13,000

This morning I woke up to fog and the tops of the buildings lost in the clouds. So unusual for Denver! See Extra photo. It was a bit cooler today, but not by much! I took the bus later to go buy groceries and had an impromptu taco lunch as well. I finally decided this afternoon to use the pool at the condo. It’s wonderful to have it and I should make better use of it! The two towering skyscrapers overlooking the pool have both been built since I bought this condo 11 years ago. The one on the right was only finished last year.

A few days ago I posted a picture of an historic building designed by prominent Denver architect Frank Edbrooke. It’s been interesting to see how many other historic buildings in Denver were also designed by this architect or his firm. This one is attributed to his nephew, Harry Edbrooke.

This is the Denver Gas & Electric building and it is just one block away from my condo. Built in 1910, this 10-story building was considered a skyscraper in its day, made possible by the invention of the elevator and steel-framed construction.

In the early 20th century Denver was becoming known as the ‘City of Lights’ because of the illuminated downtown skyline. This building, with its 13,000 lightbulbs embedded in its white terra cotta facade, was considered the best illuminated building in the world.

“The Gas & Electric Building provided visual evidence of the new prominence of electrical technology in American life and of Denver’s status as a modern city....As one of the rapidly growing “instant cities” of the American West, Denver provided an ideal market for utility companies seeking to promote electric- and gas-powered appliances as a necessary element of the modern home.”

When the lights were initially switched on, 75,000 people, a third of the city’s residents, attended the event. The lights went dark for a time during WW2 when there were mandatory blackouts. In later years the building was renamed and used by Public Service (utilities) of Colorado until they moved to another location in 1992. The building was once again dark until it was restored and relit in 1999. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Other interesting facts:
“The basement has an artesian well that was once used to cool the refrigeration equipment for the building and there are three original coal fired boilers used for the steam heat in the building. A coal train would come up the alley and dump coal down the coal shoot for the men to shovel into the boilers.

In order to have restrooms in the building, the floors were raised to accommodate the plumbing. Each floor has a mail shoot that dropped the mail into the mailbox in the lobby to be picked up by the mail carriers.”

Quotes above from these two websites:
https://www.theclio.com/web/entry?id=24111

http://910telecom.com/history/