Denver Photo Archives

Back in the early 1980's, Denver had become stagnant city in terms of politics and a decaying infrastructure. In search of new visions and the need to propel our city into the future, the people elected a young man, named Federico Pena, Mayor of Denver in 1983.

Although not sure what it meant, the people of Denver decided to embark upon a new visionary future. Believing in promise and armed with faith, they saw their cow town as a progressive and emerging city in the country. People of Hispanic, Black and White backgrounds brought energy for change; change that would affect everyone. But they needed a leader, someone filled with the same spirit and drive. Federico Pena represented that spirit. And so, a new journey began.

A shell of our city remained, some old buildings and some new, an obsolete transportation system; we needed to move fast into the future. A city is like a person, all parts need to be healthy and working well to move forward - the decision was made for transplants and surgery.

You have a competition for a city, like everything else in the world, you grow or decline. If a city is progressive enough to forge a visionary path, that city will triumph over others. So many ingredients to the equation: equality, education, commerce, environment, infrastructure, dreams and vision.

# Groundbreaking at Denver International Airport.
Mayor Pena , left 1989

Architecture In Our Lives

Denver's older buildings are our architectural heritage and part of the the foundation that helps us bond our past and future. I mention again, Denver's older buildings are our architectural heritage and part of our foundation that helps us bond our past with the future.

Remember those buildings our parents worked in, where we were married, buildings we visited as a child? Our architectural heritage is part of our history as people and community. We sometimes mistakenly pay more attention to the daily bad news on television than our buildings that are truly our proud companions. When we go to work, walk around our city, look at a beautiful city vista, part of that belongs to us. Architects,
construction workers, city planners, and us the community, have been a part of the making of our city.

Looking N.W. from the 5th floor of the Volker Building onto the
area of 15th Street and Wynkoop St. 1987

When we look at or go into the Brown Palace Hotel, Equitable Building, Oxford Hotel, Union Station, Capital and Civic Center, Wynkoop Brewing Company, Edbrooke , Acme, Volker, Flour Mill, Streetcar, or any other prominent historic building we are looking at some of our history that was a gift from the past.

Many, many other areas of Denver, outside of the downtown area, offer the same important history and architecture. Take a walk around our neighborhoods and enjoy the past...and plan for the future.

- Kim Allen

My Thoughts On Denver

The intention of the Denver Photo Archives blog is to share my photos and experiences, and write about my thoughts on Denver.

These images and articles will hopefully create some thoughts and some healthy dialogue on the content.

I welcome correspondence and encourage your communication. I will respectfully reply to all comments.

Most images on this blog are for sale. Please refer to the Pricing Page.

Kim Allen

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