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On December 14, about 250
members of the South Metro Denver Chamber of Commerce parked
their cars in a parking lot at 2069 West Littleton Boulevard
and walked up the stairs of the newly renovated Littleton Municipal
Court House. Once inside, they walked up the main staircase
and entered a room where a feast awaited them. The city of Littleton
served as the host of the party.
The gathering wasn't unusual;
every month a member of the chamber hosts a Business After Hours
(BAH) get-together. What was unusual about this particular meeting
was that those gathered couldn't have gathered in that particular
place a year, five years, or ten years ago-which is how long
the building stood empty until earlier this year.
The day in 1908 when the
county clerk, sheriff, superintendent of schools, assessor,
treasurer and county commissioners moved into their brand new
"Temple of Justice" was a significant day for citizens and county
workers as well. Littleton had fought long and hard to earn
the title of county seat and proudly took their places in the
offices of their new building. At the end of the day, they left
the building on the hill east of the Santa Fe depot and above
Main Street, where they could proudly look over downtown Littleton
and Main Street.
Not every one had to leave
the building to go home, though. Up until the early 1960s, the
sheriff and his family called the building home, as did the
lawbreakers who found themselves in jail cells in the basement,
under the watchful eye of the sheriff.
Over the years the small
town grew; downtown Littleton prospered, adding a grocery store,
a hardware stores, a library, and other institutions. Martin
Marietta moved to town, bringing with it the need for more homes
to house their workers.
The courthouse remained
the focal point of the community.
As the town grew, so did
the need for the courthouse to grow. In 1948, there was a need
to add a 21,987 square foot west annex to the building, which
was a bit of an eyesore, doubling the size of the courthouse.
The two buildings were connected by a 16' x 18' hallway.
In 1974, wood paneling was
installed in the courtrooms, and other improvements were made.
In 1983, the air conditioning system was updated. Glass block
replaced the original windows in two courtrooms; rumor has it
that this was done after someone fired shots at a judge as he
sat near one of the large windows.
Many officials came and
went in the building. In the mid-1980s, County Judge (now Chief
Judge) Ken Stuart noticed that the ceiling had begun to bow
in the courtroom of the once glorious building. Building engineers
inspected it and found that the ceiling beams had begun to collapse;
they immediately condemned and shut down the courtroom.
The usefulness of the Arapahoe
County courthouse was ending. Larger and more functional space
was needed to meet the needs of the court. Besides that, the
roof was plagued with water damage, which had also caused damage
to the interior. Ventilation and environmental systems were
woefully outdated, and there appeared to be decades of needed
improvement. Sadly, the building violated several safety codes.
A study done by an architectural
firm in 1988 indicated that the most feasible solution was demolition
of the existing district court buildings. They discussed the
building of a new, larger facility. But the report also indicated
that the existing building could not be brought up to code totally
because of certain limitations inherent to the type of structure.
For the time, nothing was done with the building.
In 1987, the construction
of the Arapahoe County Justice Center, near Arapahoe Road and
I-25, was completed, and the functions of the old courthouse
were relocated there. Except for storage, as well as occasional
use by Friends of the Library for their book sale and the Santa
Claus Shop, the building stood vacant. The only occupants were
the bats that flew through the attic, the pigeons that left
a trail of droppings up the stairs to the once beautiful cupola,
and the occasional squirrel or rodent that made the building
its home.
After years of neglect,
the building, in danger of the wrecking ball, came to the attention
of John Brackney, a newly elected Arapahoe County commissioner,
in 1997.
It was quite by accident
that Brackney, 34, who grew up in unincorporated Arapahoe County,
became interested in the courthouse.
When the Denver Tech Center
Rotary Club asked Brackney to speak on the future of Arapahoe
County, he first turned his thoughts to the past. He decided
to visit the Littleton Historical Museum and dig through their
files on the rich history of the county. Although he hadn't
intended to, the search was so interesting that he spent several
days looking through drawers of articles and photographs.
"I was looking through
all these old photos and saw a picture of the courthouse, and
thought, 'Where's that?' Although he had driven by the courthouse
several times, he didn't recognize it.
"It wasn't an elegant courthouse,"
said Brackney. "It had a basic beauty with a nice solid structure.
I never was able to see (that) before. I didn't know where it
was because (the original structure) was buried behind the annex.
On the way back I drove by and looked at it."
When Brackney was growing
up, Arapahoe County was still semi-rural. The week he began
running for office as a commissioner, Brackney, a voracious
reader, ran across an article that struck home for him. It was
about the lack of trust that people have developed in institutions,
be it churches, marriage, or government. He determined that
through his office, he would try to rebuild faith in some of
those organizations. Government seemed like a good place to
begin.
Brackney is a strong believer
in the community spirit.
"I believe that we as human
beings still have a desire for that community feeling," said
Brackney. "Even though it's hard to achieve when people are
constantly moving from place to place; they change jobs, churches,
and move away from their families. It's hard to trust each other
when we don't have time to get to know each other. There's just
not as much loyalty, trust, or sense of community that there
once was."
"When I was growing up,
I referred to my home as Denver," said Brackney, "but, locally,
I always associated with Littleton, and specifically, Main Street.
Besides, that, there wasn't much to associate with for mile
after mile. When I remember back to what I really cared about,
I think about my home and my schools. I associated with great
parks on the Highline Canal. I also cared about the prairie
and of course, the mountains. My dad taught me how to shoot
off County Line near Quebec. There were no homes around there."
But Brackney couldn't think
of any structures that would bind the community together-artifices
that the community could associate with and gather around.
It was only natural, with
Brackney's beliefs, to have the courthouse tug at its heartstrings,
as did Littleton's rich history in general.
Consumed with curiosity,
the commissioner confirmed the building was still owned by the
county. That was when he found out that it had been vacant for
10 years. On behalf of the citizens of Arapahoe County, he and
the four other county commissioners took a tour of the building
in March 1997. While there, they saw the old vault, where valuable
paperwork had been stored, studied the interior, and noticed
an opening in the false ceiling that had been added in later
years. The tin roof visible through the opening, and the rest
of the building fascinated Brackney. He knew instantaneously
that the building needed to be saved-not just for the sake of
the building, but for other reasons as well.
Brackney feared that if
the building was left alone for very much longer, eventually,
it would be easier for those who made the decision to say, "let's
just tear it down." True, there would be a substantial cost
associated with restoring the building, but that was better
then paying to tear it down, in its entirety or in part, and
losing the history behind it. His choice would be to tear down
the west annex, and restore the original structure.
Nearly 90 years to the date
after the courthouse originally opened, the drive to save the
courthouse began.
Brackney and a team of local
business owners began exploring the possibility of having a
private party come forth to redevelop the historical building.
Brackney thought it might make a good setting for a coffee shop
or a bookstore.
Meetings were held and memorandums
flew back and forth.
In the spring of 1998, Brackney
and Jerry Heally established a Citizen's Advisory Board and
encouraged anybody who was interested in the courthouse to serve
on the committee. Their object was to find a suitable tenant
for the building.
It would, in the end, be
the city of Littleton that would come to the rescue of the courthouse.
For years the city, which
only had one courtroom and cramped office space for five clerks
and an administrator, had anticipated relocating its municipal
court operations to a new location. But a suitable location
had yet to be found.
Brackney and the other commissioners
began discussions with the Littleton city council, and with
Littleton Mayor pro tem Pat Cronenberger, who represented the
district where the courthouse was located.
"The city was in dire need
of additional court space," said Cronenberger. "We had definitely
outgrown our current space at City Hall, and we needed to find
another building. John Brackney, recently elected, had grown
up in the community, and brought, what I call "new energy" about
thinking about the restoration of the courthouse. He really
got us all more motivated to think in terms of what could be
done with this historic building."
Littleton wanted the building,
but it was difficult to determine how much the restoration of
the original structure would cost; no one knew what damage might
be under the exterior layers that had been added over the years,
and what it would take to repair it.
The county went to work
determining what these costs would be, and what it would cost
to demolish the west annex. After working out a deal with the
Littleton city council, the county came forward with $341,000
to demolish the annex and do all of the abatement that would
be needed, which included removal of hazardous materials, asbestos-containing
materials, and lead paint. The pests that had infiltrated the
building would also need to be "evacuated."
Soon, the dream of turning
the building into Littleton's municipal courthouse was on the
verge of becoming a reality.
On Sept. 1, 1998, the city
approved the building as a Littleton Historical Landmark, under
the Historic Preservation Code. The state historical society
provided a grant of $324,000-the second largest of 112 grants
awarded in the state. The grant stipulated that the funds be
used to restore the exterior of the building to its original
condition. It helped that a lot of people in the community cared
deeply about the building, and for years, had been concerned
about what would become of it. Many of the citizens had expressed
that they couldn't imagine the community without it.
The Littleton City Council
approved a package of ordinances, on May 4, 1999, which paved
the way for the project. The Arapahoe County commissioners transferred
ownership of the property to the Littleton municipal authority,
for $1. This permitted the issuances of Certificates of Participation
to finance the $3.5 million cost of restoration and rehabilitation.
(After 25 years of making payments on the certificates, the
building authority will transfer ownership back to the city.)
On the day that the demolition
of the west annex occurred, citizens, local dignitaries, and
formal court employees gathered to celebrate.
Mary Allman, the director
of the Littleton Historical Museum, took on the difficult task
of managing the project. Her job was to make sure that the exterior
was restored to meet the Secretary of the Interior's standards
for historic preservation, and to ensure that the interior was
modeled to meet the needs of a functional and modern courthouse
for the municipal courts. Not only did the building need to
meet modern code, it also needed to have adequate office space
and up-to-date security and electrical systems.
Allman and those who worked
on the building paid particular attention to the finishes on
the inside, making sure that they retained as much of the historic
surfaces possible.
Sid Pougiales, of the architectural
firm Andrews and Anderson served as principal architect.
During the restoration process,
the west entry, which was destroyed when the 1948 addition was
attached, was reconstructed. The original roof was replaced,
the cupola was restored, and the windows were rehabilitated-quite
like the prisoners that lived there in the past had been. The
original doors and cornice were also restored.
On May 13, 2000, the former
Arapahoe County Courthouse was dedicated and open to the public.
"I was thrilled with how
the Littleton leadership came through," said Brackney. "I actually
didn't think that this could be done during my term of office.
It was done in an extremely limited amount of time."
Brackney recently made
a trip to the courthouse and decided to take the time to stop
in one of the courtrooms and listen to the hearings in progress.
Brackney was fascinated by the way the judge dealt with all
of the people, but he was also moved by the fact that he was
able to deliberate in an historic setting, instead of in an
ordinary courtroom.
"It adds a sense of dignity
and respect towards government," says Brackney. It's awesome.
Every single person who was involved in this should be proud."
Brackney proudly led a tour
of the building on the night of the chamber's party. The tour
included a trip up the stairs, recently cleared of inches of
pigeon poop, to the restored cupola, from where the lights of
the holiday season could be seen on Main Street.
Brackney, one of the leaders
of the movement to establish the city of Centennial, believes
that the building, and the history behind Littleton, is something
that Centennial can learn from.
"I'm not certain what Centennial
is going to identify with," says Brackney. "There's some opportunity
there for visionaries. Is there ever going to be a main street
or a main park or something that Centennial can identify with
five years or 100 years from now? We probably should be doing
some thinking about that."
Brian Vogt, president of
the South Metro Chamber of Commerce, agrees. "One of the great
things about Littleton," Vogt said, "is that the city, considered
by many to be a suburb of Denver but which is actually a freestanding
community, has worked hard to preserve its history, including
downtown Littleton and Main Street. Most true suburbs don't
have a downtown or a main street." He believes that the newly
restored courthouse is another part of this preservation of
history. "When you look up and see that courthouse, it's a connection
to our past."
Arapahoe County Sheriff
Pat Sullivan graduated from Littleton High School in 1962. He
worked as a dispatcher and later, an officer for the Littleton
Police Department. He remembers how the floors creaked in the
building, and how, when the ceiling beams began cracking and
breaking, the building had "a lot of voices." Sullivan said
that when they went to restore the old courthouse, they wanted
to retain as much of the history that they could. Part of that
history was the old vault, that still stands today, where records
were maintained throughput the years.
"(The courthouse) was the
heart of the city," said Sullivan. "Everything rotated around
the county seat. A lot of people identify with Littleton, and
the history behind it. Its something to hang your hat on."
Brackney believes that it
took a real vision for the project to be accomplished, and that
it's something that people can look back on many years from
now, and be proud of. While researching the project, Brackney,
the owner of a vast collection of books of quotes, which are
prominently displayed in his office, doodled on a notebook,
"Those that fail to remember history are doomed to repeat it."
With his part in this project, he is helping to ensure that
a part of Littleton history is remembered.
"It wouldn't have been the
end of the world if it had been torn down," Brackney said. "But
it would have hurt. It sounds a little melodramatic, but I'll
include this as one of my greatest accomplishments. It's not
that I solved the problem-I didn't. Littleton did, but I had
a small part in saving something that I believe is valuable.
I do think that when I'm sitting with my grandchildren on my
lap years from now I can tell them that I had a part of saving
that building."
See our next issue for "The
Early History of Arapahoe County"
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