Does Boulder need a new historic district?

From the Boulder-dushanbe Teahouse to the Glen Huntington Bandshell, Boulder has its share of iconic, instantly recognizable historic landmarks.

The city is currently considering a new historic district that would link together a constellation of well-known landmarks near downtown. Advocates argue the area has historic significance for Boulder and want to see that heritage preserved, but some community members worry a new historic district could slow the city’s efforts to make improvements to the area.

The push for the historic district originated around the bandshell, which has stood in Central Park since 1938 and was designated as a historic landmark in 1995. The bandshell has become a community gathering place that has served as a venue for rock concerts, protests, farmers markets, festivals and other events.

For several years, historic preservation advocates and others in the community have been pushing to change the bandshell’s landmark designation boundaries to encompass more of the surrounding area. In April 2022, the city’s Landmarks Board voted to recommend expanding the bandshell’s landmark designation area to include all of Central Park, but the City Council narrowly rejected the idea on a 5-4 vote two months later.

City staff had recommended the council should postpone expanding the designation area for the moment and look into creating a bigger, more holistic historic district in parallel with the second phase of the Civic Area project, an expansive plan for revitalizing the area around downtown. A plan for that more encompassing historic district is now making its way through Boulder’s city boards, and eventually, to the City Council.

In May of last year, Historic Boulder Inc., Friends of the Teahouse and Friends of the Bandshell teamed up to apply for a new Civic Area historic district that would not only include Central Park, but also connect landmarks such as the bandshell, the Boulderdushanbe Teahouse and the Municipal Building. It would also include the 13th Street and Sister Cities Plazas, among other features. The boundaries of the district would go roughly from the west side of the Penfield Tate II Municipal Building to 14th Street and from Canyon Boulevard to Arapahoe Avenue.

Leonard Segel, executive director of Historic Boulder Inc., said the purpose of the Civic Area historic district would be to “appreciate and celebrate an era” in Boulder history.

“This particular district represents almost the entire history of Boulder, even before Boulder was Boulder,” he told the Daily Camera. “It’s this amazing timeline encapsulated in the heart of Boulder that is a way for people to really understand what Boulder is about, how it’s gone through lots of different evolutionary changes over a period of time, and how some of those changes have lessons to be learned for today.”

Segel said the area has been Boulder’s civic center at least since the early 1900s and is the “historic heart” of the city. He added that this area has also held importance for different groups of people, such as Black Boulderites, many of whom historically lived in one of the neighborhoods nearby, as well as the Indigenous peoples that lived along Boulder Creek.

“All these stories come together in this district, and that’s a powerful reason to create this special place and celebrate it,” said Segel.

But whether the vision for the historic district will ultimately come to fruition is an open question. At a meeting on Jan. 22, Parks and Recreation Advisory Board members unanimously opposed the new historic district.

Andrew “Bernie” Bernstein, a member of the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board, told the Daily Camera he appreciates history and landmarks, but he worries that a Civic Area historic district would create more bureaucratic red tape that could make it harder for the city to make improvements in the area, such as the ones planned in the Civic Area project.

“We know there are going to be things about that park we want to change to make it better for the community, to make it better for programming. And should the district become landmarked, there will be additional processes that the city will have to go through in order to put any changes into place.”