Relationship to the National Register Criteria According to Boulder Bandshell Historical Study, Glen Huntington Bandshell is significant under National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) Criterion A and C for its association as civic space within Boulder and representation of Art Deco Style architecture within a park setting. The Bandshell is significant for the role it has played in the social and cultural life of Boulder since 1938. It has been the site of numerous concerts, dances, festivals, and other varieties of community entertainment and social gatherings in its long history. The Bandshell expresses the cultural values of the City of Boulder and the Boulder Lions Club, and their mutual motivation to develop public parks and civic space throughout the City. The Bandshell is significant for its representation of the Art Deco Style in Boulder; band shell construction and park architecture from the 20th century, and as a representation of workmanship of Glen Huntington and Saco Rienk DeBoer. 18 Statement of Significance The Bandshell is historically significant for its importance to the “social and cultural life” of Boulder as a performance venue, for its role in the development of Central Park, and “for its association with the Boulder Lions Club and its program of improving Boulder Parks.” The structure is environmentally significant for ”its planned and natural site characteristics.” The Bandshell acts as an established prominent visual landmark within an urban park. The Bandshell is ”architecturally significant as a rare representative of Art Deco Style in Boulder, as reflected in its streamlined composition, compound arch, and simplified design; as Boulder's only example of park bandshell construction and one of a few such examples in Colorado; and as representative work of Saco Rienk DeBoer and Glen H. Huntington, noted landscape architect and architect, who are associated with site design and design of the structure.” 19 According to Boulder Bandshell Historical Study, the Bandshell is significant under NRHP Criterion A for the role it has played in the social and cultural life of Boulder since 1938, as the site of numerous concerts, dances, festivals, and other varieties of community entertainment and social gatherings in its long history. 20 The Bandshell expresses the cultural values of the City of Boulder and the Boulder Lions Club, and commitment to public parks and civic space throughout the City. According to Boulder Bandshell Historical Study , the Bandshell is significant under NRHP Criterion C for its representation of the Art Deco Style in Boulder; as an example of bandshell construction and park architecture from the 20th century; and as a representative work of master designers. The Bandshell's Art Deco Style is reflected in its streamlined composition, compound arch, and simplified design. Few Art Deco style buildings were erected in Boulder and the Bandshell is one of the best preserved structures. It is one of only two bandshells in Colorado. 21 The Bandshell’s integrity of design and setting highlight it as an important representative of park outdoor entertainment facilities of the early 20th century. The Bandshell is a representative work of two Colorado designers, architect Glen H. Huntington and landscape architect, Saco Rienk DeBoer. Huntington was a prominent Boulder architect who designed Boulder County Courthouse and Boulder High School. The design of the Bandshell is based on similar bandshells of the era, that were largely based on the design and success of the Hollywood Bowl. The site is representative of the work of DeBoer, first landscape architect for the City of Denver who served as a consultant for the City of Boulder. DeBoer designed the landscape to reflect the urban form of the city and natural site characteristics. 22 As a component of a central urban park, the Bandshell and its surrounding landscape became an established, familiar, and prominent visual landmark, drawing people in with its arched design and its location near major thoroughfares. 23
18 Front Range Associates, Boulder Bandshell , 16. 19 Chris Dropinski and Ken Ramsey to the City of Boulder Parks and Recreation Advisory Board, "City Council Agenda Item, September 4, 1995" (Boulder, CO: City of Boulder Parks Planning and Construction, 1995), 3. 20 Front Range Associates, Boulder Bandshell , 16. 21 Anuta, “Glen Huntington Band Shell,” 2-3. 22 Front Range Associates, Boulder Bandshell , 17-18. 23 Dropinski, "City Council Agenda," 3.
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