The City and County Building

Last crawled date: 1 year, 10 months ago

The City and County Building is located in downtown Denver's Civic Center. In 1904, Mayor Robert Speer proposed some improvements for the city based on the City Beautiful ideas he gained from the 1893 World Columbian Exposition in Chicago. The City and County Building plays an important role in this scheme, completing the east-west axis for Civic Center Park. The building took 26 years to materialize, and involved 39 leading local architects to design. The City and County Building has a Beaux-Arts Neoclassical facade. The entrance involves a grand staircase leading up 3-story corinthian columns of travertine, and large bronze doors. Two curved wings with engaged columns extend from either side of the entrance and reach toward the Capitol. The base is made of Cotopaxi granite. Upper walls and entry columns are Stone Mountain, Georgia, granite. In memory of Mayor Speer, the carillon clock tower and gold eagle were donated by his wife Kate. The clock chimes every 15 minutes. Since 1932, the City and County Building is decorated with colored lights for Christmas. About 5 miles of electrical wire and 20,000 lights are used to do this, lighting the facade with bright red and green, attracting thousands of people every year. Model created by Noel Nemcik #BeauxArts_Neoclassical #City_and_County_Building #City_Beautiful #Civic_Center #Colorado #Denver #downtown_Denver #government #Mayor_Speer