2015 March Renaissance Denver Downtown City Center

Renaissance Denver Downtown City Center

WHAT: RMGA March Program - Renaissance Denver Downtown City Event Center Hotel. The Colorado National Bank Building has been recreated into the new Renaissance Denver Downtown.

WHEN: March 9th 2015 - 6:30pm – 7:00pm Networking, 7:00pm – 8:00pm Tour and Historic presentation, 8:00pm – 8:15pm Business Meeting

WHERE: 918 17th Street, Denver, CO 80202 (Corner of 17th Street and Champa)

PROGRAM: Learn how the new Four Diamond hotel, a historic gem recreated in the Colorado National Bank Building, has been transformed into this beautiful new hotel. Featuring a stunning three story atrium lobby of Colorado Yule White Marble colonnades (the same marble used on the Capitol floor and the Lincoln Memorial) and original works of famous Colorado muralists Allen Tupper True installed in 1925, titled “Indian Memories”. This hotel is a clever blending of Colorado’s past and present in its architecturally significant design and anticipatory service. Completed and opened in time to celebrate the original building’s 100 year anniversary.

Guide Line Review

Renaissance Denver Downtown City Center

The membership meeting was held at the Renaissance Denver Downtown City Center Hotel, formerly the Colorado National Bank Building. The lobby has 16 Allen Tupper True murals – called Indian Memories that focus on the lives of Native Americans. They were painted offsite in oil on canvas and then installed in the bank on plaster walls. These murals depict lives of Native Americans on the plains and constitute a life-line story. These murals cost $18,000 in 1925 when they were installed. (The murals in the Colorado State Capitol rotunda are focused on water and its importance to Colorado – also the colors in the murals at the Capitol are more vibrant). As an aside, Allen True created the bucking bronco symbol that Wyoming uses on their license plates.

The lobby space looks like it did when it was the original banking hall. Judy pointed out the location of the original teller windows and other details of the bank lobby. Inside the 17th Street entrance, to the left, is a history wall, with many photos and comments about the original bank and people who were important to its history. The building is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Our meeting was held downstairs in a meeting room where we were introduced to Judy Esterbrook, Director of Sales and Marketing for the hotel. We were provided excellent refreshments. After a short business meeting, Judy presented a video that she produced about the history of the bank/hotel. Many of the speakers in the video are former employees, or the families of former employees, presenting their own memories of the bank. There were also historic photos depicting various periods in the building’s history.

The hotel is part of Marriott Rewards and is owned by Stonebridge, whose headquarters are here in Denver. The hotel was designed to be a unique hotel and has 230 rooms and seven suites, average cost per night in a hotel room is $250 – depending on the season and availability. The suites are priced at $400 - $500/night, again depending on the season and availability.

Originally the building was constructed to be the Colorado National Bank Building. Built in 1915, it was half the size it is today. The architects were Fisher and Fisher. The bank was erected as a four story building at a cost of $500,000 and the 1925 addition cost another $500,000. There were 6,000 visitors to the bank when it first opened in 1915. In 1925 the size of the bank was doubled by taking over the May Company space next door. On the lower level, you will see a portion of the foundation for each building. The Allen True murals were added in 1925 as well. In the 1960s, two more floors were added, using Colorado Yule marble to match the original. And, again in 2009, two more floors were added – making a total of 8. The top two floors look different from the others and are also differentiated on the exterior. The renovation cost $50 million and the hotel has been open not quite two years.

When renovations were started in 2009, the foundation had to have some reconstruction in order to add the last two floors, the original foundation was not adequate for more height. The building had been vacant for a couple of years before Stonebridge converted it into the hotel. Stonebridge found that the steel and the marble (columns in front of the bank) were in good shape. The marble is Colorado marble. During the renovations, two of the vaults were removed, though three remain. All the vaults were built on site and the building was built around them. Stonebridge used $50,000 worth of blades to cut up and remove the vaults. The vault walls are three feet thick.

In 1934, the Federal Reserve Bank required all gold to be sent to a Federal Reserve Bank, so the gold stored in the vaults was sent off. When the bank was renovated, there was no gold found in any of the safes. Nor were any ghosts found.

Coach loading access in on the Champa Street side, there is no parking or loading on the 17th Street side. The driveway/porte cochère is also not accessible for an OTR coach though vans can load and unload here.

The hotel has a top-rated restaurant – range – which serves American cuisine and Southwest flavors and there is also a bar on the main lobby level.

Meeting room space of more than 6,000 sq. ft. is available. Each meeting room is named to emphasize the history of the property. There is the Kountze Boardroom – named for the Kountze family, who started a bank in Omaha, Nebraska which is still in business (6th generation) and founded the Kountze Brothers Bank in Denver which became Colorado National Bank. The Boardroom was originally the largest vault in the bank. This vault has two doors – both of which were operational when Stonebridge took over the property. The vault doors weigh 60,000 pounds and are still balanced well enough so that they move easily.

The Fisher room is named for the original architects and the Hoyt room named for the architect of the second renovation. Dignity, Endurance, and Beauty tie into Allen True's depiction of the Native American murals in the lobby.

---Nancy Brueggeman