Landmark Preservation Commission

Overview

The function of the Landmark Preservation Commission is to designate, preserve, enhance, and perpetuate structures or districts that have architectural, historical, geographic or cultural significance within the city of Denver. 

Agenda items for consideration can include the following:

  • Recommendations to City Council on historic designations
  • Design review for new construction, alterations, demolitions and zone lot amendments for designated historic  properties/districts
  • Review of historic rehabilitation tax credit projects
  • Adoption of policies and procedures related to historic preservation

General Meeting Information

  • Time and date: The commission meets the first and third Tuesdays of every month at 1 p.m.
  • Location: Meetings are held in Room 4.F.6 of the Webb Municipal Building (201 West Colfax Ave) with virtual options via Zoom for applicants and members of the public.
  • Virtual access: Members of the public may participate virtually via Zoom. Meeting links and call-in information is posted for every meeting. 
  • Accessibility: If you need a sign language interpreter or CART Services, contact SignLanguageServices@denvergov.org at least three business days ahead of the meeting you'd like to attend. For other public accommodation requests/concerns related to a disability, please contact DisabilityAccess@denvergov.org. 

See info for March 7 meeting

See info for March 21 meeting

Information for Presenters

Submission and Staff Review

Once a project is submitted, Landmark Preservation staff works with the applicant to ensure that the project meets the design guidelines, the materials are complete and to write a staff report and create a presentation for LPC members that includes a recommendation of approval, approval with conditions, or denial for the project. Because this process takes several weeks, complete submittals must be received at least four weeks prior to a commission meeting date to have a chance to make it onto that agenda.

Agendas are capped at a certain number of projects. Projects with complete applications are added to the agendas on a first come first served basis, and once an agenda is full, projects are scheduled for the next available LPC meeting. Please note that when we receive a high volume of projects, specific dates are not guaranteed. 

Helpful Downloads

 

Members

The commission is made up of nine Denver members who are appointed by the mayor, serve three-year terms and receive no compensation. Members must include the following:

  • two recommended by Denver's American Institute of Architecture 
  • two recommended by History Colorado
  • two recommended by the Planning Board 
  • two at-large members 
  • one member appointed by the American Society of Landscape Architects

George Dennis

  • Nominated by History Colorado
  • Term expires 3/31/2025

George Dennis began his interest in Denver’s historic homes and history while restoring an 1886 Queen Anne in Congress Park and volunteering as a docent at the Molly Brown House Museum in the late 70’s. George’s latest project is a 1911 Spanish Revival/Mission restoration in Park Hill. After researching and writing the application, with the guidance of Landmark staff, the Kittredge-Ginsberg-Forrest (KGF) House received Landmark Designation in December of 2020, the first in North Park Hill. His particular interest is energy efficiency and economy in older homes keeping them relevant and affordable in the present day. With solar power driving a geothermal system, KGF House is very nearly carbon neutral. Dennis holds a BS in Marketing from Metro State and an MBA in Finance from the University of Colorado.

Eären Hummel

  • Nominated by the American Society of Landscape Architects
  • Term expires 3/31/2024

Eären Hummel is a licensed landscape architect with over 20 years of experience. She has worked on projects throughout the United States for both public and private clients and has designed and managed projects that range from intimate private gardens to large community parks, and from urban streetscapes to park system master plans. She has participated in natural and cultural resource assessment projects that spanned multiple states. Her passion is in creating and cultivating spaces where people can live and thrive – to enhance and support a community for all. In her work, her goal is to find creative solutions that respect and complement the local setting by sensitively integrating contemporary needs into each place. With a background in historic preservation, she looks for the unique character of places and how to tell the stories of each place. She is a member of the American Society of Landscape Architects.

Graham Johnson

  • Nominated by Denver Planning Board
  • Term expires 3/31/2025

Graham Johnson is a Denver native and project manager for Spectrum General Contractors. He is also a resident of the Witter-Cofield Historic District. His background includes a B.S. in Architectural Engineering and M.S. in Historic Preservation from the University of Colorado Boulder and Denver. In the past 10 years Graham has helped manage and taken part in numerous preservation projects around Colorado including state and local landmarks, State Historic Fund restorations and adaptive reuse build-outs. His hands-on restoration experience has been built from combined passions for preserving architectural history and timeless craftsmanship. Graham is also a member of the board of Colorado Preservation, Inc.

Julie Johnson, Vice-Chair

  • At large member
  • Term expires 3/31/2025 

Julie Johnson serves as the Historic Preservation Project Manager for the City of Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks, which manages 45,000 acres around Boulder. She is a fourth generation Coloradoan with family ties both in mining and agriculture. Julie was raised on the Weld County cattle ranch homesteaded by her grandmother’s family in 1910. She is a graduate of Prairie High School in New Raymer, Colorado, and graduated from the University of Denver with both Bachelors and Masters degrees in Mass Communication. Julie began her historic preservation career by volunteering at the Molly Brown House Museum and Historic Denver, Inc. She was the Executive Director of Anchorage Historic Properties, Inc. in Anchorage, Alaska where her favorite project was the $1.7 million renovation of Old City Hall in 1995. She later joined the National Park Service as a writer/historian for the Alaska Regional Office where she authored “A Wild Discouraging Mess: The History of the White Pass Unit of the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park.” She joined the Board of Directors of Colorado Preservation, Inc in January 2013. She served on the board for six years, including two years as Chairman and two years as Conference Chairman. In her ‘spare time’ Julie works on her 111-year-old house in Denver’s historic Whittier neighborhood.

Gary Petri

  • Nominated by Denver Planning Board
  • Term expires 3/31/2024

Gary Petri is a licensed architect with more than 45 years of experience. He is currently engaged in private practice as a consulting architect in the field of historic preservation and planning. His professional experience includes 30 years of involvement in historic preservation, as well as design and planning for college campuses, “Main Street” communities, municipalities, State and County governments and nonprofit organizations. He has led more than 150 historic preservation projects, involving more than 400 buildings in six states. He has supervised or authored more than 100 historic structure assessments and preservation master plans including the original officers’ quarters at Fort Lyon, Denver’s Union Station, the Emily Griffith Opportunity School and Technical College in downtown Denver, St. John in the Wilderness Cathedral, Cleveholm Manor, and the Byers Evans House. He was the principal architect for the award winning Tivoli Student Union Revitalization project, the University Center for the Arts for Colorado State University in Fort Collins, the Emerson School, and Denver’s City and County Building exterior rehabilitation. Gary completed the National Western Historic Preservation Study for the North Denver Cornerstone Collaborative of the Denver Mayor’s Office. He recently completed a 6-year term on the Lower Downtown Design Review Board.

Larry Sykes

  • Nominated by History Colorado
  • Term expires 3/31/2025 

Larry Sykes is a licensed architect with over fifteen years of experience, focused on residential architecture. His professional experience includes additions to and renovations of historic homes in addition to well-crafted contemporary projects. He is a member of the American Institute of Architects, and was 2020 co-chair of the AIA Colorado Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee. He previously served as a member of the Denver Public Art Committee. Larry holds a Bachelor of Environmental Design from the University of Colorado at Boulder, and is the owner of architecture firm Sykes Projects.




Erika Warzel

  • At large member
  • Term expires 3/31/2023

Erika Warzel has over fifteen years of professional experience in historic preservation and architectural history, with projects across Colorado. Before founding Clerestory Preservation, a historic preservation consulting firm in Denver, Erika worked for over a decade with the Colorado State Historic Preservation Office. A fourth-generation Coloradan, Erika has a B.A. from St. John's College in Santa Fe and an M.S. in Historic Preservation from Columbia University. She is especially interested in how historic places can help tell the untold or underrepresented stories of our collective past.

Anne Wattenberg

  • Nominated by the American Institute of Architects
  • Term expires 3/31/2024

Anne Wattenberg has a Master of Architecture from Harvard University. She has been a practicing architect for 30 years specializing in cultural non-profits, she has worked on projects as diverse as Chicago’s John J. Shedd Aquarium, Renzo Piano’s Modern Wing of the Art Institute of Chicago and recently led the architectural team for the Carnegie Hall Studio Towers Renovation Project which won a 2017 National American Institute of Architecture award. She and her husband Peter Buttrick have been in Denver for 11 years. They live in William Muchow’s F.A.I.A. 1953 home; Anne’s restoration won a 2017 Mayor’s Design Award. Anne is a member of the American Institute of Architects and is also on the Board of Friends of Chamber Music.

Kelly Wemple, Chair

  • Nominated by the American Institute of Architects
  • Term expires 3/31/2023

Kelly Wemple is a licensed architect at Eppstein Uhen Architects. She earned a Bachelor of Environmental Design degree with an emphasis in Architecture from the University of Colorado Boulder and holds Master degrees in both Architecture and Historic Preservation from the University of Colorado Denver, where she was the first to receive the Historic Preservation Exemplary Student Award. Kelly has ten years of experience working on historic buildings. She also has experience working on new construction and existing building renovations, primarily in the public sector including libraries, schools, and civic buildings. Her experience includes the rehabilitation of the McNichols Building in Civic Center Park, the General Assembly Rooms at the Colorado State Capitol, the restoration of the Historic Elitch Gardens Theatre, and numerous Historic Structure Assessments throughout Colorado. Kelly is a member of the American Institute of Architects and board member on the Rocky Mountain Chapter of the Association for Preservation Technology.

Meeting Records

View recorded meetings on YouTube

2022 Landmark Preservation Commission Meeting Records

2021 Landmark Preservation Commission Meeting Records

2020 Landmark Preservation Commission Meeting Records

 

 

Contact the Commission

Governing Documents

Apply to Serve on the Commission

If you are interested in serving on the Landmark Preservation Commission, contact the Denver Boards and Commissions office for more information and an application form.

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