Are Colfax motels worthy of preservation?

Samuel Holt/Unsplash

Somebody wants to tear down the Royal Palace motel at 1565 Colorado Blvd.

That’s the one with the disco ball atop the sign at the corner of Colfax and Colorado. Several News Break readers have suggested in recent comments on articles about homelessness that the shuttered structure be used as a shelter. The city even fielded proposals for that purpose a few years back.

But now property owner Jeff Oberg of Denver wants to tear the motel down. He filed a certificate of demolition eligibility April 23 with the city.

The staff report on the matter is a lively tale of the motel’s checkered past. But it also discusses motels on Colfax that may have historical significance, the Royal Palace among them.

During the past month, many Denverites scoffed at the possibility of Denver7’s concrete modernism building receiving landmark status. The council decided not to grant the historical designation, but not until after an exceptionally long meeting.

It begs the question whether other Colfax motels could soon face the wrecking ball. The city is experiencing rapid growth and space is needed for housing.

But are the hotels on Colfax worth saving, or just eyesores?

What makes the Royal Palace special?

According to the staff report, the Royal Palace hotel qualifies for landmark protection. The structure maintains its original integrity and it is more than 30 years old. It qualifies for three of 10 attributes (the minimum) on a city checklist for granting landmark status.

Its qualifying characteristics are:

· “It embodies the distinctive visible characteristics of an architectural style or type.” According to the staff report, “The Royal Palace Motel embodies the distinctive visible characteristics of the mid-twentieth century motel type. It is a good example of the urban motel form influenced by the International Style.

“Urban motels are a variation of the mid-century motel type that are taller with a more compact design to fit with their location in more densely developed areas. The one to two-story design is replaced with four to five stories and U-shaped or other linear plans are replaced by a space-saving rectangular plan. The International Style was also more commonly used for taller motels in an urban setting.”

Motel signs like this one can be found throughout Denver.Mana5280/Unsplash

· “It represents an established and familiar feature of the neighborhood, community or contemporary city, due to its prominent location or physical characteristics.” According to the staff report, the structure qualifies because of “Its prominent location at the intersection of Colorado Boulevard and Colfax Avenue and physical characteristics including its eye-catching sign.” There’s that disco ball again.

“The motel is located at intersection of two major commercial thoroughfares: Colorado and Colfax. Though the prominence of Colfax as a tourist corridor was reduced with construction of Interstate 70, this remained among Denver’s busiest intersections, connecting two of Denver’s major arterial roads.”

The staff report concludes The Royal Palace Motel “is a good example of Roadside Architecture. Roadside Architecture is defined by its relationship to the road. It is intended to serve those arriving by automobile and designed to for maximum roadside visibility and recognition.”

· “It promotes understanding and appreciation of the urban environment by means of distinctive physical characteristics or rarity.” The staff report waxes nostalgic about Colfax’s heyday, which gave way in the 1970s to a seedy demise. “The motel tells the story of midcentury commercial/tourist development of Colorado and Colfax. It is a remnant that represents the heyday of motels along Colfax.

“As perceptions and use of motels changed over time, the Royal Palace Motel also represents the grittier era of Colfax history. The popularity of the automobile increased immensely in the mid- to late-1950s, and there is a direct correlation between the growth of the motel industry and the increased number of automobiles on roads and highways.

“Roadside commerce emerged during this era resulting in commercial development along roadways outside downtowns where there was ample room to create parking areas to accommodate automobiles. This historic trend represents an important era in the physical growth of cities and towns, and it resulted in the rise of new property types such as motels and shopping plazas.”

Fountain Inn already designated historic

Other East Colfax hotels also may qualify for historic designation, according to the staff report. “There were once more than fifteen motels along Colfax in Denver and only a handful of these have survived.”

One of many hotel signs on Colfax.Photo/Library of Congress.

The Fountain Inn already has landed on the National Register of Historic Places. According to its nomination papers, “As a luxury, 54-room motor hotel, with a restaurant component and 111 parking spaces, the Fountain Inn was a full-service hospitality business that supported tourists, travelers, and local residents by providing lodging and entertainment.

“The Fountain Inn is also significant … as an excellent example of the post- World War II hotel/motel building type and a representative expression of Modern Movement architecture, specifically International Style design principles as applied to the motel type.”

The ongoing debate over historic Colfax

Now the strip of Colfax is known for cut-rate motel prices and long-term rentals. If the old hotels were rehabbed for homeless housing, those on the verge of homelessness would not have to travel far.

The staff report quotes Amy Unger, State and National Register Coordinator at History Colorado, as saying “Well-preserved examples of mid-century modern motels like the Fountain Inn are relatively rare along East Colfax, and oftentimes underappreciated. It is wonderful to see the historical and architectural importance of this property recognized and celebrated.”

Whatever the future holds for Colfax, Denver has a long and rich history of debating the corridor’s merits or lack thereof. In the 1970s, residents created a ruckus over all the flashing neon signs on Colfax.

“Capitol Hill United Neighbors began a campaign to eliminate flashing and moving signs,” according to the staff report. The group “objected to the signs because ‘their ugliness contributes to the visual deterioration of the neighborhood and because they are wasteful of energy in a time when energy should only be used for necessary purposes.’

“The April 1975 issue of The Urban Dweller thanked the businesses that had changed their signs and called out those who still had flashing or moving signs. The Royal Palace Motel was among the later.”

Will Colfax motels shine again or be demolished?

The Royal Palace Motel’s attorney, Gilbert Goldstein, was quoted in The Urban Dweller newsletter. According to Goldstein, these motel signs were not “garish and ugly, but on the contrary, in my view are quite attractive and perform a useful function.’”

Whether the motels can continue to serve a useful function in their current forms is up for debate.

The city adopted a plan for the corridor last year. Its vision for 2040 reads “Colfax Avenue has retained its unique, gritty character while evolving into a community destination and a gateway that celebrates recent arrivals who’ve come to call the east area home.

“Renovated shopfront buildings, repurposed and fixed up motels, and distinctive neon signs intermingle with new mixed-income and mixed- use, multi-story buildings along the iconic street.”

The city still has nearly 20 years to make its vision for Colfax come true.

Follow me to see more articles like this.

...

Follow