State Capitol Annex

The State Capitol Annex is one of my favorite buildings in the Civic Center.

CapitolAnnex

Funded by the federal Public Works Administration (PWA) and the Works Progress Administration (WPA), the Capitol Annex was completed in 1939 as an addition to the 1894 Capitol Building located across 14th Avenue.  According to the National Register nomination [PDF], the Annex and adjacent Boiler Plant were designed by a group of architects known as the Associated Architects for the Colorado State Capitol Annex Building, led by G. Meredith Musick [PDF], a well-known and prolific Denver architect.  Other architects in the group included Arthur A. Fisher, Sidney G. Frazier, F.E. Mountjoy, C. Francis Pillsbury and Charles E. Thomas.  Several of these architects went on to collaborate on other projects as the local economy began to improve in the 1940s.  The general contractor, the F.E. Kirchhof Construction Company, was also prolific in the early part of the twentieth century.

CapitolAnnexfront

This majestic building is like a recipe book of Art Deco features: setbacks, curved corners, windows stacked in vertical piers, and stylized ornament carved in low relief.
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