous concerns. For example, they worry a new historic district could slow the city’s efforts to make improvements to the area. They also ask whether the district is necessary given it would incorporate places already designated as landmarks, and they question the merits of preserving an exclusionary part of Boulder’s history.
Andrew “Bernie” Bernstein, a member of Boulder’s Parks and Rec Advisory Board previously said he saw few benefits to the historic district and the potential for it to impede the city from making improvements in the area, such as the ones planned in the Civic Area project. He noted that all five members of the advisory board opposed the historic district at a meeting earlier this year.
Castellano of the Landmarks Board told the Daily Camera she had some similar concerns, but she also said she sees Civic Area as a “symbol of Boulder’s exclusionary past.” She added, “I don’t believe we should lift it up as a symbol of what we want to celebrate in the community.”
After hearing presentations on the project and listening to public testimony on it, council members on Thursday expressed reluctance about the plan for the district and said they didn’t believe it met necessary criteria for establishing a historic district. Further, they said, they see other ways the history and heritage of the area can be honored.
“I find this historic district is not necessarily beneficial in preserving and transmitting this important heritage,” said Councilmember Lauren Folkerts. “… The city owns the land and should elevate the stories of historically marginalized populations, regardless of this designation.” However, she added, she supports the idea of renaming the park Water Street Park.
Councilmember Taishya Adams agreed with the idea of renaming the park and said it was “wonderful” to see Block 11 acknowledged, but that she can “envision other ways we can honor the rich history we have here.” She also said she did not believe there had been enough engagement with the Indigenous community on the proposed district.