Temple Emanuel - Denver, CO - Synagogues on Waymarking.com

"This temple was the first major Jewish synagogue in the Denver area when it was built in 1882. Designed by prominent architect Willoughby J. Edbrooke, and supervised in Denver by his brother Frank E. Edbrooke, its original appearance was eclectic Victorian with Moorish and Romanesque details. A fire destroyed most of the building in 1897, and the brick and stone trimmed temple was rebuilt with simplified and more subtle detailing on a design by Frank Edbrooke." (from (visit link) )

"... The old Temple Emanuel stands as a symbol of Curtis Park's stumble on the way to gentrification. Eyed by developers, but stagnated by the Great Recession, the neighborhood today is a wild mix — from half-million-dollar townhomes to DHA projects. Curtis Park has some of the city's most interesting residential architecture, but also its highest concentration of subsidized housing.

The temple, designed by Frank Edbrooke of Brown Palace fame, housed one of the city's first Jewish congregations and was a gem in its day reflecting young Denver's international outlook. It's a mix of old world styles, a classic Victorian structure decorated with Romanesque arches and Moorish windows. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.

The structure has seen a lot of uses over time: It has been a warehouse, a printing press, an underground nightclub. Currently it sits empty, beaten up and carved up, though it is structurally sound.

That makes it attractive to Engage 8, an organization established by Denver City Councilman Albus Brooks to foster community development in District 8.

Engage 8 Executive Director Tony Pigford stresses that the project still needs to get its financing together and that will take a broad effort. But he also lays out a vision of the 22,000-square-foot building as a place that could help some of the city's minority-run arts groups access a top-notch facility that "honors their work and somehow enhances the organizations' stability."

The new center could serve the city, too, turning 24th street into a cultural corridor linking Five Points entities like the Blair-Caldwell African American Research Library and the Black American West Museum to downtown.

"This is a really standout historic property that has been boarded up way too long" said Joel Noble, president of the Curtis Park Neighbors association. "It will be great to get it in the hands of people who are going to make it a public asset." (excerpted from "Denver's Curtis Park pushes forward, with art and ag at the center" - The Denver Post (visit link) )

Status: Ruin, not in use Denomination/Group: Reformed Address: 24 Curtis Street Denver, Co USA Relevant Web Site: [Web Link]

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