Historic McNichols Civic Center Building Temporarily Closing to Improve Connectivity and Access

McNichols Civic Center Building will close its doors for construction on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2015 as the building prepares for operational upgrades as well as implementing a new front courtyard offering better connectivity to Civic Center Park and universal access to the building. Arts & Venues staff will vacate the McNichols Building and relocate to Boettcher Concert Hall at the Denver Performing Arts Complex on Friday, Aug. 28, and public hours for the McNichols Building will become 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays through September 26. Private and public events scheduled through September 26 will occur as planned. The building will reopen fall of 2016.

The redesigned courtyard space will offer an open and accessible approach to the entrance of the building allowing for outdoor program activation, which in turn will also allow for activation of the building’s second floor exterior balcony. The building will receive a new freight elevator granting easier access for Arts & Venues and outside organizations to bring in more diverse programming for public and private events. Second and third floor restrooms will be relocated to the southwest corner of the building creating more usable space and higher capacity events.

Opening as a Carnegie Library in 1910 and located at the intersection of Colfax Avenue and Bannock Street, the McNichols Building has served as Denver’s first public library and as the center of learning in Civic Center Park. The Greek Revival-style building was designed by Albert Ross and funded through a generous $200,000 donation from industrialist and philanthropist, Andrew Carnegie. The building served as a library until 1955 and then as the home of the Denver Water Board. The building was renamed the McNichols Civic Center Building in 1999 in honor of the McNichols family contributions to Denver.

• In 2010 the inaugural Biennial of the Americas transformed the building into a focal point of culture, art and ideas, representing people of the western hemisphere for the month of July. Denver Arts & Venues re-opened the building in 2012 as a contemporary arts and culture hub for the people of Denver. The McNichols Building, with its classic Corinthian columns and iconic colonnade, offers new arts and culture experiences in a classic space. The building, along with Civic Center Park, was named a National Historic Landmark in 2012.
  
  The distinguished building enters construction with approvals from History Colorado, Historic Denver, National Parks Service and local neighborhood organizations. Approval from the Denver Landmark Preservation Commission was granted as well.  
   
• In celebrating this new transformative chapter for the McNichols Building, the McNichols Project #2: Night of ROCK provides a fitting encore on Thursday, Sept. 10 for the building’s closing. To purchase tickets and for event details please visit mcnicholsnightofrock.eventbrite.com
   
• Patrons interested in booking the McNichols Building for public and private events may contact Tim Taylor – tim.taylor3@denvergov.org –for fall 2016 inquiries. Please contact Jordan Bishop – jordan.bishop@denvergov.org – for historic photos and interview opportunities.

Tune in for up to date information and progress by visiting mcnicholsbuilding.com and artsandvenues.com.