AURORA — It’s one of the oldest buildings on the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus: the iconic Red Cross building that first opened on what was then the Fitzsimons Army Base in 1918 as World War I was coming to a close.
People stationed at the base, their families and others gathered inside to watch movies, shoot pool and have fun. The Red Cross also had offices there.
“It wasn’t necessarily a medical facility,” said Gordon Tucker, chairman of the Aurora Historic Preservation Commission. “It treated the mind and the soul.”
But since closing in 1997, the building, which originally was shaped as a cross, has become rundown, unsafe and unusable. On Tuesday, the city of Aurora and university officials agreed to repurpose the property.
The building will be torn down, and in its place will be a gazebo, with benches and memorial commemorating the building, a place where students can study, reflect and learn of the wars that have happened in the past century.
“The landscaping is going to be open,” Aurora City Councilwoman Sally Mounier said. “The intention is to get students to come through the gazebo. … It’s right next to the library.”
After trying to raise money to renovate the building, university officials realized it would be cost-prohibitive to give the Red Cross building a complete makeover.
Estimates were up to nearly $6 million to renovate the 13,000-square-foot building. The roof and ceilings are in terrible shape, and the foundation would have needed a major upgrade.
Removing the asbestos would have cost $200,000 to $400,000.
Neil Krauss, director of administration for the executive vice chancellor at University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, said that because the building sits off East Montview Boulevard there were safety concerns as the campus gets built out.
There is no timetable for when demolition will begin.
Because the building has landmark status, the new project must get approval by the city’s historic commission. The mayor and the university must sign off, too.
But while the historic commission’s first choice was to refurbish the building, Tucker said, the new gazebo project, with a few tweaks, is a good alternative.
“It’s a really nice concept,” he said. “We would prefer it not be torn down, but we understand there’s no one out there with $6 million in their pocket.”
Carlos Illescas: 303-954-1175, cillescas@denverpost.com or twitter.com/cillescasdp