The Colorado Historical Society politely told Mayor John Hickenlooper that Denver can continue to use the historic Grant-Humphreys Mansion for special events, but it will not be available as an official mayor’s residence.
“We are pleased to express our appreciation that you continue to bring an image of history, grace and substance in all your city dealings,” Society president Bart Berger wrote to Hickenlooper in a Wednesday letter.
“The Society is pleased to have Grant-Humphreys continue to be available to you and your office,” Berger said. “Unfortunately, however, as a Mayor’s Residence, it is the committee’s judgment that the Grant-Humphreys Mansion is not available.”
The society had set up a special committee to consider Denver’s request to possibly lease the 106-year-old mansion on a long-term basis.
The building is at 770 Pennsylvania St., next to the Governor’s Residence at the Boettcher Mansion.
“In the end, it’s their decision, and I completely respect their desires,” Hickenlooper said.
But the mayor stood by his idea that turning Grant-Humphreys into a mayor’s residence would enhance and preserve its historic reputation.
“I think historic preservation is best when it comes closest to its historic use,” Hickenlooper said. A mayor’s residence would do that, much in the way the Governor’s Residence does, he added.
The Historical Society, a state agency, currently rents out Grant-Humphreys for benefits and special events.
The mayor had proposed a deal in which the city’s current mayor’s residence — Cableland — might be sold as part of a process to create an endowment to maintain Grant-Humphreys and to allow Denver to lease the mansion.
Cableland, located near South Colorado Boulevard and Leetsdale Drive, was donated to the city in 1997 by cable-TV executive Bill Daniels, but no mayor has lived in the building, which was constructed in 1986.
Daniels died in 2000.
Hickenlooper’s plan called for proceeds from the sale of Cableland to go to the Daniels Fund for student scholarships. A maintenance endowment that Daniels set up for Cableland also might have gone to the fund for scholarships, while a matching endowment from another donor might have carried over to Grant-Humphreys.
“Taking advantage of the financial benefits of a generous endowment for that house is also quite appealing,” Berger said in his letter to Hickenlooper, but “our concerns have to do with the ultimate purpose you have outlined.”
Hickenlooper said the city would continue to look at other buildings that might serve as a mayor’s residence.
Jeffrey Leib: 303-954-1645 or jleib@denverpost.com
