Photo: Gone but not forgotten: El Chapultepec and David Booker | By John Wenzel, The Denver Post | Historic Denver on Monday filed a landmark designation application to save the El Chapultepec building, at 1962 Market St. in Lower Downtown Denver, from demolition by its owner, the Monfort Companies. “The buildings that tell the story of our city aren’t necessarily the glamorous gems that stand out,” said John Deffenbaugh, president and CEO of Historic Denver. “Sometimes they’re subtle, discrete and sit in the background. What sets this apart is the incredible music that took place inside over a very long period of time and the national reputation it earned.”
Monfort Companies, which has owned the building since November 2022, has designed a new bar and restaurant at the site that would remove the old building and replace it with a connected structure and a sprawling patio, according to architectural renderings by Circle West Architects. The iconic El Chapultepec signage, and a possible Hollywood Walk of Fame-style installation of past musical legends, are under discussion to mark the site’s history, according to Monfort Cos.
Monfort picked up the property after the long-running club El Chapultepec closed in 2020. El Chapultepec opened as a restaurant and, later, became a crucial music venue and gathering place over the course of its 87 years. The Monfort Cos. deal in 2022 also included the Giggling Grizzly property on the corner of 20th and Market streets. Monfort purchased both for $5.38 million, according to property records.
The landmark designation application filed by Historic Denver was “extremely surprising” to Monfort Cos., said executive vice president Kenneth Monfort, whose uncle, Dick Monfort, and father, Charles Monfort, own the Colorado Rockies. Coors Field is only a few blocks from El Chapultepec, and the brothers, as well as Monfort Cos, have been developing and building new properties in the area — including the massive McGregor Square.
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This is a developing story that will be updated.
Read the rest here:
https://www.denverpost.com/2024/03/12/el-chapultepec-historic-preservation-petition-demolition-monfort-companies/
Photo: El Chapultepec w-David Booker | From El Chapultepec’s Facebook page
March 14, 2024| Colorado Music-Related Business| Barb Dye