Peter Dominick, Jr., “one of the “bright lights in our architectural community,” according to architect Alan Gass, died Thursday in Aspen shortly after returning from a ski trek.
He and his wife, Philae Dominick, and friends had been cross-country skiing and were in the warming hut when Dominick suffered a heart attack, said his daughter, Philae Knight of New York City.
Service arrangements are pending.
Dominick, 67, who was the son of the late U.S. Sen. Peter Dominick, designed a huge variety of structures, from the town center at Stapleton, to Disneyland and Disney World hotels and an unusual museum that spans Interstate 80 near Kearney, Neb.
Dominick’s firm, 4240 Architects, designed a water theme park in Euro-Disney in Paris, the Off Larimer Inn luxury hotel in Denver and a hunting lodge for billionaire Philip Anschutz.
The firm also designed the Tabor Center downtown offices, Rivercenter hotel and retail complex in San Antonio, Texas, and a casino in Reno, Nev. It was one of the companies involved in renovating the former Denver Dry Goods building on the 16th Street Mall.
According to a 1997 story in The Denver Post, Dominick’s aim always was to design structures that fit with the local environment.
His firm gained “national and international recognition,” according to The Post’s story.
Dominick believed in preserving old downtown warehouses by turning them into offices.
In a 1981 Denver Post story, Dominick said people “feel uncomfortable when their old environments are being completely destroyed.”
He believed that re-using old warehouses gave people a “an alternative to corporate anonymity and a sense of identity.”
“Peter always had the ability to take the next step: he was on the cutting edge,” said John Prosser, of Denver, a friend and architect.
The Great Platte River Road Archway in Nebraska, a 1,500-ton structure, was built beside the highway and when completed was then hoisted to curve over the highway. The lifting of the museum, designed to look like a covered bridge, took eight hours and was completed in 1999.
Inside are vintage car automobiles, life-size figures of historic characters and a tourist center.
“Peter threw himself into everything he did,” whether it was it was designing, kayaking or horseback riding, said architect Ron Mason, Denver, a friend of more than 40 years.
Once Dominick was competing in a rodeo event, Mason said, and because the horse was temperamental Dominick was injured when the horse tried to throw him. Dominick landed so hard in the saddle that he broke his pelvis, Mason said, but continued with the event.
When it was over, Dominick could hardly move and said, “you’ll have to get me off this horse.”
“He had a love and joy about living life to the fullest,” said Mason.
“He was a generalist,” said his son, James Dominick of Denver. “He had very broad interests.”
Peter H. Dominick, Jr., was born in New York City on June 9, 1941.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in history from Yale University and his masters in architecture from the University of Pennsylvania.
He married Philae Carver on Dec. 8, 1978.
Virginia Culver: 303-954-1223 or vculver@denverpost.com
