CREJ - Building Dialogue - June 2017
Standing at the intersection of 44th and Alcott, you can get an authentic taste of Denver’s streetcar legacy, updated for the 21st century. The project at this intersection, now known as Cobbler’s Corner, is a case study in how to bring continuity and character to infill development. Built in the 1920s, the building on the southeast corner of the intersection was home to the Alcott Shoe Shop, the business of Thomas and Catherine Pottle. A neighborhood grocery, bakery and creamery also leased space in the building. This cluster of small, independent businesses was not unusual in Denver at the time, and is in fact replicated in neighborhoods across the city, where streetcar lines fostered embedded mixed-use districts to service the surrounding neighborhood. Sometimes these districts are large, like South Pearl Street in Platt Park or Tennyson in Berkeley. More often, they are less than a block long and marked by only a handful of structures. A 2013 study by Beth Glandon, now the director of Discover Denver for Historic Denver Inc., identified 62 streetcar districts spread across the city. As Glandon explained, for nearly 80 years, Denver streetcars transported passengers throughout the city for work, play and errands. After the street railway system in Denver ceased operation, miles of streetcar track were simply paved over to make way for automobiles. Occasionally, rails still pop up through the asphalt after a long winter. Other telltale signs of former streetcar routes are unusually wide streets with sweeping corners. Denver’s streetcar system began just 12 years after the founding of the city and physically shaped Denver as we know it today. The Denver Horse Railroad Co. began operation of the city’s first streetcar line in 1871 with “horsecars” – cars guided by fixed rails and pulled by horses (or, often mules), transporting riders along the route. The 1880s saw 15 new streetcar companies begin operation and developer-run streetcar lines took prospective buyers to remote Denver suburbs such as Berkeley and Park Hill. These lines were instrumental in stretching Denver’s boundaries. Some expansion occurred after the turn of the century, but never at the torrid pace of the 1880s and early 1890s. The shift to buses and “trolley coaches” accelerated through 1950 when streetcar service was eliminated completely. Many of the bus routes that replaced the streetcar lines continue to run along the former streetcar routes, often bearing the same route number. Many of the old streetcar districts, both large and small, are experiencing a renewed level of investment because they foster walkability, small businesses, and local dining and shopping options. A 2014 study conducted by the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Green Lab, titled “Older, Smaller, Better,” divided sections of three major cities into grids and compared a variety of social, economic and environmental factors to determine the ingredients of successful neighborhoods. The grid squares with a mix of building ages, developed at a human scale with plenty of historic character, scored better on nearly every measure, including their ability to attract creative entrepreneurs, minority-owned businesses, and activity throughout the day. “Many of the highest-performing grid squares in the study cities are commercial areas with buildings that date to the streetcar era.” The study went on to specifically recommend that cities “steward the streetcar legacy” in order to build successful, vibrant and equitable communities. This is exactly what Jack Pottle and his partner Paul Tamburello of Generator Development did with the old Alcott Shoe Shop building, which had most recently been used as the Germinal Stage Theater. Pottle had strong memories of the place, having visited his grandparents’ business as a child. He had a vision and commitment to honor the qualities of the building and the streetcar district while infusing new life into the increasingly popular neighborhood. Generator Development restored the 4,500-square-foot historic building, and built a companion one-story building with traditional, transparent storefront spaces on the adjacent parking lot in order to maintain the human scale and character of the original district. Then, they added a little more intensity and square footage with subtle two-story development behind the shorter buildings, providing 9,000 sf of new retail, restaurant and workshop space on the block. Through the Cobbler’s Corner project, Generator Development demonstrated how to elegantly steward the streetcar legacy, and how to work with the inherent character and pattern of a place. Other streetcar districts should look to this model to ensure that out-of-scale and incompatible new buildings don’t erase the very fabric that holds our most popular neighborhoods together. As our streetcar commercial districts continue to experience intense development activity, projects that work with, not against, the grain will prove better for our city in the long run. PHOTOS: Historic Denver OPENING ART: An authentic taste of Denver’s streetcar legacy, updated for the 21st century, sits on 44th and Alcott in what is now known as Cobbler’s Corner, a case study in how to bring continuity and character to infill development. ABOVE: An early 20th century example of streetcar commercial architecture located at 22nd and York Street near City Park.