Denver's Dana Crawford, whose work as a developer-preservationist began in 1963, dies

Dana Crawford in 1966, as Larimer Square began to take shape.  Photo courtesy of Denver Public Library, Rocky Mountain News Archives.

She's featured in a chapter of Cities: Back from the Edge, about preservation-based center city district revitalization efforts. 

LoDo is hailed by most sports business advocates as a revitalization success story sparked by the Coors Stadium. But if you read the book chapter (if you only have the time to read one book about urban revitalization, this might be the book for you, it's full of stories, mini-case studies) you know that the LoDo District story pre-dates the baseball stadium by about 20 years (in fact the book was researched over a period of five years before Coors Stadium was planned, and the book was published a year or two before the stadium opened).

 C. 2005\when the Washington Nationals baseball team came to DC, and the powers that be argued it was necessary for the revitalization of the SE/Navy Yard area, I came across a Knight Newspapers  travel story from the time, about LoDo in winter, definitely outside of baseball season ("Fun's on at Denver's revamped 'LoDo'").

She definitely was an innovator, as a developer, as a woman, as a historic preservationist.  And Denver is better off for it.  She was part of the consortium that renovated Denver's Union Station ("Denver developer Dana Crawford continues to take on big projects," Denver Post).

From the Denver Post obituary, "Dana Crawford, a titan of historic preservation in Denver and nationally, dies at age 93":

She saw what could be achieved by maintaining beautiful architecture, long before others did, and in the process saved a legacy for the city, he said. Her work with Larimer Square broadened into the concept of Lower Downtown or LoDo, helping the area avoid the wrecking balls that wiped out so many blocks further east. In a newer city that lacked many historic buildings to begin with, her passion and foresight came at a critical time, Webb said. 

Across her career, Crawford redeveloped more than 800,000 square feet of historic properties in Denver, including the Oxford Hotel, Acme Lofts, Flour Mill Lofts, Edbrooke Lofts and Cooper Flats Condominiums, according to Historic Denver, a group she helped found. 

She both renovated and lived in the Flour Mill Lofts, on the South Platte River.

“From saving Larimer Square to redeveloping Union Station, Dana shaped the Denver we know today,” Historic Denver said in a statement. “It’s no understatement to say that without Dana Crawford’s influence and drive to reimagine and reuse historic buildings, our city would be a very different place.”