ASPEN — A demolition crew on Monday started tearing down the Given Institute, designed by famed modernist architect Harry Weese and built in 1972.
Alpine Demolition of Arvada was commissioned for the job by the University of Colorado’s medical school, which has owned and operated the architecturally acclaimed structure and 2.25-acre property on a bluff overlooking Hallam Lake for many years.
Once the demolition and debris removal are complete, the land will be turned over to next-door neighbor Jonathan Lewis.
He has a contract to buy the property, which once belonged to Aspen philanthropist Elizabeth Paepcke, for $13.8 million.
A CU official has said the sale would not close until the building was removed.
Lewis is considering some type of residential development on the site but has not been specific about his plans.
Proceeds from the sale are intended to beef up the medical school’s unrestricted endowment.
In early February, Colorado Preservation Inc. placed the building on the state’s 2011 Most Endangered Places List. Forty-four historic sites in the state were nominated this year, but only six were selected for the list.
The group’s nomination of the Given Institute called the building “a modernist architectural masterpiece” and said it was determined to be “eligible for the National Register of Historic Places as a site of exceptional importance built within the last 50 years.”
Last year, CU initiated plans to sell the property because it no longer wanted to manage its $200,000-a-year upkeep and also to shore up its sagging finances.
Aspen Mayor Mick Ireland in March commented that it would be an “environmental disaster” to tear down the Given building. It was estimated that the structure’s removal would require hauling 55 truckloads of debris from the site to the county landfill.
