United States Customhouse (Denver, Colorado)
Encyclopedia
The Federal Building and United States Custom House, Denver, Colorado is a historic courthouse
and federal office
building located at Denver, Colorado
. It is a courthouse for the United States District Court for the District of Colorado
.
, the Byron White U.S. Courthouse, and the Alfred A. Arraj U.S. Courthouse.
The federal government acquired the site, which was previously home to the East Denver High School, in three parcels between 1928 and 1930 for just under $300,000. The building replaced Denver's overcrowded 1892 custom house, located at another location in the city.
Designs for the original portion of the building, completed in 1931, came from the Office of the Supervising Architect
of the U.S. Treasury, which at that time was led by James A. Wetmore
. Both this building and the nearby Byron White U.S. Courthouse are clad in the same Colorado Yule marble
used in the Lincoln Memorial
and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
in Washington, D.C. Indiana limestone
was originally planned for cladding the building, and would have been less expensive. However, members of Congress from Colorado successfully argued for use of local materials. The building was completed in May 1931 at a total cost of $1,260,000.
A 1937 addition nearly doubled the size of the building. Denver architects Temple Hoyne Buell
and G. Meredith Musick designed the addition. The cladding material was once again controversial. In this case, Colorado Yule marble was substituted for Georgia marble after local officials successfully argued that the materials of the original building and addition should match, and that the revenue from the marble purchase should benefit Colorado.
Though it housed various federal agencies, the building's primary occupant was the U.S. Customs Service
. Its revenues averaged $500,000 per year, and eventually climbed to $1,400,000 in 1957. In need of more space, the Customs Service moved to the former Stapleton Airport in 1957. The major building tenant is now the bankruptcy court
. The building has been listed in the National Register of Historic Places
since 1979.
During the 1960s and 1970s, protesters often used the U.S. Courthouse plaza across the street. In 1975, a bomb exploded in a first floor men's room of the building, but there was no significant structural damage. A group calling themselves the Continental Revolutionary Army took credit for the bombing.
Marble quoins (cornerstones) highlight the transition from marble to brick facade. Terracotta is used for a belt course above the first floor, cornices, and spandrels between the windows of the second and third, and third and fourth stories. Decorative terra cotta swags are located above the ornamental grillwork that flanks the main entry door. The symmetrical plan is E-shaped with a semi-enclosed courtyard at the north end. The windows are spaced evenly and are designed to create a balanced overall look for the building. The tops of the first floor windows and the main entry doorway are arched. Spandrels that separate the second, third, and fourth story windows feature eagles and shields, emphasizing the federal use of the building. The primary entrance is on Nineteenth Street at the midpoint of the south elevation, and a penthouse is located above this central point that rises twenty feet above the parapet coping (decorative capping at the top of the wall).
The centered main entry is the focal point of the exterior. In 1972, the original bronze entry doors were removed and replaced with aluminum doors. A terracotta eagle tops a semicircular fanlight above the doorway. Tuscan order
columns flanking the entrance support an entablature inscribed with the name of the building and capped by a decorative cartouche
.
In the lobby, polished Colorado Yule marble surrounds the doors leading from the vestibule and clads the lower portion of the walls on either side of those doors. It also surrounds the elevators and extends for several feet on either side of the elevators, covering the lower portion of the walls. Only one of the light fixtures, which have oval etched-glass domes suspended within brass frameworks and hanging from the ceiling via brass chains, is original; the others were replicated. The bronze and leaded glass doors between the vestibule and the lobby were recently restored. Glass panes allow light to flood the lobby and the bronze surrounds and details reinforce the stately appearance of the building. There are staircases with marble treads at each end of the corridors leading off of the lobby. The layout of each floor of the building is identical, with offices lining each corridor. The wainscoting and baseboards are all marble, as are the bathroom partitions in the 1931 portion of the building.
The 1937 addition resulted in extensions to each side of the building that nearly doubled the area and made the central courtyard less visible from the street. Additional penthouses were added at the California and Stout Street ends of the building to house the upper portions of the elevator shafts. The corridors and lobby areas are largely intact, though the offices were modified.
Courthouse
A courthouse is a building that is home to a local court of law and often the regional county government as well, although this is not the case in some larger cities. The term is common in North America. In most other English speaking countries, buildings which house courts of law are simply...
and federal office
Office
An office is generally a room or other area in which people work, but may also denote a position within an organization with specific duties attached to it ; the latter is in fact an earlier usage, office as place originally referring to the location of one's duty. When used as an adjective, the...
building located at Denver, Colorado
Denver, Colorado
The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
. It is a courthouse for the United States District Court for the District of Colorado
United States District Court for the District of Colorado
The United States District Court for the District of Colorado is the Federal district court whose jurisdiction is the state of Colorado. The United States Congress organized Colorado as a single judicial district on June 26, 1876, by 19 Stat. 61...
.
Building history
The Federal Building and U.S. Custom House is part of a complex of four federal buildings located in close proximity to each other in downtown Denver, the others being the Byron G. Rogers Federal Building and U.S. CourthouseByron G. Rogers Federal Building and United States Courthouse
The Byron G. Rogers Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse is a historic building located in Denver, Colorado, which serves as a courthouse of the United States District Court for the District of Colorado. Completed in 1965, the building was renamed for Colorado Congressman Byron G. Rogers in 1984...
, the Byron White U.S. Courthouse, and the Alfred A. Arraj U.S. Courthouse.
The federal government acquired the site, which was previously home to the East Denver High School, in three parcels between 1928 and 1930 for just under $300,000. The building replaced Denver's overcrowded 1892 custom house, located at another location in the city.
Designs for the original portion of the building, completed in 1931, came from the Office of the Supervising Architect
Office of the Supervising Architect
The Office of the Supervising Architect was an agency of the United States Treasury Department that designed federal government buildings from 1852 to 1939....
of the U.S. Treasury, which at that time was led by James A. Wetmore
James A. Wetmore
James A. Wetmore was an American lawyer and administrator, best known as the Acting Supervising Architect of the U.S. Office of the Supervising Architect from 1915 through 1933. Wetmore is frequently and incorrectly described as the "architect" of the many federal buildings that bear his...
. Both this building and the nearby Byron White U.S. Courthouse are clad in the same Colorado Yule marble
Yule Marble
Yule Marble is a type of metamorphed limestone found only in the Yule Creek Valley, in the West Elk Mountains of Colorado, just south of the town of Marble, Colorado . Quarried today at 9,300 feet above sea level, Yule Marble is famous for its uniform pure white consistency, lacking, for the most...
used in the Lincoln Memorial
Lincoln Memorial
The Lincoln Memorial is an American memorial built to honor the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. It is located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The architect was Henry Bacon, the sculptor of the main statue was Daniel Chester French, and the painter of the interior...
and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier refers to a grave in which the unidentifiable remains of a soldier are interred. Such tombs can be found in many nations and are usually high-profile national monuments. Throughout history, many soldiers have died in wars without their remains being identified...
in Washington, D.C. Indiana limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
was originally planned for cladding the building, and would have been less expensive. However, members of Congress from Colorado successfully argued for use of local materials. The building was completed in May 1931 at a total cost of $1,260,000.
A 1937 addition nearly doubled the size of the building. Denver architects Temple Hoyne Buell
Temple Hoyne Buell
Temple Hoyne Buell was an American architect.Buell was born to a prominent Chicago family and the grandson of Thomas Hoyne. He studied architecture at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and completed graduate studies at Columbia University. He served in France during World War I, where he...
and G. Meredith Musick designed the addition. The cladding material was once again controversial. In this case, Colorado Yule marble was substituted for Georgia marble after local officials successfully argued that the materials of the original building and addition should match, and that the revenue from the marble purchase should benefit Colorado.
Though it housed various federal agencies, the building's primary occupant was the U.S. Customs Service
United States Customs Service
Until March 2003, the United States Customs Service was an agency of the U.S. federal government that collected import tariffs and performed other selected border security duties.Before it was rolled into form part of the U.S...
. Its revenues averaged $500,000 per year, and eventually climbed to $1,400,000 in 1957. In need of more space, the Customs Service moved to the former Stapleton Airport in 1957. The major building tenant is now the bankruptcy court
United States bankruptcy court
United States bankruptcy courts are courts created under Article I of the United States Constitution. They function as units of the district courts and have subject-matter jurisdiction over bankruptcy cases. The federal district courts have original and exclusive jurisdiction over all cases arising...
. The building has been listed in the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
since 1979.
During the 1960s and 1970s, protesters often used the U.S. Courthouse plaza across the street. In 1975, a bomb exploded in a first floor men's room of the building, but there was no significant structural damage. A group calling themselves the Continental Revolutionary Army took credit for the bombing.
Architecture
The five-story Federal Building and U.S. Custom House is a skillfully executed example of Second Renaissance Revival architecture. The arched first floor window and door openings, detailed cornices, emphasis on the horizontal elements, and stately overall appearance of the building are all characteristic of this architectural style. It has a steel frame on poured concrete footings and a flat composite roof. The base is clad in granite, as are the stairs leading to the entry doors. The remainder of the Nineteenth, Stout, and California street elevations of the building are clad in smooth-rubbed, coarse cut Colorado Yule marble with terra-cotta ornamentation. The fifth floor, which is recessed eight feet, is clad in brick, as are the courtyard-facing elevations of the building.Marble quoins (cornerstones) highlight the transition from marble to brick facade. Terracotta is used for a belt course above the first floor, cornices, and spandrels between the windows of the second and third, and third and fourth stories. Decorative terra cotta swags are located above the ornamental grillwork that flanks the main entry door. The symmetrical plan is E-shaped with a semi-enclosed courtyard at the north end. The windows are spaced evenly and are designed to create a balanced overall look for the building. The tops of the first floor windows and the main entry doorway are arched. Spandrels that separate the second, third, and fourth story windows feature eagles and shields, emphasizing the federal use of the building. The primary entrance is on Nineteenth Street at the midpoint of the south elevation, and a penthouse is located above this central point that rises twenty feet above the parapet coping (decorative capping at the top of the wall).
The centered main entry is the focal point of the exterior. In 1972, the original bronze entry doors were removed and replaced with aluminum doors. A terracotta eagle tops a semicircular fanlight above the doorway. Tuscan order
Tuscan order
Among canon of classical orders of classical architecture, the Tuscan order's place is due to the influence of the Italian Sebastiano Serlio, who meticulously described the five orders including a "Tuscan order", "the solidest and least ornate", in his fourth book of Regole generalii di...
columns flanking the entrance support an entablature inscribed with the name of the building and capped by a decorative cartouche
Cartouche (design)
A cartouche is an oval or oblong design with a slightly convex surface, typically edged with ornamental scrollwork. It is used to hold a painted or low relief design....
.
In the lobby, polished Colorado Yule marble surrounds the doors leading from the vestibule and clads the lower portion of the walls on either side of those doors. It also surrounds the elevators and extends for several feet on either side of the elevators, covering the lower portion of the walls. Only one of the light fixtures, which have oval etched-glass domes suspended within brass frameworks and hanging from the ceiling via brass chains, is original; the others were replicated. The bronze and leaded glass doors between the vestibule and the lobby were recently restored. Glass panes allow light to flood the lobby and the bronze surrounds and details reinforce the stately appearance of the building. There are staircases with marble treads at each end of the corridors leading off of the lobby. The layout of each floor of the building is identical, with offices lining each corridor. The wainscoting and baseboards are all marble, as are the bathroom partitions in the 1931 portion of the building.
The 1937 addition resulted in extensions to each side of the building that nearly doubled the area and made the central courtyard less visible from the street. Additional penthouses were added at the California and Stout Street ends of the building to house the upper portions of the elevator shafts. The corridors and lobby areas are largely intact, though the offices were modified.
History
- 1931: Original building constructed
- 1937: Construction of addition
- 1975: Bomb explodes on first floor
- 1979: Building listed in the National Register of Historic PlacesNational Register of Historic PlacesThe National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
Building facts
- Location: 721 Nineteenth Street
- Architects: James A. Wetmore; Temple H. Buell with G. Meredith Musick
- Construction Dates: 1930-1931; 1937
- Architectural Style: Second Renaissance Revival
- Landmark Status: Listed in the National Register of Historic PlacesNational Register of Historic PlacesThe National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
- Primary Materials: Granite, marble, and brick
- Prominent Features: Classical marble and terracotta facade; Bronze-framed double entry doors; Marble wainscoting, oak doors and trim