Anyone who’s been following this blog or Downtown Denver news in general knows about Block 162, home of the building most people have come to know as the “Fontius” buildng. If you’re not up on the subject, check out the links on the left under the “Fontius / Block 162” section or read Joel Warner’s excellent “Evan Almighty” article in Westword.
As you probably know, the building at 16th and Welton currently being renovated by Evan “Urban Hero” Makovsky was completed in 1923 as the new home of Steel’s department store. You’ve no doubt seen before this historic photo of the building’s grand opening in 1923 (photo courtesy of the Denver Public Library’s Western History Collection):
So what about the building that was at that corner before 1923? After an exhaustive search of the Library’s online photo database, I was never able to find any photo that clearly showed what the corner of 16th and Welton looked like before 1923. Until now.
I recently received an email from a gentleman named Dave Dyer who is researching the history of the long-defunct Steel Company, as an ancestor of his worked for the company in Buffalo, NY back in the old days. Dave came across my blogs about the history of the Steel Building and Block 162 and thought I would appreciate what he has found.
Dave has discovered two year’s worth of the L. R. Steel Company’s internal newsletters. Here’s the cover of the newsletter dated August 6, 1921:
Not only does the newsletter contain a photo of the building at the corner before the 1923 structure, but the text below the photo talks about the company’s plans to build a new four-story structure at that location! To help us get a better view of the building, I cropped the image and tweaked the contrast a bit to get this:
If you look closely at the sign at the top of the building, it reads: “A 4 story building will be erected on this corner by the L. R. Steel Co. Inc.”
What an awesome find! My thanks to Dave Dyer for sharing this with us.
What is that domed building at the far left of the first picture? Probably something demolished in the 60's 🙁 It would be cool if Sage installed a new sign on the roof like the one in the first photo.
Lembley: that's the Orpheum Theater, which was in the middle of the block between 15th and 16th.
I noticed earlier today that workers have already started placing the new terra cotta tiles on the exterior walls of the ground floor. The building as a whole is starting to look better than I originally imagined!
Thanks Dave, this is awesome!!
What is the correct pronunciation of 'Fontius'? Is it Fon-shus or Fon-t-us?
Yep, the Orpheum was demolished in 1967, and has been a surface lot for the last 40 years. I wish someone would calculate exactly how much value was destroyed (in dollar terms) by the demolition of our historic buildings during "urban renewal." The total must be well into the billions. Imagine what something like the Orpheum would be worth today, even in dilapidated condition.
That article is really great…I can't wait to see what Mr. Makovsky has planned. Denver owes you many thanks! By the sounds of the article it will be a fairly large…possibly skyline redefining project.
'Font-shus' is close to the way I recall Harry Fontius pronouncing his name.
Harry might pronounce it differently, but everyone I know refers to it as "font-ee-us".
All advertisements for the shoe store pronounced it "Fon-shus".