Boulder City Council shows support for historic district that includes Bandshell, civic area

Jun. 15—Despite a push from historic preservation advocates and community members, the landmark designation boundaries of the historic Glen Huntington Bandshell won't be amended to include all of Central Park.

At least not for now.

After a lengthy discussion Tuesday, a majority of the Boulder City Council decided against approving the amendment to the landmark designation for the site at 1236 Canyon Blvd. originally approved almost three decades ago.

The 5-4 decision went against the recommendation of the Landmarks Board in favor of the staff recommendation: In lieu of an expanded designation now, instead take a more holistic look into a larger, more encompassing historic district that acknowledges the historic resources in the area and the evolution of the place over time.

"This is essentially the heart of Boulder," Senior Historic Preservation Planner James Hewat said Tuesday.

Mayor Pro Tem Rachel Friend and City Council members Mark Wallach, Tara Winer and Bob Yates were the dissenting votes. They supported the amendment at least in part because Hewat indicated there wouldn't be any real harm in approving it ahead of a more formal process to consider a more formal historic district that is likely to kick off next year.

Other council members viewed it differently. From their perspective, there is no sense of urgency since there is no threat to the Central Park area.

The Glen Huntington Bandshell was originally designated as a historic landmark in 1996. However, the originally approved designation does not extend much past the stage and the seating because of the historic trains that had been on display there.

According to staff, the intention had always been to extend the boundary so the landmark designation includes all of Central Park.

In the public hearing, every person spoke in favor of amending the landmark designation.

"We feel the time is now," Landmarks Board Vice Chair Abby Daniels said at Tuesday's meeting.

Likewise, Kathryn Barth with Friends of the Bandshell said the group's reason for requesting the expansion was a largely practical one. The group wants to ensure the site's designation is joined as Boulder moves forward with projects made possible by the community, culture, resilience and safety tax extension approved by the voters last fall.

"We did not want the Bandshell and its site to be divided," Barth said.

A number of the City Council members said the process is an inefficient one. Friend, for example, said she'd rather go ahead with the landmark designation expansion to avoid spending more Council time on the subject in the future.

The reason for the recommended delay was to ensure more time for collaboration between the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board and the Landmarks Board, both of whom would have a say over the historic district and any change in the area.

The Parks and Recreation board had concerns about the proposal considered by the City Council on Tuesday because of the lack of engagement and the timing of the discussion.

Toward the end of the discussion, members of the Boulder City Council gave informal direction to the city planning staff to begin work on the historic district next year.

That was likely to happen either way, staff noted.

"Frankly, we do think it is a priority," Hewat said.