Architectural plans and drawings of the Denver Museum of Natural History 1908-present.

ArchivalResource

Architectural plans and drawings of the Denver Museum of Natural History 1908-present.

These plans and drawings reflect the history of the Denver Museum of Natural History. The Museum opened to the public in 1908 in a classical revival building that housed glass cases filled with gems, minerals, fossils, taxidermied birds and mammals, and artwork. The first structure of the Museum was the East Wing, finished in 1903, for which no plans or drawings seem to exist, and which only contained a workshop, a heating plant, and collection storage areas. The North Wing addition, also called the Standley Memorial Wing because Mrs. Joseph M. Standley contributed funding in memory of her husband, was added in 1918. The William H. James Memorial Wing, also called the South Wing, was dedicated in 1928. Phipps Auditorium was started in 1938 and completed in 1940. In 1948, the name of the Museum was changed from the Colorado Museum of Natural History to the Denver Museum of Natural History. The new west building was opened in 1953. Southwest and Northwest Wings were added in 1968. An IMAX theater was installed in Phipps Auditorium in 1983. The Northeast and Southeast Wings, also called the Service Building Addition, were completed in 1987; this project included a boiler building, a new north entrance, and atria connecting and enclosing the older building spaces.

50 cubic feet (3200 oversize p.)

Related Entities

There are 19 Entities related to this resource.

Colorado Museum of Natural History

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Elmer W. Merritt was a trustee and founding father of the Colorado Museum of Natural History (CMNH). Merritt was born in New York State on October 31, 1861, attended the University of Ann Arbor and arrived in Denver in 1879. He went into the lumber and mercantile business and eventually became connected with the Continental Oil Co. In 1885 he began a career in real estate and investment securities, forming the firm Merritt and Gromman. He served as Secretary ...

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Established in 1936 in Chicago, Illinois. Designed the Air Force Academy Chapel in Colorado Springs, Colorado. From the description of Architectural drawings, 1983. (Denver Public Library). WorldCat record id: 54443476 Lever House, one of the major landmarks of International Style architecture, was designed by Gordon Bunshaft, of the the New York office of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. Sited along Park Avenue between 53rd and 54th Streets in New York City, the building was...

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Linder, Hodgson and Wright.

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Williamson, George Hebard, 1872-1936.

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Roland L. Linder and Associates.

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Denver Museum of Natural History

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Most of these records were transferred to the Archives from the Building Maintenance Department, although some later records come from the Exhibits Department. In 1996, the records were rehoused in chronological order and catalogued on Data Trek, the in-house library system, as well as on ARGUS, the Museum collections system. Among the architects who designed substantial portions of the present building are Frederick Junius Sterner, George Hebard Williamson, Roland L. Linder, and Stearns-Roger A...

Sterner, Frederick Junius, 1862-1931.

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Wright and White.

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Gensler & Associates.

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Davis, Rodney S., 1915-1997.

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Sempel, Brown, Roberts.

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Linder, Roland L., 1893-1977.

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Roland L. Linder was born in Holdredge, Neb. on October 14, 1893. He attended high school in Sterling, Colo. and the University of Colo. Linder graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in architecture before moving to Denver, Colo. in 1913. After service in World War I, he studied at the Denver Atelier, founded by the Beaux Arts Institute of Design, New York City, N.Y. Linder opened his own architectural practice in 1921. He was working as the chief draftsman and supervising manag...

DeBoer, Saco R., 1883-1974.

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Heiferling, Leonard.

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Stearns Catalytic Architects.

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Benjamin Thompson and Associates

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Lester Associates.

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