Dear Hosts, Tour Participants, and Friends of Traditional architecture,
It turned out to be a very nice morning and thank you for being a part of it. We just beat the heat and the parades and thanks to our hosts, parking was pretty much a snap for nearly everyone!
First of all we would like to thank Pam Geddy who made the tour of Divine Science possible, and introduced all of us to the church interiors. Tom Simmons did such a fine job of outlining the history of Jacques B. Benedict and many of his works and the Divine Science building itself, nicely augmented by Benedict’s grandson, former Denver Post writer and author, Mike McPhee.
We are grateful to Paul Kottke of the Rocky Mountain Methodist Conference for working with Noreen Keleshian in adding St. Paul Methodist to our morning. Thank you again, Noreen, for giving everyone “free rein” inside the building, which we learned is in good condition. And thanks to ICAA members Tom Carr for handling check-in and Ann Wolff for her illuminating comments about the leaded and stained glass that we saw.
Please find the link to Tom and Laurie Simmons’ report on Jacques Benedict here: http://www.historycolorado.org/sites/default/files/files/OAHP/crforms_edumat/pdfs/647.pdf and their firm at www.frhistory.com
For additional information on the Divine Science terra-cotta details that Tom Simmons pointed out: http://www.masonryofdenver.com/2014/12/first-church-divine-science/
The Central Savings Bank building, designed by Jacques Benedict in 1910, at the corner of Fifteenth and Arapahoe Streets downtown (sadly demolished in 1991):
Mike McPhee mentioned the Denver Mountain Park system. You may learn more at https://mountainparksfoundation.org/ and the video at https://vimeo.com/70667022 For copies of Mike’s excellent book about Dana Crawford, the Grand Dame of the Preservation movement in Denver and beyond, visit http://www.mikemcpheebooks.com/dana-crawford.html
For more information about donating to repair the roof at Divine Science and the $90K matching gift, contact Pam Geddy at admin@altheacenter.org
The next Columns & Coffee tour will be the renovation of the 1917 Sidney Sinsheimer house by Maurice Biscoe at 190 High Street on Saturday, July 16, 2016.
Have a happy Fourth of July!
Photos from the Tour
