Before 16th Street was christened a “mall” back in 1982 and officially became a pedestrian-centered thoroughfare, it was just like any other street downtown. If you didn’t get to experience that auto-friendly version of the strip, it can be hard to picture just how different these 13 blocks of built environment looked way back when.
Luckily, architecture photographer Thorney Lieberman was there, working for world renowned architecture firm I.M. Pei & Partners — the designers of the original 16th Street Mall concept — and he captured this urban landscape on the verge of a massive transformation. The Denver Public Library acquired a collection of Lieberman’s images, which include many a department store, empty parking lot, and office building along 16th, as well as the hotels, movie palaces, and restaurants on surrounding blocks.
The Kittredge Building on 16th Street and Glenarm Place in 1979, when it was home to the Paramount Theatre and Critic’s Choice Restaurant and Lounge. (Thorney Lieberman / Denver Public Library Special Collections; C Photo Collection 455.)
The image at the top of this story is of several businesses at Court Place and 16th Street, including a Japanese restaurant, a souvenir store, and an optical shop. The second floor of the strip is occupied by Gart Bros., the sporting goods empire that once ruled the Mile High City (with the former Gart “Sports Castle” on Broadway being their most famous location). The building and the businesses along 16th are long gone and have since been replaced by an office building with restaurants on the ground floor.
Special thanks to the Denver Public Library and Thorney Lieberman Photography for their reporting and additional resources on this topic.
