Tour more than 70 buildings representing the City Beautiful movement

DENVER, CO — Jan. 16, 2013 — “The City Beautiful: Then and Now” will be the theme of the 2013 Doors Open Denver event to be held the weekend of April 13-14. The free, two-day celebration of architecture and design welcomes guests inside more than 70 landmark sites.

Event headquarters will be at the McNichols Civic Center Building at Colfax and Bannock in downtown Denver. The 1909 Greek Revival building with its classic Corinthian columns and iconic colonnade realizes the City Beautiful ideal of beautiful public buildings in the city’s Civic Center. The former Carnegie Library re-opened in 2012 as a contemporary hub for arts and culture for the people of Denver.

As always, Doors Open Denver will feature more than 60 expert guided tours, the Denver Box City for Kids, the Focus on Architecture Photography Competition, and rides on the Platte Valley Trolley. New this year are guided bike tours, tours of Denver Parks and Parkways, and many exciting sites such as the Denver Dry Building, Hogle-Allison Motors/Colorado Ballet Building, Washington Park Dos Chappel Bath House, and the Civilian Conservation Corps Camp at Morrison. Additionally, all four directional Denver public high schools – East, West, North and South – which exemplify the City Beautiful with their location on prominent sites, setting adjacent to a park, and commanding views, will be open to the public.

The City Beautiful movement was influenced by European Beaux Arts architecture and the 1893 Chicago World Exhibition. Characterized by parks, fountains, public statuary, grand boulevards, handsome civic centers, prominent civic buildings and comprehensive planning, The movement was both aesthetic and based on the belief that a quality public and civic realm was key to the public health of the citizenry and the financial stability and wellbeing of the community.

A little more than 100 years ago, civic leaders, aided by Mayor Robert Speer, took steps to adapt principles of The City Beautiful movement to distinguish Denver from other dusty, poorly organized frontier towns. Speer’s master plan had three phases: the development of Civic Center, the city’s extensive Parks & Parkways system as settings for schools, libraries and residences, and the Mountain Parks. Today, the Denver community continues to value quality architecture that contributes to civic space, relates to the natural environment and improves our quality of life – still revealing the possibility of social beauty, utility and harmony.

Doors Open Denver is presented by Arts & Venues Denver, the Denver Architectural Foundation, Historic Denver, Inc., the American Institute of Architects, the Downtown Denver Partnership, MA Mortenson, SCFD, the Davis Partnership, Moye White, and PCL Construction. Media sponsors include The Denver Post, OutFront Colorado and Colorado Homes & Lifestyles.

For more information, including a complete listing of sites and expert tours, visit www.doorsopendenver.org or contact Annie Levinsky at alevinksy@historicdenver.org or 303-534-5288 ext. 1.

-ArtsandVenuesDenver.com-